Al Vecchio Stallo

Off Viale Marco Volpe, near Piazza XXVI Luglio Cuisines: Italian

About

By the 1920s, this already served as a post station, offering refreshments and fresh horses to mounted mail carriers, so they decided to transform the old stalls into a full-fledged osteria, serving simple, filling, cheap traditional dishes along with lots of local wine. Things haven't changed much, though a token national Italian dish such as penne amatriciana is often added to the daily menu. Those in the know, however, recommend that you stick to local specialties like orzo e fagioli (barley-and-bean soup), frico con polenta (cheese melted over potatoes), nervetti con cipolla (cow leg tendons and veins tossed with onions -- I think you have to be from Udine to appreciate them), or the ever-popular polpettone con pure (slices of giant meatball with mashed potatoes). Service is brisk but jocular.