Trattoria La Chiocciola

La chiocciola (the snail) came highly reccommended from our friends who visit Pienza (one of the most beautiful hill towns in all of Tuscany). Pienza is the legit home of Pecorino sheep’s milk cheese, so cheese shops that feature specialty versions of the delicious stuff are interspersed throughout the village.
Bottom line:
I’m getting older, my palate more discriminating, I’m more curmudgeonly with every passing day. I offer this preface The service is friendly and english speaking (everyone speaks a «little bit»…which interestingly enough means «I speak english if I like what you’re talking about and I’m in the mood to talk to you.») Most folks are nice, but I’m glad I took the time to do Rosetta Stone. On to the food…
There were eight of us, we were seated promptly, service was above average, Italian servers don’t like to bother you, so they won’t «hover» like in the US. Think about what you might want, grated cheese, salt, pepper, another bottle of water or wine, etc., as your opportunities will for those ad hoc requests will be few. Right… onto the food. I ordered Pici (thick homemade spaghetti with pepper and parmigiana reggiano) fantastic, as well as baked Pecorino (they had many versions of this delight, drizzled with honey, or with porcini, or with truffles,.
I started this review in 2012, and it’s two years later, and I don’t know why I didn’t finish it. I have notes that indicate it was delicious, and we should hit it the next time we’re in the area, and I already gave it the stars, so it seems silly not to complete it and post. I apologize for the lack of a real review for this place. Stay turned. Going back this summer, and we’ll complete a proper review.

Egads, I had the best wild boar pici here. Actually, thanks to Tuscany in general, I“m a die-​hard pici fan. And Brunello di Montelcino fan for sure!
Service was unbelievably fast, friendly and very good. We literally stumbled on this place by accident, since we were all starving and just wanted to grab a bite to eat before hitting the road back to Chianchiano Terme. So glad we did!

Wow, we thought it’s impossible to find a bad food in Italy! Nope, here it is… We stopped in town for 3 nights, and this place was not on our list to visit, but we forgot it’s Saturday, did not make reservation and ended up here. The place looked cute inside… We stayed… I ordered gnocchi Tartuffe, very mediocre… My husband got filet pepe verde, that was horrible, chewy meet and rancid sauce… Won’t ever come back…