Oh gosh, it depends what you mean by atmosphere/quality, what you like to eat, whether you are celebrating a special occasion or just want a good meal.

I just noticed I answered a similar question from you a couple of weeks ago. Here's a link in case you missed it:

tripadvisor.com/…3467595

is Alghero lively? ie good places to eat good bars? I'm not talking about clubbing just dont want to be sat at the same bar every night with nobody else around.

myself and my girlfriend are going in July and trying to decide between Alghero and Costa Smeralda. Basically looking for a week on a beach and some decent places to eat and drink in the evening. any suggestions?

Hi Halla2K,

Food and wine always feature highly on my wish list when travelling so here are some of my favourites, but by no means all in Alghero. You can quite comfortably eat at a different place every lunch and dinner for a week.

For a beautiful environment ( soft lighting, pleasant surroundings) with consistantly good food (often mentioned in food reviews of the town) and excellent service try Il Pavone on Pizza Sulis in the old town. Fausto is the maitre d' and he is just lovely plus his English is OK. The curlurgiones filled with pecorino, mint and a puree of potato in a rich ragu are hard to go past.

Al Solito Posto on Piazza San Michele is a regular haunt also for simple grilled fish and excellent pasta - very good value for money. Frederico will look after you here - he has a wicked sense of hunour and manages OK in English.

Taverna Paradiso is always buzzing with lively waitstaff and happy punters. Not the least of these is the owner, Pasquale - a man with a dry dry sense of humour and a fantastic cheese platter, which I am salivating about as I write this. His specialty is Sardinian cheese and his restaurant has won many awards.

On the airport road is a great agriturismo called Sa Mandra - go early and be prepared to eat like it is your last meal!. Like all good agriturismos the food is very simply prepared (therein lies the secret) and incredibly abundant. It is a set menu for around 30 euros which includes everything. The spit-roasted pork is melt-in-your mouth stuff.

These are by no means all but they are a few of my regulars. Reviewing is subjective I know, but I can say I have been at least 4-5 times to each of the places mentioned.

My best tip for eating well in Italy is to ask the waiter what they would prefer, or what is the local specialty or if you are really adventurous - get them to bring you out a selection of dishes.

Enjoy!

I would second all of Ms Kiwi Girls choices (especially Paradiso - Pasquale is a treat! And Patrizia who doe sthe cooking is lovely too).

But I do think that for a proposal, it has to be Andreini's. The other's don't have the right atmopshere (with the possible exception of Il Pavone). But they are nice places for a convivial evening.

Alghero is not a lively town in the Greek Island sense, but there are plenty of bars and places where you can enjoy yourself with other people. Poco Loco on via Gramsci have live music from time to time.

Oh WorldVoyager, how right you are! I recently stayed in a beautiful apartment a little way along the same street from Andreini where we had the most amazing evening. My partner and I were having a well-earned break, things were going well for us and I had it in the back of my mind that if there was a right moment on our holiday, I would finally pop the question.

Towards the end of our Andreini meal, I thought “Well it doesn’t come much better than this.” I did propose, she agreed. It is a beautiful place with a tree growing up through the middle, an elegant yet relaxed atmosphere, and casually formal service. The food is superb and it has a really comprehensive wine list with a vast array of wonderful Sardinian wines which we had never experienced in the UK.

When things are so good, it is sometimes hard to go back but we certainly shall. We’ll stay in the same beautiful, romantic apartment (Casa Rafaella which we found on bluewater-apartments.co.uk) and we’ll celebrate our anniversary in fine Andreini style.