Comacchio's cuisine is inseparable from its lagoon. Eel — marinated in vinegar and spices (anguilla marinata), grilled (anguilla alla brace), or stewed — appears on most menus and should be tried at least once. The marinated version is the local speciality: chunks of eel slow-cooked and preserved in terracotta, served at room temperature with bread. The flavour is rich and slightly sour, quite unlike anything else.
Beyond eel, the local cooking runs to freshwater and lagoon fish — carp, pike, sea bass, clams — prepared simply and without the elaborate sauces that characterise more fashionable Italian restaurants. The town has several good trattorie around Piazza XX Settembre and along the canal streets.