Finale Ligure is a good place to understand Ligurian cooking as it is actually eaten rather than as it is performed for tourists. Pesto here means Genovese basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmigiano, Pecorino, and Ligurian DOP olive oil ground together — nothing from a jar. It is served on trofie (short twisted pasta) or trenette, sometimes with green beans and potato cooked into the same pot, which is the classic way.
For a meal in Finalborgo, look for the osterie in the lanes behind the main piazza. Pansoti al sugo di noci — pasta filled with wild herbs and dressed with walnut sauce — is a dish specific to this part of the coast and worth ordering wherever you see it. On the seafront in Finalmarina, the restaurants lean toward grilled fish and fried seafood (fritto misto); the standard is generally higher than at beach resort equivalents elsewhere on the Italian coast.