Imperia eats well. The local cuisine is firmly Ligurian — pesto made with the small, sweet basil grown in the coastal valleys, trofie and trenette pasta, farinata (thin chickpea flatbread baked in a wood oven), and fried fish from the local catch. Olive oil is in everything, and it's noticeably better than what you find elsewhere.
Calata Cuneo in Oneglia is the main restaurant strip, with a run of seafood places overlooking the port. For lunch, the trattorie on the side streets off the lungomare offer good-value fixed menus. Porto Maurizio has fewer restaurants but some of the better ones in town are tucked into the lanes of the Parasio quarter.