Veronese cooking is robust northern Italian: slow-braised horsemeat (pastissada de caval), potato gnocchi (served on Fridays by tradition), pasta e fagioli, and boiled beef with pearà sauce — a dense bread and pepper condiment. Pandoro, the light Veronese Christmas cake, is the city's most famous export. Wine is taken seriously: Valpolicella, Amarone, Soave, and Bardolino are all produced nearby, and the osterie around Piazza Erbe and Via Mazzini pour well.
The area around Via Mazzini and the streets between Piazza Erbe and Sant'Anastasia has the highest concentration of restaurants. Avoid the obvious tourist traps on Piazza Bra and look for the smaller osterie in the lanes behind.