El Bierzo has its own protected gastronomic identity, and Vilafranca is the right place to eat your way into it. The dish to seek out is botillo del Bierzo, a smoked and cured pork product with its own Denominación de Origen Protegida — a tight parcel of ribs, tail, and offcuts seasoned with paprika and garlic, packed into a thick gut casing and slow-cooked until it falls apart. It is served with potatoes and boiled greens, and it is deeply, unapologetically rustic. Order it in the colder months when it is at its best; most restaurants in town keep it on the menu from autumn through spring.
Trout from the cold mountain streams that drain into the Burbia and its tributaries appears on menus throughout the region. The local preparation — pan-fried with garlic, olive oil, and cured ham — is straightforward and correct. Pimientos del Bierzo, the long red peppers grown on the valley floor, turn up roasted and dressed with oil as a starter, or stuffed with rice and pork. Both are worth ordering wherever you see them. The restaurants along and around Calle del Agua cater heavily to pilgrims and have adapted accordingly: large portions, reasonable prices, and the kind of set pilgrims' menus (menú del peregrino) that run to a first course, main, dessert, and wine for around twelve euros. The quality varies, but the better ones are genuinely good.
The local Mencía wines from the El Bierzo DO are the obvious choice with any of this. A glass of young Mencía with the botillo is a combination that makes a strong case for staying an extra night in town. Some of the smaller bars off the main streets pour house wines from the surrounding vineyards by the glass — ask for vino de la zona and see what appears.