Exploring Bari Through Its Street Food

After taking our first ever food tour during our visit to Rome, we knew this would become our favourite way to get accustomed to a city. With just one day in Bari – and so many local delicacies to sample – a walking street food tour was the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone.

We booked our Bari Walking Street Food Tour with Velo via Get Your Guide. I’ve used Get Your Guide before and have always had a good experience with them. This isn’t a sponsored post, just a recommendation for a reliable tour company!

**This blog post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you go on to make a purchase or booking after clicking through one of my external links, then I may make a tiny bit of commission, at no extra cost to you!**

Unlike our Rome street food tour, I did feel it was a little light on the food element. Our guide was excellent and knowledgeable about the city though, so this was more a cultural walking tour with some food stops included rather than focusing solely on the food. We even had the opportunity to try our hand at some traditional tarantella music with a local musician! My ears are still hurting.

You can read more about our food tour in Rome’s Trastevere here!

Bari Street Food

If Puglia is a foodie region, then Bari is it’s capital. From foccacia barese and panzerotti, to sgagliozze and gelato, Bari’s favourite foods are designed to be eaten on the go. Little hole in the wall locations vie with more modern diners for lunchtime trade. Bari has a vibrant nightlife scene, and with that a wealth of street food and light bites perfect for late-night snacking.

Typical Bari street food include:

Taralli – small savoury dough rings made with white wine and olive oil, often served as a snack along with an aperitivo or beer

Focaccia Barese – an oven-baked bread made with durum wheat, seasoned with roasted cheery tomatoes, olives, oregano and olive oil

Caciocavallo – a Puglian hard cheese famed for its gentle saltiness and tangy taste

Panzerotto – a folded crescent-shape snack of fried dough. often filled with tomato and mozzarella

Capocollo – a tender Italian cured meat made from pork shoulder, traditionally seasoned with garlic, salt and black pepper

Burrata – A tender ball of mozzarella filled with stracciatella (buffalo milk cheese) and cream

Our Bari Walking Street Food Tour

Our tour began at 3pm at Strada Vallisa, a 10 min walk from our accommodation. We had originally booked a 5pm tour – giving us plenty of time to travel from Alberobello and drop our rental car off at the airport. But we receive a WhatsApp the day before letting us know that the start time is being brought forward by two hours. This leads to me frantically messaging B&B Murex to see if we could drop off our cases prior to the 4pm check-in time, not wanting to drag our cases around Bari with us on our tour. Luckily they were accommodating, even managing to prepare our room for us early.

After a (very) quick freshen up, we weave our way across the old town to our meeting point. It quickly becomes clear why our start time has been changed as we introduce ourselves to our tour companions. All two of them. This is definitely an intimate group. Our guide Emanuela gives us a few housekeeping rules before we set off on our tour.

Bari Street Food #1 – Focaccia Barese

For the first stop on our Bari walking street food tour we head to Mastro Ciccio. This is one of the most popular locations in Bari for fresh fast food, in particular for the panzerotti and the panino con polpo (Octopus roll). Emanuela ordered us the traditional focaccia Barese, made with durum wheat flour and topped with tomato and rosemary. The focaccia was fresh and fluffy, and a perfect appetizer to keep us going until our next stop.

After our focaccia we take in some of the sights before our next foodie stop. From Piazza Mercantile we weave through the Bari Vecchia, Bari’s Old Town, to Basilica San Nicola and then to San Sabino (Bari Cathedral). We’re given the opportunity to explore inside, a welcome relief from the relentless afternoon sun. A series of narrow alleyways open up to Largo Albicocca – the “square of lovers”. By day it is a pretty courtyard, with laundry fluttering and nonnas soaking up the sunshine. By night, it is a magical and vibrant hub festooned with twinkling lights. But now, it’s time for another taste of authentic Bari street food: sgagliozze.

Bari Street Food #2 – Sgagliozze

We each grab a bag of the freshly fried polenta cubes to eat on the go. Donna Carmela specialises in sgagliozze and has created a restaurant out of her home on the square. When we revisit Largo Albicocca later the same evening, she is still frying, her giant vat of boiling oil bubbling away. The sgagliozze have a distinct texture, and are very salty. A bottle of Peroni would be mighty agreeable right now but we make do with water.

Around the corner from Largo Albicocca are the famous pasta nonnas of Arco Basso. Trestle tables are set up on the doorsteps of houses; ladies sit from dawn to dusk hand-rolling the local orecchiette – ear-shaped pasta. You can buy bags of the colourful pasta directly from them; a perfect souvenir of Bari (if you have the room for them!). We pass through the archway that leads to Piazza Federico II Di Svevia – passing our B&B as we go. Yes, the pasta nonnas are our neighbours.

Emanuela announced she had a little surprise for us. A local street musician put on a performance for us, before arming us with a musical instrument each. I’m not sure how much my rainstick contributed to the overall symphony but it was a fun – if seemingly never-ending – experience. If you do the tour, make sure you have a few euros available to tip. Something we wish we’d thought of beforehand after digging around in our pockets for a single solitary 1€ coin.

Bari Street Food #3 – Gelato

Our next stop was Antica Gelataria Gentile, unarguably the best place for gelato in Bari. This was also conveniently/dangerously (delete as applicable) close to our B&B. The Gentile family have been producing gelato in Bari since 1880 and it’s rare to see the store without a queue snaking out the door. There’s even a member of staff outside assisting anyone that may have questions regarding the multitude of flavours. Mr Fletche is pleased to see that there’s an excellent vegan choice available. Better for his delicate lactose-intolerant tummy. I have lemon and the house specialty “crema antica”. The gelato is so good we can’t help but return for a second serving the following day.

Bari Street Food #4 – Italian cured meats and cheese

Our final stop was an authentic salumeria close to the Velo Service offices. This was the one stop that sadly felt a little disorganised to me. After experiencing the wonderful sights and smells inside, charcuterie and cheeses suspended in nets from the ceiling, we were handed a plastic plate, a tiny plastic glass of wine and shepherded outside. With both hands full, and no exterior seating available we were forced to perch on a window ledge, with people jostling our plates, perched on our knees, as they walked past. The cured meats were delicious but I’d have preferred to sample them in a more comfortable setting. The information regarding the providence of the meat and cheese was also a little vague, and this final part of the tour felt a little rushed.

Final thoughts

I enjoyed our Bari walking street food tour, however there were a few minor complaints. Three hours seemed a little lengthy for the amount of food offered – our three hour tour in Rome took in 6 stops, each with substantial servings. This one was just four stops, with relatively small portions at each. There were no opportunities for a comfort break, or to purchase drinks. The first two food stops were quite spaced out; the final two felt rushed. And I definitely would have preferred the gelato as our final course. But it was a great way to get our bearings, and to eat without having to make too many decisions after a stressful travel day.

You can read more about our 24 hours in Bari here!