In business since 1963, this fabulous, affordable little lunch spot is tucked into a single wood-panelled room at the northern edge of downtown Modena. Gregarious patron Ermes Rinaldi runs the place with his wife Bruna: she cooks, he juggles plates and orders while excessively bantering with the customers, though these days he often sits out for health reasons.
Regardless, this is authentic, daily-changing, unpretentious Emilian cuisine at its finest – proposals include lasagne on Monday, gramigna alla salsiccia (pasta with sausage) on Tuesday, passatelli in brodo on Thursday – and so on.