My favourite bar in Bari is La Taverna del Maltese (Intermediate B+) at 67 Via Nicolai. It’s an everyone-friendly bar with PACE flags on the wall and a large screen for watching the football inside. There was an excellent jazz three piece playing live on a Thursday night when I last went.
They do food outside on the spacious terrace at the back but I’ve never tried it. There are a few, mainly German, draught beers on offer which are fine. On my last visit the barkeep taught me that a double limoncello (€4) is called a ‘regular’.
There are a few pubs near the Hotel Villa Romanazzi Carducci on Via Carducci but they are all pretty rubbish. Much better to go to the other side of the tracks I think. There are several bars along Corso Emanuele (at the old town end) which come into their own at the weekend.
My map is here.
I like to fill my bag with treats before I go home. Here are the shops in Quartiere Murat in the mid-town that I go to…
Enoteca Vinarius De Pasquale at 87 Via Marchese di Montrone is a sizable wine shop, founded in 1911, with an extensive range of Puglian wines. They also have an online shop.
In 2017 I took a long list of all the wines I’d enjoyed at restaurants all over Puglia and managed to get a good selection for my pop-up restaurant ClandesDine.
In 2014, their efficient staff helped me post a dozen bottles of Fiano ‘Minutolo’ by Cantina Polvanera back home and they all arrived safe and sound. I think they worked out at about £10 a bottle in the end, only about 25% more than their price in Italy which was very cheap to start with.
Cantina Cairoli is another big enoteca at 81 Via Cairoli nearby that you could use for back up. Local varietals recommended by my national manager Claudia (who is also a qualified sommelier!) are the reds Primitivo Manduria and Nero di Troia.
An excellent deli is Salumeria de Carne Francesco at 128 Via Calefati. In 2009 I managed to get a bottle of Fragolino (an apertivo infused with whole wild strawberries) from here. Fragolino was hard to get at the time because the alcohol was too low for it to be considered a wine, leading to an uncertain legal status.
Near Piazza Ferrarese you should check out the fantastic displays of cheeses and hams at Salumiere Nino at 31 Strada Vallisa even if you’re not buying.
Taralli biscuits are a local speciality, the fennel (finocchio)and onion flavours being especially tasty but ideally they should be eaten a day or two after purchase. I’ve yet to identify the best bakery for them but the original branch of Panaficio Fiore in the old town might be a good bet (see my Barivecchio – Eating Cheaply in the Old Town post).
If you’re looking for chocolates and bonbons, Marnarid in Barivecchia near the cathedral is a very traditional sweet shop.
Confitteria Mucci at 116 Via Principe Amedeo is another sweet shop in mid-town with a lot of tradtion (see my Andria post).
Please see my separate posts for food and architecture in the old town.