Trattoria Il Mulino
Tucked into a side street a short walk from Cassino's main corso, Il Mulino is the kind of family-run trattoria that fills up with locals at Sunday lunch and barely registers online — which is exactly why you should find it. The kitchen leans hard into the Ciociaria culinary tradition of the Frosinone hinterland: robust, unfussy and deeply satisfying.
What to order
Start with the antipasto of local cured meats — particularly the ventricina and the aged pecorino from the Monti Aurunci — served with bruschetta rubbed with the fruity olive oil pressed in the hills above Pignataro Interamna, just 15 km away.
For a primo, the rigatoni alla ciociara arrives in a slow-cooked lamb ragù that has been simmering since morning, fragrant with rosemary and a splash of local white wine. It is the kind of dish that makes you understand why Lazio cooking outside Rome is so underrated.
The secondo and the wine list
The abbacchio alla cacciatora — young lamb braised with white wine, anchovies and capers — is the dish to order if it appears on the handwritten daily specials board. It is a Roman classic executed here with produce from farms in the immediate valley.
The wine list is short and honest: a carafe of chilled Cesanese del Piglio, the only DOCG red of Lazio, pairs beautifully with the lamb and costs less than a glass of house wine in Rome. Ask the owner which producer he is pouring that week — he will happily tell you the story.
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