Focacceria & Panificio Loconte
Monopoli sits in the heartland of focaccia barese country, and Panificio Loconte on Via Garibaldi is the address locals send you to when you ask where to eat the real thing. The rounds come out of a wood-fired oven all morning, topped with cherry tomatoes, olives and a flood of local olive oil.
What makes focaccia barese different
Unlike the thick Ligurian version, focaccia barese is made with boiled potato worked into the dough, giving it a dense, moist crumb and a crisp, oily base that shatters when you bite it. The dough is left to prove directly in the oiled metal tray it bakes in, absorbing the oil from below.
At Loconte the tomatoes are pressed into the raw dough before baking so they partially collapse and caramelise, concentrating their sweetness. A single slice costs about €1.50 and is sold by weight — order a generous 200g and eat it on the pavement while it's still warm.
The broader Puglian bread culture
The same bakery sells taralli (crisp ring-shaped crackers flavoured with fennel seeds or black pepper), pucce (soft rolls stuffed with olives) and friselle ready to take home. All are made daily and the quality is consistent.
If you want a more substantial sit-down version, the nearby Osteria dell'Acqua Pazza on Via Garibaldi also serves focaccia topped with local burrata and anchovies as an antipasto — a combination that should not work on paper but absolutely does.
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