You might think it’s impossible to have bad food in Italy but, sadly, it’s pretty common when visiting Italy’s most touristy cities. In fact, bad or disappointing food is one of the biggest complaints we regularly hear. I must admit, we’ve had our share of bad food too…before we moved to Italy seven years ago and learned the tricks to eating well. As I traversed Rome the last few days refusing to succumb to a crappy restaurant just because I was starving and didn’t have a reservation, I thought about how we now choose a restaurant. Like me, you might not want to spend all your time researching and making reservations at restaurants before your trip. Even in a city as touristy as Rome, it’s still possible to stumble in to a top-notch restaurant by following our tips for finding authentic restaurants in Italy.
1. DO get off-the-beaten-path.
Family owned trattorias and osterias once held prime real estate next to Italy’s most famous monuments like Venice’s Rialto and Rome’s Colosseum, but ever-increasing rent prices have forced family-run small businesses to move to less expensive locations. Tourist traps moved in and turn over table after table like clockwork as tourists are lured in with familiar dishes and the ultimate view, only to leave disappointed with their overpriced and mediocre meal.
Going even just a few streets away from the main tourist areas like Piazza San Marco in Venice or Piazza Navona in Rome will do the trick. Even better is if you’re willing to walk 10-15 minutes to a neighborhood, like Trastevere in Rome or Cannaregio in Venice.
2. DO choose a restaurant that isn’t open continuous hours.
Italians eat at specific meal times and restaurants should only be open from 12pm – 2:30pm for lunch and from 7:30pm – 11pm for dinner. If the restaurant is serving food, or even open, outside these meal times then it caters to tourists.
Italians typically never eat dinner before 8:30pm, but most kitchens will open from 7:30pm.
3. RUN far, far away from a host trying to lure you in.
No, really. Just keep right on walking. The biggest indication that the food isn’t good is when the restaurant has to pay staff to lure you in with their charming banter. They’ll name off some Italian dishes that you’re likely familiar with from Italian restaurants back home, the menu is in English and the host seems oh-so-nice even promising you a welcome drink on the house.
A truly good restaurant is typically booked with reservations, and they might not even be able to fit you in. They certainly don’t need to stand outside luring any diners in.
4. Also RUN away if the menu has pictures.
Enough said. You’re not at McDonald’s.
5. DO choose a menu that is only in Italian.
This may sound intimidating if you don’t speak Italian, but a menu translated into half a dozen languages is another indication that the restaurant caters to tourists. And we’d bet that you recognize at least a few dishes on the menu, even in Italian.
You can also pick up a food phrase book. We recommend The Marling Menu Master for Italy, with sections broken up by antipasti, pasta, fish, meats, vegetables and desserts. It’s written and meant to be used to translate from Italian into American English, making it extremely easy to use. It’s also comprehensive.
6. DO choose a restaurant where the menu features seasonal ingredients.
First, there’s no such thing as “Italian” food. It varies from region to region and even city to city within a region. Roman cuisine is hugely different from Venetian cuisine, but one thing that remains consistent throughout Italy is that only fresh, seasonal ingredients are used.
Asparagus is a vegetable that is seasonal in April and early May; you should not find a pasta with asparagus on the menu in December. Some seasonal ingredients incorporated into menus to look for:
- Artichoke (carciofi): January – June
- Asparagus (asparagi): April – May
- Chestnut (castagna): September – October
- Eggplant (melanzana): July – October
- Fig (fico): June – September
- Pumpkin (zucca): September – November
- Spinach (spinaci): October – March
7. DO choose a restaurant that is bustling with Italians.
English actually isn’t a language widely spoken throughout Italy. You shouldn’t walk in a restaurant and mainly hear English being spoken. If the sing-song of Italian is the dominant language being spoken by the staff and diners alike, it’s a pretty good bet that the food will be authentic and delicious.
8. DO choose a “menu fisso” for lunch.
A menu fisso is a fixed menu typically offered for around €12-15 per person at lunch time. This is not the same as a “menu turistica” offering an appetizer, pasta and wine. The tourist menu is much more stripped down with far fewer options.
A menu fisso is often eaten by locals, particularly those that work in the neighborhood, and the menu changes from day-to-day based on the fresh ingredients available. Typically there is a first and second course, a side dish, water, wine and coffee all included. Our favorite lunch restaurants don’t even have a written menu; the waitress simply lists off the choices available for the day.
Not to worry though; typically someone on the staff will speak English in touristic cities and be able to help you with the menu. If not, just look around at what the other diners are ordering.
9. DON’T choose a restaurant that offers pizza at lunch.
Italians do not eat pizza at lunch. If the restaurant offers pizza at lunchtime, it’s another indication that it caters to tourists.
Pizza must be prepared properly, in a wood-burning oven that takes a long time to heat to 485ºC (905ºF), which is the temperate pizza is cooked at. And because it takes so much time and energy to heat the oven, they simply don’t fire it up for the most shorter lunch service I mentioned earlier. Also, most Italians don’t actually have a wood-burning pizza oven at home and ovens cannot reach the temperature needed to cook a proper Italian pizza, so pizza is a social food Italians go out to eat for in the evenings.
10. DO use Foursquare to find restaurants around you.
We actually love the Foursquare app and do use it regularly to find restaurants around us. You can see reviews that others have posted and some of the best dishes we’ve tried at unknown restaurants were from user generated suggestions we saw in the app.
Tomas Weaver says
Great Post! I’ll be sure to use these points on our next visit. On our last visit we got lucky and stumbled into a few places that were out of the way. In Rome I booked a tour and when our guide sent us on our own for lunch I suggested we follow her and ate at a place she went for lunch. Down a side street 4 blocks from the square we were to meet back up at. Armed with this information I don’t think I’ll have an issue finding great places to eat.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Haha! That’s the way to do it Tomas. The locals generally won’t steer you wrong. If they eat there, it’s a good bet.
Tamara says
Great post, and many of these tips will work across a number of different countries. You’re saving folks from learning the hard way for sure.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
You’re right Tamara. A lot of these tips do work for a lot of different countries. And I do hope we save people from having terrible food because it breaks my heart when people tell me that they had bad food experiences or were disappointed. There’s just so much good food to be had!
Diana says
This is one of the the best posts I have seen on finding authentic Italian food! Helpful even for me that speak Italian and have been to Italy a few times!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Thanks so much, Diana! I’m really glad to hear it.
Faylinn says
I am about to travel to Italy with my boyfriend and so I really appreciate all 10 of these tips, because I want to have a very authentic experience. However, I would never have guessed that a sign of a place that wasn’t authentic was that it served pizza at lunch. That is very good to know and so I will look for restaurants that only serve it in the evening.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
You’ll have a wonderful time in Italy, Faylinn! What cities are you planning to visit?
emily bennette says
this is some really good information about finding a good restaurant in Italy. I like that you talked about going to a restaurant that has actually Italians in it does seem like a very good thing to do. After all, the locals will know what places are good.
Jenna Hunter says
It was great to understand to choose a “menu fisso” for lunch instead of the “menu turistica” I remember when my parents went to Italy they paid 2x more than they would have. I will be sure to keep this in mind when going on a dinner date with my husband!
Cindy Tesler says
I loved your tip to get off the beaten path when choosing an Italian restaurant. You also said that increasing rent prices have forced family-run small businesses to move to less expensive locations. I think it’s a good idea to choose an Italian restaurant that you see a lot of locals going in.
Joy Butler says
I completely agree that it is a red flag when Italian restaurants hire hosts to stand outside to lure in customers. It could be frustrating to be lured into a restaurant that has low quality food but expensive prices. It seems like a good idea to check online to find highly rated Italian restaurants and decide prior to going out where you are going to eat.
Luke Smith says
Thanks for pointing out that an authentic Italian restaurant won’t be open 24 hours a day. I wouldn’t make sense for a small family owned business to pay their employees around the clock like that. I feel like it would also help to google a restaurant to find out if it’s a chain or not.
Linda says
Thank you for #1, I always make the mistake of going to the popular touristy spots, but it seems the local unknowns are always the hidden gems!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
For the longest time, when we traveled we’d just wait until we were hungry. That always seemed to happen when we were in a touristy spot and then we couldn’t seem to find anything but touristy places. Live and learn, as they say!
Kyle Wayne says
I thought it was interesting that you mentioned getting off the beaten path. My brother loves pizza and is looking to find a good pizzeria. I’ll be sure to talk to him about getting a bit off the beaten path to find it.
Taylor Bishop says
Thanks for explaining some things you should keep in mind when are looking for authentic restaurants. I’m glad you explained that you should pick a menu that is only in Italian when looking for Italian food. You said that some menus could translate from Italian into American English, and I’m kind of interested to learn if this is common in a lot of restaurants or only a few.
Gary Puntman says
I like that you said you shouldn’t go to a restaurant that has pictures on the menu. I’ll have to remember that when I’m in Italy. I’m sure the nicest restaurants will have professional menus.
Duncan Lance says
These are some pretty good suggestions; after all, it can be quite difficult to find authentic restaurants if you do not know what you’re looking for. I especially love the suggestion about choosing restaurants that use seasonal ingredients. After all, that is a great way of figuring out if they are authentic since they will likely have to locally source the ingredients.
Camille Devaux says
I had no idea that Italians do not eat pizza at lunch. What a great tool to make sure that you are getting the best and most authentic food. My cousin might like knowing this as he looks into local restaurant listings.
Mark Murphy says
I really appreciate your tip on how a restaurant that has the menu in Italian usually means that it is authentic. My wife and I have been planning a trip to Italy this weekend for our anniversary. I will be sure to tell my wife that we should eat where the menu is in Italian!