Restaurants in Italy: The Best Italian Restaurants from Personal Recommendations
Restaurants in Italy are not all good, and like any country, you need to live in an area to know where the better places are to eat. When you travel to Italy you need to find the best Italian restaurants in a hurry. Through personal recommendations by other travellers your problems are solved.
The places recommended here are by people who have personally eaten in them, and have no reason to promote them other than the fact that they have had a good meal there, and the experience was good.
We also realize that sometimes you go to a good restaurant and the food and service is not what you expected. This could be for a number of different reasons; a new chef, a new manager, untrained staff, or just because what one person likes is not what someone else may find to their satisfaction.
We hope you take these into consideration when reading the reviews on Italy's restaurants.
And if you have a favourite place that you would like to recommend, please feel free. We have divided the regions up into Northern Italy, (See Below) Central Italy and Southern Italy. Just check that the restaurant that you are writing about falls under one of these regions. The first region we have here is for Northern Italy. The others can be found by following the links below.
Italian Eating Customs:
Italians rarely have breakfast (colazione). Instead they have a cup of cappuchino and eat a brioche or a cornetto or some other pastry while stading up at a coffee shop.Lunch is their main meal of the day consisting of antipasto, then the primo piatto which is either a rice or pasta dish, followed by the secondo piatto which is either a meat of fish dish accompanied by either a salad or vegetables. This is sometimes followed by dolci - dessert, and a coffee.
Supper, or cena is a more simple affair, with families having soup or cold cuts left over from lunch with a salad.
Meals in restaurants are usually served alia carta at moderate prices; tourist menus are not customary except in a few restaurants largely frequented by foreigners and are, in general, not recommended. When there is no menu the waiter (cameriere) will recite the list of dishes.
After the meal, ask for the bill (which should be carefully scrutiuized) with the words 'il conto, per favore'. The waiter will expect a small tip of the total price.
This is a list of the ordinary dishes at the Italian restaurants.
Staples: Bread Butter Cheese Chilli Cooked Cornmeal Cream Eggs Honey Jam Lemon Oil Olives Pepper Rice Rice cooked in a broth Salt Sugar Vinegar Wholemeal Bread | pane burro formaggio peperonico poltenta panna uova miele mamellata limone olio olive, ulive peppe riso risotto sale zucchero aceto pane intergrale |
Meat & Fish: anchovies beef chicken clams cod crab cutlet of meat often crumbed dentex lamb liver lobster mackerel mussels octopus oysters prawns rabbit sardines sausage sole squid steak swordfish tripe tuna turkey veal | acciughe manzo pollo vongole merluzzo granchio cotoletta dentice agnello fegato aragosta sgombro cozze polpo ostriche gamberi coniglio sarde salsiccia sogliola calamari bistecca pesca spada trippa tonno tacchino vitello |
Vegetables: artichokes asparagus cabbage carrots chicory eggplant onion peas peppers potatoes spinach string beans | carciofi asparagi cavolo carote cicoria melanzane cipolla piselli peperoni patate spinaci fagiolini |
Fruit: apples bananas cherries grapes oranges peaches pears strawberries | mele banane ciliegie uva arance pesche pere fragole |
| Soup and Starters: brodo capaccio insalata caprese insalata di mare minestrina in brodo minestrone olive ascolane prosciutto e melone ripieni stracciatella | broth very fine slices of raw beef salad of sliced tomatoes with mozzarella and basil seafood salad pasta in a broth vegetable soup deep fried olives, usually stuffed with chicken livers cured ham with melon stuffed, oven-baked vegetables eggs in a broth |
Pasta Sauces: al ragu arrabiata carbonara matriciana napoletana panna pesto vongole | meat sauce like a bolognese sauce tomatoes with chilli egg, bacon, garlic and cream tomatoes and bacon tomates and basil cream, prosciutto and sometimes peas basil, garlic , olive oil and pine nuts clams, garlic, olive oil, sometimes with tomatoes |
| Pizzas: capricciosa frutti di mare funghi margherita napoletana pugliese quattro formaggi quattro stagioni verdura | tomatoes, mozzarella, olives, prosciutto, mushrooms and artichokes seafood tomatoes, mozzarella and mushrooms tomatoes, mozzarella and oregano tomatoes and anchovies tomatoes, mozzarella and onions with four types of cheese same as capricciosa but sometimes with egg tomatoes, mozzarella, mixed vegetables |
Italian food is very regional. Below are some of the best dishes to taste in restaurants in Italy when you are travelling in the North of the country.
- CANERDERLI: These are dumplings that can be found on the menus of restaurants in the Dolomites and Trentino. They are made from stale bread and usually speck, although the speck can be substituted with spinach, mushrooms or cheese etc. They are boiled in a broth and served together.
- CARDI IN BAGNA CAUDA: The literal translation of bagna cauda is "hot sauce" and you will find this in Piedmont and Valle d' Aosta. It is a dipping sauce made from anchovies, thistles, garlic, olive oil and cheese.
- COTOLETTA ALLA BOLOGNESE: A typical dish of Bologna where you have a cutlet, usually pork which is covered with cheese and a slice of ham and then finally covered totally with breadcrumbs and pan fried. Some may know this dish elsewhere as Wiener Schnitzel.
- RISOTTO ALLA MILANESE: A dish from Lombardy which is a rice dish with saffron and made to accompany ossobuco.
- TIRAMISU: A well-known dessert from Venice made from marscapone, biscuits, kahlua or amaretto and strong black coffee.
Can you recommend a Good Restaurant in Northern Italy?
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What Other Visitors Have Said about the Restaurants in Northern Italy
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
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Regions of Italy
Click on any of the pictures below to take you to the three main regions of Italy.Here you will be able to see travel information for each region as well as travel reviews. Don't forget to add your own reviews!
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