Italy Restaurant Suggestions

[Sashi]

I am going to Italy on May 3rd - 19th of 2007. I will be in Venice for 4 days/3 nights, Florence for 5 days/4 nights, Rome for 5 nights/6 days and Positano for 4 nights/5 days.

Any restaurant suggestions would be great. I don't care if I have to get reservations in advance and $$ is not that big of a deal. I don't want to go OVERBOARD ($$ wise) but 1 or 2 nights of GREAT dinners in each locale is a must for us. We are lovers of all food, seafood being our favorite, and don't care much for alcohol/wine but may try it while we are there.

Also, please include suggestions of small hole-in-the-wall places that are great lunch/late lunch early dinner places.

TIA!!!!!!

[meatpie]

Aqua Il Due in Florence. Wonderful meal. Pasta sampler, table wine. Reservations are a must. There is also a family-style restaurant in Florence which we did not get to. Supposed to be wonderful. I can't think of the name, however!! I'll come back with it.

Trattoria Quattro Leoni also in Florence. We had the Bistecca alla fiorentina and they start with a pear pasta that is to die for. I can still taste it. Outside seating. Again table wine. It's on the other side of the Arno, so not as touristy and well known as Aqua il Due.

Have fun! You can't go wrong eating in Rome, Florence, anywhere in Italy!!

[jajacobsen]

When in Rome, go to the Trastavere region of the city. It is across the river from the historic (tourity) areas. Veyr cool restarants, patronized mostly by locals. Just walk around and soak up the mbience. You can't really go wrong with any specific restaurant, because bad ones won't last.

[Sashi]

Thanks Girls! Keep Em' Coming.

Our Hotel In Florence Is Right On The Arno River, About Two Blocks From Ponte Vecchio......i Don't Think We'll Have A Problem Getting Over To The Other Side, For All I Know We Could Be On The Other Side!

[meatpie]

When in Rome, go to the Trastavere region of the city. It is across the river from the historic (tourity) areas. Veyr cool restarants, patronized mostly by locals. Just walk around and soak up the mbience. You can't really go wrong with any specific restaurant, because bad ones won't last.

Great suggestion!! This is a wonderful area. Oh, I loved it.

Sashi What hotel are you staying at? We stayed somewhere very close. perfect location. You can walk to everything in Florence.

[Sashi]

We are staying here: Hotel Balestri (http://www.hotel-balestri.it/)

Tell me your thoughts.........

[Reebs]

When we were in Rome we went to La Pergola at the recommendation of the concierge from our hotel and could not have had a better experience. Here is the site, just click on "Wining & Dining" at the top to get to the restaurant:

http://www.cavalieri-hilton.it/indexx.html

It has to be by far the best restaurant we have been to in terms of food, service, and ambiance. The restaurant is on the roof top of a hotel and you have absolutely gorgeous views of the city. The food was AMAZING and the service was first class.

It is a little pricey, but not ridiculous for what you get.

I hope you have a wonderful trip and can't wait to hear and see all about it when you come back. (I have only been to Rome but would love to go to the other locations you are going to so I am dying to hear how you like it!)

[Annette]

In Florence, try Trattoria Anita. It was actually recommended in the Let's Go book. This was one of the best meals we had on our whole trip.

[Sashi]

This may be a stupid question but how does one make a reservation to a restaurant in a foreign country? Can I do it through the internet or do I have to use a phone?

I feel like this a common sense question but I'm clueless.

[j*east]

This may be a stupid question but how does one make a reservation to a restaurant in a foreign country? Can I do it through the internet or do I have to use a phone?

I feel like this a common sense question but I'm clueless.

We just went to restaurants early in the day, or the day before, to make reservations, such as Acqua Alla Due in Florence. (I second meatpie's recommendation--this is a great place!) I didn't make any reservations before we left the US.

I went to Florence, Rome, Cinqueterre, Lake Como, and Bologna last year. You can see my recap (including more restaurant recs) in my journal, starting at post 123. :)

[tlew12778]

In general, you won't need a reservation. You can have your hotel make a reservation the day of, if you want. There are only a handful of restaurants that require a reservation days in advance and those restaurants tend to be prohibitively expensive.

Also, I don't know what time you generally eat, but if you want to dine at like 7-7:30PM, then you won't need a reservation anywhere. That's just too early for Italians to eat since they are still at aperitivo ;).

ETA: You will probably be hard pressed to find places that will serve you food after 3PM and before 7PM. Lunch is generally 12:30-2:30 and dinner generally starts at 7-7:30. Depending on where you are, kitchens will start to close at 9-10.

[Sashi]

Thanks for the info. Lucky for us we are late eaters!

[MES in Chicago]

Tiffany - What times generally do Italians eat their meals? We eat dinner around 8pm only because by the time we get home and cook or order something that's what time it is. we tend to make reservations for 7:30 or 8pm on the weekends since we tend to sleep in and start our meals later in the day. I just like to know the daily "habits" so we don't try to eat too early or late. Thanks!!

[Rosebud]

Two tips for Rome:

Caffe Sant Eustachio (http://www.santeustachioilcaffe.it/)- The BEST coffee in Rome. This place is pretty famous, and with good reason. Seriously, the best espresso you'll ever have in your life. Take home some coffee beans or chocolate covered beans as gifts. It's in Piazza Sant Eustachio, which is right next to the Pantheon. (And remember, in Italy capuccino is a breakfast drink only-- they may giggle at you if you order it later in the day).

San Crispino (http://www.ilgelatodisancrispino.it/)- Best gelato in Rome. And that's really saying something. We had a hard time finding it (it's near Trevi Fountain) but it was absolutely worth the search.

[tlew12778]

Normally we eat at 8PM at home. That is pretty standard I think. Sometimes we eat at 9 bc of DH's work schedule and from speaking to coworkers of mine, this seems to still be considered normal. The typical work day is from 9-6PM here so what most ppl do is go out for drinks after work, then go home for dinner. By then it's 8-9PM. When DH and I dine out we tend to reserve for 9-9:30, but it wouldn't be weird to reserve for 8-8:30 IMO.

Typically lunch is btwn 1-2 but some people eat earlier and some later, so that means most places will be ready to start serving lunch around 12 and will wrap up by 3PM. Most restaurants will close btwn 3-7PM.

Also, I am speaking from the Milanese point of view... smaller cities eat earlier (we're just workaholics here) and dress more casually (in my experience anyway). This is part of the reason why I think you won't need reservations in other cities. There are only maybe 5-6 restaurants in Milan that require more than a week's notice for a reservation, and since the other cities tend to be more relaxed, I seriously doubt you will need advance reservations there. I've never reserved in Rome, Florence or Venice.

[MES in Chicago]

Thanks Tiffany! You are so helpful. I can't till our time is closer so I can bombard you with more questions.

[Sashi]

MES in Chicago, I love your signature! It's great.....

[BuffaloBlondie]

I really can't remember any specific restaurants we ate at while in Italy, except one. It is called il Latini and it is in Florence. It was recommended by a family friend and we were not disappointed. I think there were only two seatings for dinner so we did make reservations. However, you still have to wait to get in the restaurant so arrive early. They also don't have menus. We loved all of the food!!!

http://www.illatini.com/
http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=florence@63&cur_section=din&property_id=66248 - reviews on Fodors

[MES in Chicago]

Thanks Sashi! It's more than likely going to be Italy since my body isn't cooperating with the preggo part :rolleyes:

I can't wait till you go since you will be going about a month before we do. Nothing like recent trip reports to get even more excited about going!!!

[meatpie]

I really can't remember any specific restaurants we ate at while in Italy, except one. It is called il Latini and it is in Florence. It was recommended by a family friend and we were not disappointed. I think there were only two seatings for dinner so we did make reservations. However, you still have to wait to get in the restaurant so arrive early. They also don't have menus. We loved all of the food!!!

http://www.illatini.com/
http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=florence@63&cur_section=din&property_id=66248 - reviews on Fodors

This was the family-style place we had heard about but didn't get to. Our friends did sox months ago on their honeymoon and had a great time!!

Sashi - the hotel looks great. We stayed just down the river a few buildings down and LOVED the location.

[Sashi]

MES in Chicago.........did you ever peruse Tripadvisor.com. I like the website because you see candid traveler photos of the various hotels. Not all of the reviews are true to fact, there are some posters that are just there to bash, you have to read through the bs but I like it for what it's worth.

Thank you Meatpie for the reassurance that we picked an ok hotel. I can't take the credit, my travel agent picked it for us. I'm so nervous about our locations because i can't seem to find a good ENGLISH map of the cities we are visiting.

[tlew12778]

What difference does the language of the map make? I mean, a map is really just street names (which you want in the original language lest you confuse yourself looking for Duomo Square instead of Piazza Duomo or Turin Street instead of Via Torino, for example) and public transport lines (if you are lucky).

Once you get to all your locations, all newstands will sell a local map with some English blurbs.

[linekelei]

Just returned from a 12-day trip to Rome, Florence/Chianti, and Venice. A few of our recs (by the way, make sure to make reservations in Rome & Venice-many of the restaurants are very small and we saw tons of customers being turned away):

Rome-
Armando al Pantheon-near the Pantheon-great, traditional osteria; delicious (and unusual) tiramisu and fantastic carbonara; fun place
La Bruschetta-close to the Westin & Marriott-tons of different pizzas-I had the fried egg pizza-was really good; casual and affordable place
La Buvette-near Hotel de Russie (which is where we stayed)-had the most delicious homemade pasta dish-some sort of spaghetti w/bacon (not carbonara); also a great place for a morning cappucino & brioche
Da Giggetto-in the Jewish ghetto-had the best fried artichoke appetizer

Florence-
Had a wonderful "florentine bisteca" (steak dish) at a little place close to the Academia museum-not sure of the name, but if you walk past the Mc Donald's, it's about a block down with green awnings-it's family owned, so you'll see grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, and adult kids working there-was the best steak we had the entire trip

Chianti-
Don't think you are going anywhere in the countryside, but if you do, we had a wonderful lunch at an upstairs osteria in Greve in Chianti in the main town square-it's the only restaurant with an upstairs, so you can't miss it.

Venice-
You really have to search around for good restaurants b/c Venice caters to tourists. Also, make sure to make reservations-the restaurants were more crowded and smaller than all of the Rome ones.
Vecio Fritolin-close to the Rialto bridge; serves a great fried fish platter and also had the best tomato & mozzarella salad there EVER
Quatro (4) Feri-over in the Dursoduro district and a bit hard to find but totally worth it! It's a tiny place, but my goodness, it is packed full of locals and SO good; ate a wonderful vanilla custard-like dessert (devoured the entire thing!); reasonably priced (especially for Venice)

You are going to have the best time! Just make sure to stay away from the restaurants that cater to tourists. For example, we found the best Roman pizza in a little hole-in-the wall on the way to the Vatican down some side street, but I couldn't tell you how to get there or what the name was. But it was the best pizza we ate and we ate there on a whim.

[Boomer]

We are staying here: Hotel Balestri (http://www.hotel-balestri.it/)

Tell me your thoughts.........

We are staying at the same one in Sept!! You have to let me know how it is. DH did ALOT of research on locations and this one seemed to have the best location at a reasonable cost. I do have to say the travel agent gave us a starting list of about 10 places. I am SOOO excited to go. We are staying there for 5 nights then headed to Rome for a 7 day cruise.

ETA - venere.com has a great map feature of the area

[tlew12778]

In Positano I ate at Le Tre Sorelle and Bruno's. The first was not bad. The seafood risotto was really good. The second was also not bad (and cheaper than the first). The garlic shrimp were really good. I did not eat anywhere fabulous in Positano. Everything is too touristy there for the food to be fabulous IMO.

That said, I ate at a PHENOMENAL restaurant in Sorrento called Caruso (http://www.ristorantemuseocaruso.com/). It's not cheap (we spent 150 euro for 2) but the food is absolute perfection. I would go back to Sorrento just to go to this restaurant again.

In Vernazza (5 Terre), there is this incredible bar (not even a restaurant) down on the waterfront. They make the BEST MUSSELS in the world. And they are like 10 euro. I don't think the bar has a name. It just says "bar". But if your back is to the city, it's the one in the right hand corner. If your back is to the waterfront, it's on the far left.

Re: reservations - I would make them on the phone. Even if some restaurants offer internet reservations, I would not trust them to check their email everyday. Internet is not as widely diffused in Italy as it is in the US.

[MollJay]

Can any of you Italy travelers recommend restaurants in Venice and Florence that will not break the bank. Everything I've ready about food in Venice is preparing me for sticker shock, especially if the dollar keeps falling against the Euro. We are honeymooning in Italy, with 4 nights in Florence, one of which we are planning to splurge at a really special, memorable restaurant.

As far as Venice, we are planning to have one lunch in Burano, try to eat relatively inexpensively for one night and the other night go someplace special.

Thanks for your suggestions.

[kk junebug]

all i ever hear about in Venice is Harry's Bar...however i believe it is on the pricey side.

when i was in florence, i did all my eating randomly. meaning, we wandered in to trattoria's whenever we saw one that either looked appealing and/or was busy. many post their menu's outside so you can get a feel for prices ahead of time. and all our random stops were DELICIOUS! so i would say just wander around and you'll find something great!

[laura]

Food in Venice - blech. I would get pizza and don't expect much from that, even. But for me Venice was the worst for food; I've had better Italian food many places in the states.

[Rosebud]

MollJay- There are some great suggestions further back in this thread, as well as in the larger Italy thread (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=385).

I haven't been to Venice or Florence, so I can't make specific suggestions there, but when I was in Rome and the Amalfi Coast there were many opportunities to eat inexpensively. Breakfast in Italy is usually simple- we generally just had espresso and a pastry. For lunch we'd get paninis from a stand or casual trattoria-- I swear that the best ones we had were $4 euro from a little cart. Definitely don't do a big sit-down lunch every day- that gets expensive. In the afternoon we'd have gelato as we walked around. And then in the evening we'd do the big dinner. We did several fancier, more expensive meals, but plenty of excellent meals at less expensive places as well. Watch the wine consumption if you're worried about price- that's where it really starts to add up IMO.

We found excellent restaurant recommendations on the Fodors.com message boards (my favorite resource for European travel!) so you might want to do some reading over there as well.

Good luck!! :)

[linekelei]

See my Venice recs above.

As a side note, you can find good food in Venice, but you have to get out of the tourist areas. I did some extensive research on restaurants before we left, and we had some great dining experiences in Italy (Venice included). You might want to check out:

Chowhound
http://www.chowhound.com/boards/58

and

Slow Travel
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/restaurants/resources.htm

You'll find tons of recommendations on both websites.

[MollJay]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately, I figured that I should not expected anything but high prices and mediocre touristy food in Venice.

[MLA]

In Venice, my favorite pizzeria is a place called Pizzeria A'e Oche (http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgresults.cfm?destination=venice@163&cur_section=din&property_id=174987)(pronounced allay okay). It's off the beaten path (by quite a lot, actually), but the pizza's great, and it's not a hotspot for tourists. It's mostly locals since it's not in any of the more touristy sections of the city -- though the decor's pretty American. I studied in Venice for a semester, and we would to to A'e Oche all the time. My favorite pizza there had hearts of palm on it (cuori di palmi). Yum! They have a huge variety.