We will be traveling to Venice, Florence, Rome and Sorrento in late Sept-early October and were wondering if most restaurants require reservations for dinner. We are not interested in the high-end gourmet restaurants, rather prefer to sample really good local restaurants with moderate pricing and outstanding food and wine! Thanks!
Posted by
Vicenza, Italy
319 posts
I've lived in Italy for over 6 years. Never made a reservation. You'll be just fine. There are a couple very popular restraunts in Florence that you should be there right at opening. Il Latini is one of them. It is way worth the effort to get seating for thier meals.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
I agree with Michelle. Unless you have your heart set on a particular restaurant, no reservation will be needed. We never had any trouble walking in and being seated.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
We found that the popular restaurants tend to fill up pretty late in the evening by American standards, so if you show up before 9 pm (or even before 10 pm) you should be fine.
Posted by
OP
Smithtown, NY, USA
106 posts
Thanks to all for the replies. We most likely will be dining around 9 pm so I guess we should be fine without reservations.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32213 posts
Terry,
I normally dine fairly early by European standards (around 18:00, which is the same at home) and have never needed a reservation yet. The restaurants don't seem to start filling until after 20:00 or so.
If a particular restaurant was full, I'd either wait for a table or head to another restaurant. There are LOTS of them! Since I travel solo, another option I've used at times is just to sit at the Bar.
Happy travels!