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Casual restaurants in Bologna

Posted by (Sonoma County, California) on

We'll be in Bologna for a few days prior to a tour. One of the guidebooks I was looking through mentioned a pasta shop that also serves meals, and it sounds like a nice place, seems popular and casual, has good vegetarian choices and when I look on their website, they mention that they close at 8 pm and that it's a good place for an early dinner. This ticks all the boxes, so to speak. (The place, if you are wondering, is Sfolia Rina, and I saw some positive mentions of it in some travel forum posts here.)

This made me wonder if there are other casual places in Bologna that are recommended. Though we have no problem revisiting the same place, I thought it couldn't hurt to check here for other recommendations. Lunch or dinner, and, if dinner, a place with earlier hours would be ideal.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you have.

Posted by
82 posts

We were in Bologna two weeks ago. Here are some thoughts. We had lunch at Sfolia Rina twice and it was great! That said, keep in mind that they do not take reservations and they are very popular. We arrived for lunch both days right at 11:30am when the kitchen opened. The restaurant filled quickly and when we left at about 12:30 there was a queue of about 50 people waiting to get in. We did not have dinner there, so not sure of best time to show up for that, but probably pretty early. For very informal meals we also enjoyed Piadinerie FABBRI (you can check their website). There are a couple of bars very near Piadinerie FABBRI, and on same street, that have nice aperitivo buffets starting at about 6pm. For a very informal lunch (or maybe takeout) we enjoyed La Tua Piadina. For pizza, our apartment host suggested Spacca Napoli Pizzeria, which is near the University District. Large pizzas and low prices. For gelato we were blown away by Gelarteria Gianni, which was recommended by a private guide we hired for a walking tour of Bologna. Also highly recommended for gelato was Cremeria Cavour, who some say is the best in town. For a nice wine bar, Enoteca Storica Faccioli fits the bill. They sell by the glass and by the bottle. Hope that gets you started!

Posted by
131 posts

Wow, thanks so much for those great recommendations. This is exactly the information I was looking for.

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