eating in italy

Rome: Restorante Abruzzi, the carbonara is Awesome! Florence: Tratoria Trebino and The Divine Comedy

From a previous post of mine for a couple of places in Rome I enjoyed. Happy eating!!

I had the Carbonara at a place called da Donato just a little walk down from the Pantheon going towards Via del Corso. Tried a little place in Campo de Fiori tonight called Magnolia. Had the Rigatoni alla'amatrciana. Was awesome! The whole family was happy and that's a rarity. Good prices, selection and taste. Would definetly recommend.

In most towns, move away from the tourist district. Look for a small unimposing place. Some of our best meals were in neighborhood places with small or no signs. We ate in a locals restaurants in Roma with excellent food, great prices, and now crowds.

In Venezia, the further you are away from Piazza San Marco, the better.

One of the nicest restaurants we ever ate in was in a tiny town and it had no sign, and beads strung down the outside.

It is not to say that you will not enjoy some of the bigger ones near the tourist areas, but this way you will find exactly what you are looking for.

PS Try the Hop On, Hop Off bus tours in Roma, great deal for aching feet.

A tiny place on the Trastevere side is da Giovanni. It offers very good simple, inexpensive, food with a charming older gent cooking in the back. He may come out and ask you what you would like to eat. When we were there he seemed to have a friend there to keep him company.

ronnie, I really enjoyed a small Trattoria called "Il Grillo Parlante" in Florence. According to Trip Advisor, there are new owners now so hopefully nothing has changed? If you decide to try it, be sure to post a note here as the information may be of use to future travellers. Cheers!

Just returned from Rome this week, and the best advice I can give is to not plan where you will eat and spend time trying to find it. The very best restaurant we ate in was one we stumbled upon while looking for one that others had recommended. We found the first restaurant and the prices were rather high (popularity in guide booksor on travel forums tends to do that) Just a block and a half over, we found an Osteria that had prices HALF of the first restaurant. The food was fantastic, atmosphere was wonderful and the owners were the friendliest ever. We were so glad we looked around and didn't go with the highly recommended first place. Bottom line - look around in whatever area you choose to eat in and find a place with menu items you find appealing and a price that fits your wallet.

I whole heartedly agree with the last post. We just returned from a month in Rome, at first eating at restaurants recommended in guide books, and then finding our own. You have to explore down the back streets though, but I assure you your time will be rewarded in more than one way.
If you are at the train station ( Termini) and just need a quick lunch, a place right across the street called Istanbul Kebob served excellent wraps and donairs overflowing with salad, chicken freshly shaved from the wheel and lots of fresh veggies. Excellent deal for 4 Euro.
And if you are in the Spanish Steps area, there is a new one called Ristorante Roma Sparita on Via Della Stelletta, No. 8, that serves many dishes not found in other places. We loved it so much, we went back three nights in a row. They only take cash though as they are new, but the chef who is the owner, and his girlfriend, who is the server, make you feel welcome and like one of the family.
Have fun and bon appetite!

Look for local places, bars etc rather than ristorantes. We LOVED Al Nono Risorto in Venice ~ ate their twice. Fun atmosphere, reasonable, great food

Venice: Nono Risorto (already mentioned)
Rome: Cul de Sac and Antiche Tratorria, both near Piazza Navona, and Dar Poeta in Trastevere. Just had lunch there today. Yum!

For the view of Florence alone, don't miss VIP's bar at Piazza Michaelangelo

Very good advice to get away from the tourist center. In Rome, at least, mediocre and overpriced places are very thick on the ground in the centro storico.

Just a few recommendations:
Bucatino in Testaccio. Very good cucina romana, and you'll be the only tourist there.

Il Pommidoro in San Lorenzo. Excellent cucina romana (love their pasta alla gricia), especially their game dishes.

Roma Sparita in Trastevere. Beautiful location on a piazza, no tourists, very good pasta and pizza.

For pizza, I'd go for Formula Uno in San Lorenzo, Nuovo Mondo or Da Remo in Testaccio, or Li Rioni in Celio (near the Colosseum). Skip Baffetto - the pizza is very good, but not good enough to merit the ridiculously long line.

I have many more local-eats recommendations on my blog at www.revealedrome.com/food-and-drink

Hope that helps!

Normally my rule is two blocks away from the main streets, small restaurant, family owned and little or no English spoken.

In Florence there is an exception. Its a pizzeria right on the Duomo Plaza with outdoor seating. Sorry I don't tend to remember the names of restaurants.
I think its on the corner of Calzaiuoli. This breaks all my rules, yet Oh God is the pizza good!!! You order individual pies and the choices are staggering. These are not like any pies I'd ever had before. The crusts are sort of thin and flaky. You eat them with a knife and fork. It is slightly more expensive than elsewhere, but the view of the Duomo and being on the plaza in the evening is fantastic. From what I could tell, the locals dine there also. Rick doesn't have it in his Florence guide probably because it does look exactly like the kind of place someone should avoid.

The unforgettable lunch stop in Florence is literally a hole-in-the-wall in an alley. It is called I Fratellini (The Brothers). We ate the most wonderful warm-bread, mozzarella, artichoke, and prosciutto sandwich while standing next to Italians on their work-breaks, drinking glasses of wine. In Venice we enjoyed Ristorante da Rafaele on a side canal where even the owner's dog Chico was enjoying a tasty meal under the table.

Was in Florence in July 2009 with my sisters and we enjoyed dinner one evening at Borgo Antico in Piazza Santo Spirito located in the Oltrarno neighborhood. Wonderful pizzas, calzones and pasta dishes and lovely outdoor seating. We also ate lunch one day at Trattoria Nerone Pizzeria, just north of Via Nazionale at Via Faenza 95 red. Good pizzas and pastas here too although it is decorated quite funky on the inside. They also have a cute courtyard with a few tables. Is convenient if you are in the Mercato Centrale/San Lorenzo mkt. area. My husband and I recently returned from Italy and ate at both of these places and they were still very good!