How do you make restaurant reservations??

You could try using Google Translate to come up with the words you need - you can even get it to pronounce them for you, in order to practice before you get on the phone. Also, any good Italian phrase book will give you the necessary verbiage.

Do any of the restaurants you're interested in offer booking on their website? Does anybody know if there is an Italian equivalent for The Fork/La Fourchette? I do not think it out of bounds to ask your AirBnB host-they are your innkeeper, after all, and I would imagine it's a request they get all the time.

Get Rick Steves' phrase books -- they have all the phrases you need for stuff like this, renting rooms, asking where things are, etc.

Evelyn, my first choice would be the restaurant website, or email if they have an email address. You may use google translate but before you send your message, translate it back to English to make sure it's correct.

Also, if you make the reservation yourself, note that day precedes month on Italian calendars, so June 5, 2017 would be 05 06 2017. And there is a 24-hour clock, so a reservation for 8pm would be 20:00.

You could try asking if they speak Emglish.

Start with "Bona sera" (good evening) when they answer the phone (or buon giorno if early afternoon). Then "Vorrei fare una prenotazione----parla inglese?"
(I would like to make a reservation. Do you speak English? "

If the restaurant has a website they may take reservations there. Or they may be on Open Table. One place I reserved in Florence was on an Italian version of Open Table, but I cannot recall the name of the company.

Yes, I've considered Googling phrases, but what usually tends to happen is they hear Italian and start responding faster than I can comprehend. I managed in Paris with French since I learned it in school, but Italian is so foreign to me.

I think, as suggested, I should ask to make a reservation in Italian and whether they speak English.
Or if I get cold feet, I'll ask my AirBnB host.

I was hoping there was a service online I was unaware of. I guess I'll just have to brave it!

Oh and to answer some questions, a few of the restaurants have websites but many don't.

I have used websites, phone calls, asked hosts to do it, and even walked to places to do so in person. Even though I can speak very basic Italian, I struggle on the phone, but with practice it gets easier. If you are in cities, they are most likely going to speak English.

Have you considered learning some basic Italian prior to your trip (including restaurant phrases)? It's not required, of course, but it will make your trip much more rewarding. Obviously I don't know about the availability of foreign language instruction where you live, but it might be worth exploring. At the very least, I'm sure you can learn the mandatory reservation phrases in the next 6 months, prefaced by "I speak only a little Italian, please repeat more slowly". I think "repeat (or speak) more slowly" is actually a phrase that Rick Steves uses all the time in his little language books. Good luck and enjoy picking up new phrases! If you speak French, it may not be as difficult as you think. I hope you give it a try and not shy away from it...it really does get easier with practice.

You can download a smartphone app called The Fork and book from there, you do everything online and don't need to speak Italian :)

Hello,
I suggest The Fork App as well.
Alternatively, book your dinners by mail, writing in english. if restaurants you choose are high level, they can manage reservations in english. Last, if you need other short translations, write me by pm.

Ciao
Dario

Even in the small towns they will speak enough English to make a reservation. It will be a very quick conversation because they are busy. They will recognize the English words reservation and for 2 persons and the day. They usually only need your first name. It's helpful if you know the 24 hour clock so you can tell them " at 19" if you want to come at 7.

Email is one possibility- our first trip to Rome I emailed from the States with no problem to make the reservations. Now I can speak so no problem. There are MANY small towns where they do not speak english contrary to what people tell you. We had an Airbnb room where the owner spoke NO english. Not a problem for me since I have been studying the past few years but for my first trip it would have been a problem. Similarly an awesome restaurant near Vasanello- no english spoken. Best to have a phrase book and use online sources. I plan to do this for an upcoming Eastern Europe trip.

If the small town is either San Gimignano or Positano of course they'll speak enough English to take a reservation.
If it's... I don't know... Santa Maria della Morra in the middle of the Langhe wine country?... they'll probably speak only a little or no English at all plus some French. It depends on how far you're from the tourists' path, not on the size of the town.

Out of curiosity, are we speaking about starred/expensive restaurants here? Because I can't think at a single mom&pop place where you have to reserve a table on working days.

PS Isn't advertising forbidden on this forum?

The only restaurants that need reservations are the top of the top fancy ones that cater to the international clientele, so they will speak English.

May I ask the names of the restaurants you are considering?

I just called the restaurant, they answered in Italian and I started speaking English and I then I heard the person call over another person who answered the phone with "hello, how can I help you"..and I made the reservation.

Go the easy route first and just call and see what happens. If your staying at AirBNB your Host can make reservations for you also, do not hesitate to ask them, most are super helpful, its like having a friend in the city you are visiting.

I was also able to use the Fork for some of my reservations. If you look at the reviews of the restaurant on TripAdvisor they will tell you if you can make a reservation through the fork. Super easy!

All of you have been EXTREMELY helpful, and have eased my concerns about calling. Thank you!
I'm definitely going to learn as many Italian phrases as I can. I won't be one of those tourists who refuse to speak their language. Hopefully by the time i'm ready to make a reservation, my Italian will be slightly better.

I'll definitely look into The Fork, and I won't hesitate to ask my AirBnB host for help. I will try calling myself first, since I'll need to practice anyway. I'll let you all know how it goes!!

For those curious, the main restaurant I'm concerned with so far is Ca D'Oro alla Vedova in Venice, since they don't have a website. The other is Antico Giardinetto. Although they have a website and email, I've read that they don't respond quickly or at all. If that's the case, i'll have to call them as well. I only assume this is how some of the other restaurants might be like in the other cities i'm visiting, which are:

Venice
Florence (with daytrip to Val D'Orcia)
quick stopover in Naples to run over and have pizza at Gino Sorbillo
Sorrento/Capri
Positano/Amalfi
Rome

(this is my first visit to Italy, so I'm aware i'm missing out on a LOT - don't worry...i'm sure i'll be back to cover the rest!)

This is off topic, but any restaurant recommendations are welcome too. :)

I had the experience of being turned away by at least two restaurants in Trastevere at about the time I thought they might be opening for dinner (i.e., early). It was a weekday in late May 2015 and they were not fancy-looking places at all. I subsequently learned on this forum that Italian restaurants typically don't turn their tables over, so if there are 14 tables and they have 14 reservation for 8:30 or 9 PM, you're not getting a table at 7 PM, empty though the restaurant may be. In addition, experienced visitors have advised that restaurants really appreciate it when customers make reservations, so it sounds like a good general plan, though it does limit ones flexibility.

There's a small, very plain-looking restaurant in Trastevere that you might investigate. It's called Da Enzo. It specializes in local dishes. I enjoyed my lunch there and later learned (perhaps on TripAdvisor) that it's knowm as the late-night haunt of chefs who've gotten off duty from their own restaurants. Hard to think of a better recommendation than that if you want to try the local specialties. I got in for an early lunch on a weekday without a reservation, but that may have been dumb luck. I'm sure you'd need a reservation for dinner.

I had the experience of being turned away by at least two restaurants in Trastevere at about the time I thought they might be opening for dinner (i.e., early). It was a weekday in late May 2015 and they were not fancy-looking places at all. I subsequently learned on this forum that Italian restaurants typically don't turn their tables over, so if there are 14 tables and they have 14 reservation for 8:30 or 9 or 9:30 PM, you're not getting a table at 7 PM, empty though the restaurant may be. In addition, experienced visitors have advised that restaurants really appreciate it when customers make reservations, so it sounds like a good general plan, though it does limit ones flexibility.

There's a small, very plain-looking restaurant in Trastevere that you might investigate. It's called Da Enzo. It specializes in local dishes. I enjoyed my lunch there and later learned (perhaps on TripAdvisor) that it's known as the late-night haunt of chefs who've gotten off duty from their own restaurants. Hard to think of a better recommendation than that if you want to try the local specialties. They don't take lunch reservations but I assume you must reserve for dinner.

When I am trying to reserve restaurants in places where I do not speak the language, sometimes I try in English, sometimes I try by mail, sometimes I simply visit the restaurant the day or the morning before, and make my reservation in person.

Call restaurant and say:
VORREI PRENOTARE UN TAVOLO PER (number of people in Italian) PER (date)

I speak Italian but my husband does not. I got tired of always being the one to call, so when he selected the restaurant, I made him call (we took turns on restaurant selection every week while we lived there). They ALWAYS found someone who could manage to take a reservation in English. Just speak slowly.

One thing I'm curious about - I gather that in Italian restaurants, they don't try to 'turn' the tables, so if a table is reserved for whatever time, no one can get it earlier? Is that correct? So, when you're making a reservation, is it still mandatory to specify a time?

Table-turning: occasionally a restaurant will give a diner or a party of diners a table early, but you basically hsve to promise to leave in time for the table to be turned.

You should always give a time when reserving. It's not polite to expect the restaurant to hold an empty table if the party it's reserved for never shows. But once you are seated, the table is yours until the restaurant closes. A no-show is different than a party lingering over dinner.

Thanks Zoe. Of course I wasn't suggesting reserving and not showing up. Just wondering how specific one needed to be.

Insbig, I didn't think you would be a no-show (from your other posts), but sometimes people interpret advice very broadly.

Try to phone, probably they will find somebody who speaks English. If you are too shy for phoning, ask your hotel concierge to phone for you.

Hey everyone!

So I've confirmed earlier that I will brave it, and call in myself.
However, I forgot to ask. What is a reasonable time to call ahead to make a reservation? Is 2 weeks prior too much? Will it irritate the restaurant owners if it's too far in advance?

Good for you, Evelyn!

If it's a weekend, I think a couple of weeks ahead would be fine. Usually the day before is enough time. Send Laurel a PM, she has made hundreds of reservations while living in Roma.

" if there are 14 tables and they have 14 reservation for 8:30 or 9 or 9:30 PM, you're not getting a table at 7 PM,"

Last September when we were in Parma, we wanted to try a restaurant that had great reviews. They allowed us to reserve for 7PM if we would be finished by 9AM - no issue, and the food was fantastic! Of course, most of the food in Italy is great when we're looking for a restaurant outside the main tourist centers.

I have the app for. The Fork. Perhaps I am not using it correctly but I found many restruants for Paris but only a few for Venice, and Florence and none for Rome, so I don't find it very helpful for me.