Going to Florence and Rome end of May. Many restaurants want reservations made by phone. Is this difficult to do?. What is the cost and the best time to call. Will they understand English when i call? How far in advance should i do this? thanks
Posted by
Chicago
7828 posts
Those are big tourists towns with lots of English speakers. it is not difficult to do if you know some basic Italian also your host or the concierge at your lodging could make a reservation the day before or in the afternoon by phone if you ask.
Posted by
California
1625 posts
Have you tried to see if the restaurants you want to visit are on The Fork? This is how we made reservations for some of the restaurants we wanted to visit.
Just calculate the time different and look at their hours of operation to make sure you get someone on the phone. My experience has been that the phone is answered in Italian, once I start talking English they say something (I am thinking it's "Hold on") then someone who speaks English gets on the line. Make sure when you say the date say June 03, 2022 not 6/03/22 as that would be a reservation on March 06,2022.
I found this on Google:
How to Call Italy From the US
First, dial 011, the US exit code.
Next, dial 39, Italy's country code.
Then, dial the 2-4 digit area code. ( you can google the code for each town)
Finally, dial the 8-10 digit phone number.
Posted by
Portland, OR USA
90 posts
Making phone calls in an unfamiliar language is daunting! If you decide to go for it, you can always open the call with "Lei parla inglese?" (Do you [polite] speak English?).
To reserve, say "Vorrei prenotare una tavola al [date, eg May 9th: "al nove maggio"] per X persone alle [time, eg 8pm: "alle otto di sera" or "alle venti" if using a 24 hr clock ]."
Italians really appreciate the effort! But I bet you'll be able to find someone who can help you in English.
In bocca al lupo! (Good luck!)