wes fowler

In Venice's St. Mark's Square while drinking coffee we asked our young waiter where he would take his mother for dinner. He gave us directions through the rabbit warren that's Venice and we found the place. We entered a storefront that had a small bar at the rear with what looked like two deli cases on either side. A large circular clothed table sat to one side. The proprietor who looked exactly like Peewee Herman (right down to the bowtie) motioned us to the table, offered a basket of bread and advised the dining room was not yet open since the sole waitress was having her dinner. He then returned behind the bar and set out 10 wine glasses, filling four with a red and the remainder with white wine. Just as he finished filling the last, the door opened and two men walked in. Each picked up a glass, dropped some lira on the counter and polished off the wine. Before they had quite finished, four more men walked in and repeated the ritual. So too did four individuals arriving a few minutes after one another. All left, the waitress finished her dinner and signaled she was ready to serve and we sat down to a delightful dinner - so much so that we returned the following evening to witness the same wine pouring ceremony in what was obviously the neighborhood's dining room and waterhole.

ingrid

In Germany or Austria, look for "Gaststaette mit Metzgerei" next door (restaurant/pub with butcher shop).

Dean

Heres a trick we have used several times with great results. Find an artist whose work you really like. Ask him or her where they eat. First off its likely to be a good value and the fact that you like their asethetic sense makes for a greater chance that you and they will click on other scales. Make sure that they are somewhat prosperous at their art so low price isn't their only concern. <BR> <BR>We found Casalinga in Florence and Il Pino in San Gim that way. <BR> <BR>My problem with hotel reccomendations is that sometimes there are kickbacks invilved when the hotel books a table for you. While I have had a great meal set up by a hotel (La Vela Bianca in Sorrento comes to mind) others have been simply awful. If the hotel breakfast is not good, I would never take is reccomendation for a meal. <BR>

Roy

I've enjoyed reading all those responses because dining is THE big part of my travel. <BR>But in some places, the "look for locals" rule just doesn't work. Some small places in very touristed areas, such as the Cinqueterre, most locals are not about able to afford eating in the best ristorantes. <BR>I always like to stroll around checking the posted menus - this works very well in France, where almost all restaurants post them. But not well in northern Italy, where almost none do. In that case, I ask to check the menu, and I've never been refused. Also, I like to see daily specials on the menu. <BR>Ah yes, Sloppy Louies WAS great.

chris

Anywhere as long as my husband pays.

Maira

I feel I need to acknowledge and thank all the great responses and the fact that there wasn't a nasty thing said! A lot of very clever ideas <BR>

xxxx

KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL is going to be made into a movie with Brad Pitt and Benicio del Toro. OH, MY GOD, YUMMY!

Book Chick

I used to patronize a restaurant called "Il Cavallino" in Florence pretty regularly. I was lucky enough to get to know "il padrone" as well as a couple of waiters fairly well. When relatives would visit me, I would say to any/all of them "my folks (cousin/boyfriend/whomever) are coming into town next week, & of course we will dine here twice, but I was wondering if you had any recommendations here in town or in Fiesole?" Without exception, they were all happy to share their favorites every time & I would thank them afterwards & praise them lavishly for their good judgement & kindness in making the recommendations. (BTW, they had excellent judgement, never once steered us wrong & a couple of times asked if I had a budget, knowing I was a student. When I once answered that my dad would be paying, the waiter grinned & said we'd be eating the best food my father's money could buy!) <BR>BC

Nancy

Wes, do you remember the restaurant's <BR>name? It sounds interesting to me.

Elizabeth

Thanks for reminding me of Sloppy Louie's. It was my mom's favorite restaurant in New York and I'd forgotten about it.

TOP THIS

ttt

wendy

I always ask the guard at the metro station where they go for lunch. Chances are it's good and within my budget.

Vita

Basically the look of the place and the menu. I don't like crowds and noise, so the emptier and quieter the better. Then, of course, I browse the menu. Then I just see if I like the ambience. Voila.

jobriath

In response to the poster who said she'd walk out if a waitron wasn't at her table in a couple minutes: <BR> <BR>remember that restaurant servers have different styles in different countries. In Amsterdam, service would be considered very slow by some American standards, but that's just how it's done. When you sit at a table, it's assumed you'll be there for the evening, so why rush? And they (thankfully) don't come to your table every few minutes asking the insipid "how is everything?"

Judy

Maira, our very first night in Paris and "abroad", we were unsure where to eat in Paris. Actually, I was scared to death I would look foolish, while trying to speak French. I chickened out, and went to a "French?" pizza place that looked "busy" approachable, and "middle class", and worked our way up to French restaurants from there...usually with the same criteria. <BR> Judy

wow

Elizebeth, Do you realize how uptight you sound? You must be difficult to live with, I suspect.

Karen

I'd like to second Maribel's tip about asking the butcher. In Rome this past June, my husband spotted some tripe in a butcher shop near our apartment and decided that he had to have tripe during our week there. I balked at spending half a day cooking tripe in the apartment's miniscule kitchen, and finally thought of asking the butcher where to go for some. He directed us right around the corner to a tiny little trattoria, full of locals, where my husband had his tripe and all of us enjoyed an excellent and inexpensive meal. I won't hesitate to do this again.

xxx

This one is easy for me. I eat only in restaurants which feature smoke free premises....not a smoke free restaurant which allows bar patrons to spew their noxious fumes all over, but establishments which are completely smoke free. Second hand smoke during a meal is absolutely stomach turning, yech. I don't care how fabulous the food may be, smoke ruins the atmosphere...literally. <BR> <BR>Especially love visiting California and Utah, where ALL restaurants are smoke free! Also found some good places in Seattle. Kudos to those restauranteurs out there who are brave enough to be smoke free! You will get my business every time.

Chris

Don't be too put off by empty restaurants. We only go to restaurants recommended by Fodors (or other books), and we often find them empty because we are looking to dine early. Most French and Italians dine later. Unlike US restaurants, a French or Italian restaurant will hold a table empty if they have (for example) a 9pm reservation - because they don't want to rush people out once seated. What we often see is - we are seated at 7:30 or 8pm; the place is empty. Then, around 9pm, the whole place fills up with locals and the place comes alive! <BR> <BR>I know we should eat later, but - if you've been walking around all day, and are exhausted, it's just not easy to wait! <BR> <BR>If you are in Europe, you don't have a hope of a smoke-free restaurant. In Dijon, recently, we asked for a 'non-smoking' table, and were shown to a table by the door (cold, drafty, heavy foot traffic, etc) - which we declined. Surprisingly, we've never been 'overwhelmed' by smoke, in either France or Italy.

Dr. Al

As with most things in life I have found that the decision on where to dine can be quite handily solved with a system. By combining the exactness of mathematics with the precision of the dialectic, I have come up with the following system to determine the acceptability of institutions of higher gastronomy: <BR> <BR>1. The numerical of the establishment's address when added together and divided by "Pi" must result in a prime number. <BR> <BR>2. The chairs all have four legs; legs are found on fine wines: the finest wines have four legs <BR> <BR>3. They have a grilled cheese sandwich on the "kids" menu <BR> <BR>4. Hegel himself has been seen patronizing the establishment. <BR> <BR>Thank you, <BR> <BR>Dr. Al