Bologna Restaurants
 

Appreciate feedback on places for lunch and dinner. Will have four days in April. Prefer tourist friendly places with traditional decor and menus, nothing too fancy or expensive. We do not speak Italian. Interested in eating regional specialities. Love boar, mushrooms and fish. Want to try: pasta e fagioli, lasagne, tagliatella, tortellina, mortadella.

This is my intial list:
Vicolo Colombina
Gianna
Osteria dell Bottega
Serghei
Ciampi Cicclo
Da Nello
Trattoria Battibecco (fish)

The place you want for what you are describing is Giampi e Ciccio on the via Farini.

Secondly I would recommend da Gianni (full name is Gianni a la Vecia Bulagna) and you must make a reservation. This is where you should eat grilled mortadella.

All'Osteria Bottega moves in the direction of being a budget buster, but is THE place to eat if you want to sample cured meats and pastas made made with meat.

I've never eaten at Battibecco because it is definitely a budget buster, but for fish, I highly recommend Da Maro, run by Sicilians on the via Broccaindosso.

I think you would Serghei unfriendly and tough to negotiate, and would only recommend da Nello if you have a serious interest in checking out their stellar collection of photos of rock'n'roll guitar greats. I've not eaten at Vicolo Colombina.

Paste e fagioli is NOT a dish eaten in Bologna, so you will need to go to southern Italy for that. Lasagne is sometimes a bit tough to come by. Not every old-fashioned restaurant makes it every night. You can reliably find tagliatelle and tortellini on menus, and I HIGHLY recommend that in springime, it is great to try passatelli in brood (a unique pasta of Bologna made by pressing a mixture of eggs, parmigiano cheese and breadcrumbs through a sieve and serving them in broth.)

Rather than eat in restaurants all the time, consider diving into the markets and getting your own selection of sliced mortadella, sliced culatello, a felino salume, some chunks of cheese.

But if you really, really want to hit the top of the experience as a visitor in Bologna when it comes to eating the traditional food, book a meal with Home Food, which began in Bologna. Not all their April dates are listed on their website, so I would e-mail them directly and tell them which days you will be there and what types of food your a looking for. This looks like a good menu

http://www.homefood.it/en/menu/spian...dada-fernanda/

http://www.homefood.it/en/

http://www.homefood.it/en/contatti/

Thank you sandralist - great rundown and info. i like the idea of going to some deli/market places.

I put another comment on your drinks thread about restaurants.

For delis and markets you are spoiled for choice, but one of the best is Bruno e Franco on the via Oberdan, which just outside the market area but still quite close to it and the due Torri.

The excellent business restaurant Teresina is also on the via Oberdan, and it has a very plesant outdoor seating area and serves good fish in addition to Bolognese classics. They are very hospitalbe and professional, but not as much fun as Giampi e Ciccio. Don't be afraid to order grilled vegetables for a second dish if you start to tire of animal fat.

Another very homey place for handmade pasta in Bologna is a nice little trattoria called Il Tinello in the Jewish quarter. I can't remember if they speak much English or not, but it doesn't matter. They'll make it work. They are very sweet.

http://www.ristorantetinello.it

July 2014:
I had an excellent lunch at Gianni (the one on your list; Sandra also mentions it above). Started with a salumi daily special, even though it was just me. I couldn't resist and was glad I ordered it.

Also had a relaxing, delicious dinner at Trattoria Twinside, the more casual, twin restaurant to Caminetto d'Oro.

I had lunch at Battibecco in late April 2014. At lunchtime they have a fixed menu, with 3-4 choices for each course. I think it cost something like 25E for a 3-course meal or maybe a 2-course and I paid extra for dessert, can't remember exactly but it did not seem expensive.
It was an excellent meal, the service was great, too. They speak good English. I will gladly return.

DH and I had a wonderful sample of the boiled and grilled meals at Bertino's:

http://www.ristorantedabertino.it/index.html

We enjoyed a dinner at Vicolo Colombina. Service was friendly and very helpful. I don't recall the menu, so I can't say whether you'd find all of those specific dishes. The décor is fairly simple and mostly white. What's your idea of "traditional" décor?

Thank you all for the feedback. adjusting my list now.

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