John A

I am going to Italy next week with my wife and son. I am looking for resaurants to eat at not to fancy since we are going to be casual and also dont know about any of the meat problems in Europe right now?

The colonel

...of 11 herbs and spices... <BR> <BR>KFC - - casual and no bovine diseases. <BR> <BR>Chick-Fil-A, too. <BR>

Joe

I was in Rome last fall and did a search on "inexpensive restaurants Rome" here before I went. We had time to try only two of the places - - one was the Abruzzi - - but I found lots of great recommendations and the two we visited were very good.

the turnip

John, For our trip to Italy we spent WAY to much time trying to find good places to eat ahead of time. What we found out was there tons of great places to eat and that trying to find a certain restaurant was often very inconvenient and time consuming. Stay away from obvious toursity areas when it's time to eat if you can. <BR> <BR>My advice is to ask at your hotel or B&B for what type of place you're looking for that is nearby and follow their suggestions. Have a great time in Italia. <BR> <BR>Cheers, the turnip

Marsha

We will be traveling to Italy in August, and it seems most restaurants are closed on Tuesdays and in August. I too am apprehensive about the meat situation. Actualy, prefer fresh fish. <BR> <BR>We will be in Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome and would appreciate any tips anyone has to offer.

Jim Mohundro

We were in Florence and Venice last summer and found that we could make good meals out of pizza (a bit "plainer" than the American variety, and priced at about $5 to $7) and salads (tuna and "caprese" were our favorites, and at about the same price). We found ourselves often eating a salad each and splitting the pizza, ans smoothing it out with a beer (oddly, is was usually German beer featured in the cafés). <BR> <BR>Since many, if not most, tourist hotels provide a substantial breakfast as part of the room rate, we only ate dinner in a restaurant and stopped for the odd biscuit and a soft drink about mid-afternoon. <BR> <BR>By the way, there is a large piazza in Florence just north of the Ufitzi and Rick Steves recommended a little cafe that is almost hiden around the southeast corner of the piazza. It is a great little family-run place with maybe five tables, good food and a genial owner. It was a food highlight of oour Italy trip.

Robert

<BR>John, <BR>Just returned from Rome/Florence/Venice. <BR>Fodor's was a great guide to restaurants, even though you'll find great places to eat anywhere you go.In Florence, try La Giostra (it's in Fodors) Great food and atmosphere -make a reservation!! <BR>Ciao!!

christina

ciao john <BR> <BR>i try to give you some nice, inexpensive and casual places where you and your family can go here in florence: <BR> <BR>- pizzeria yellow <BR> via proconsolo <BR>you have to walk on the left side from palazzo vecchio down the small street, there you turn left and walk on the left side on the street. after maybe 200 m you find on your left side the pizzeria. they make very good pizzas and there you find locals. <BR> <BR>- borgo antico <BR> piazza st. spirito <BR>they serve you different food (but amounts!) to a very ecconomic price. it's allways full with students and tourists and locals. <BR> <BR>- il guscio <BR> via dell'orto <BR>walk from santo spirito to piazza de carmine and then to via dell'orto. it's not so close to everything but that's why you find a lot of locals, food is very good, and prices as well (remember, italians don't have amount of lires and a lot of trattorias in the center are with prices for tourists). <BR> <BR>- la casalinga <BR> in the corner piazza st. spirito when you stand in front of the church and looking towards the place, la casalinga is on your left in the corner. very cheap, very tuscan, very casual. <BR> <BR>- trattoria baldovino <BR> via di san giuseppe <BR>you take the street on the left side on santa croce, walk down this street and at the end of santa croce on your left side you find trattoria baldovino. a little bit expensiver, a bit fancier then the other ones but great great food and cool ambiente! <BR> <BR>i do have more for you, but they cost more and aren't so casual.but if you like to know more: tell me. <BR> <BR>tanti saluti! <BR> <BR>christina <BR> <BR>firenze dal primo di aprile senza!! bistecca fiorentina!!! che peccato!!!!!!

JIM

Do yourself a favor and pick up the book "Cheap Eats in Italy" by Sandra Gustafsen. There are extensive listings for Rome, Florence and Venice. We used this book religiously during our Italian trip last summer and were never disappointed. The restaurants for the most part are local casual places, which are reasonably priced in good locations. We had our 2 children, age 15 and 12 with us and they liked all of the places as well. If you want some detailed recommendations drop me an e-mail.