liam

is it expensive to eat out in italy, if so how much are we talking about in the major cities and could anyone recommend any good places in rome venice florence and pisa.

Linda

In Rome, there is a family owned & run restaurant named "da Vincenzo" which was marvelous & not expensive. It is located on Via Castelfidardo, 4-6. Closed Sundays. <BR>We enjoyed it so much three years ago that we are headed back there in Sept. <BR>We sat at a small table for 2, next to what seemed to be an engagement party table of 12 people. They were served course after course, ate everthing and they were all thin & beautiful. The food was incredibly good. We even enjoyed iced grappa, very firey, loaded with citrus fruit & left at our table to sample as much as we wanted. <BR>The owner-maitre'de remembered everything we ate & totaled the bill from memory, including eyeballing how much grappa we sampled & presented the bill as a single figure. <BR>We will be in Rome 3 nights in Sept. & plan to eat there twice.<BR><BR>A terrific nearby hotel is Des Artistes.<BR>e-mail [email protected]<BR>The owners of Des Artistes recommended the restaurant to us.<BR>

xxx

Florence: Pane e Vino, 13 Gobbi, Trattoria 4 Leoni. All around US$60 per couple. <BR><BR>We typically ate a starter, primi OR secondi (not both), dessert and wine.

zootsi

Depends on where you go. Realize that in Italy a 'restaurant' is considered a somewhat upscale, expensive place to eat. Dinners can run $100 per couple. However, most locals and many tourists opt for trattorias, osterias, and pizzarias, which are quite inexpensive and usually have very good food (it's hard to find a bad meal in Italy!). We ate at many excellent trattorias where the bill came to less than 30 Euros with wine. As mentioned above, you can just have the 'primi' or 'secondi' which is usually plenty. House wines, which are usually very good, run about 4-5 Euros a half liter.

Jim

Eating out so inexpensively was one of the greatest surprises about our recent trip to Italy. We always had the following: Antipasti (sometimes one, usually two), two primi, two secondi, ensalata, vino della casa (mezza), two ensalata and mineral water. Never did we pay more that 50 EURO, and many times ate as cheaply as 30 EURO/couple. Don't miss any meals, there are surprises around every corner. We were especially fond of La Ciacchere in Siena and Taverna San Travoso in Venice. Both are popular and listed by Rick Steves, although I strenously disgree with his characterization of La Ciacchere as "touristy."

Colin

I thoroughly enjoyed eating at Alexanders, on the pavement of via Veneto. It cost us around $45 for 3 courses and two bottles of wine, which I felt was value for money for its location. However, it did lack the ambience of a small trattoria over the river in Trastevere, but the 3 older gentlemen waiters more made up for the lack of character. They were magnificent hosts! <BR><BR>All I can say is don't bother trying to get something to eat, nor even just a cup of tea, at Babbington's Tea Rooms, at the bottom of the Spanish Steps. Extortionate proces, and a stuffy English atmosphere! <BR><BR>

bob

food in italy is poor. don't eat oooout