This May, we will be arriving in Bologna on a Saturday afternoon. We will be staying for 5 nights, but we would like recommendations as to where we should be making reservations for dinner on our first night. We understand that there are many excellent restaurants, but what are your favorites?

Secondly, what would you suggest we do on Sunday? We understand that everything locks up during the afternoon hours during the week, and we are guessing that is pretty much the case for Sunday. Please help us out.

Many thanks!

I highly recommend Montegrappa Da Nello. Fresh produce and pasta made daily in the classic Bolognese style! The gramigna is a definite must and I enjoyed the lasagna al verde as well. I would also recommend the tortellina montegrappa which is their signature dish.

Service there was excellent and very personable. Our host was very friendly and extremely amused that we decided showed up at 7pm right when they open! We had the restaurant all to ourselves, but closer to 9 the locals began to show up and the restaurant became quite full. If it's good enough for the locals it's good enough for me.

DaCesari is great and it is open Saturday night. Quite a few places are closed on the weekend. I would definitely reserve in advance for the ones that are open on the weekend. We also enjoyed Caminetto D'Oro and Gianni a la Vecia. All of these are in the center of the city; many of the best places are a bit out of town.

On our Sunday in Bologna we went to Ravenna. Don't miss the mosaics. It's an easy day trip.

Marija, thank you for the tip about Ravenna. We had intended to make that one of our day trips. Just to clarify, once we have seen the mosaics, will any of their stores and restaurants be open? Also, do you have a recommendation for lunch on Sunday?

Thanks to the rest of you who responded. I have taken notes.

In Ravenna we ate at La Gardela, an Osterie di Italia restaurant. It was wonderful. Make sure to reserve in advance since people were being turned away for Sunday lunch.

Hi PamNC,

I'll be in Bologna in May also and plan to meet up with another couple either on the 15th or 16th of May for dinner. What is your itinerary? Maby you'd like to join us. I posted on Fodors this posting: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34716171

Anyway, if you're interested in meeting up, even for just a glass of wine or gelato, let me know: [email protected]

Monica

Hi Monica,

It sounds like it might work. We have got to sit down and finalize our plans for each day. We aren't rigid, but we like to have a general idea what all we want to see and do before taking off. I can't stand wasting time once you get to a place, reading about what the city has to offer.

Are you a solo traveler? I get the feeling that you do travel a lot and that you have met up with other Fodorites. How many times to Italy?

More soon -

Hi PamNC,

I'm traveling solo on this trip. I usually have my husband, Mom, or cousin with me. Tony couldn't get the same vacation dates, Mom is still recovering from all her chemo/radiation treatments from lung cancer (it's all gone!!) and my cousin is in a new job. So I decided I still wanted to travel in May and will go the solo route. I plan to meet up with a few friends along the way for dinner.

Here's my web site (yes, I do travel) http://www.luvtotravel.homestead.com/home.html

When you have figured your plans out, email me and I'll see if we can hook up.

Monica