jlmurdo1

We're leaving for Rome in 2 1/2 weeks and I'm feeling overwhelmed by all of the choices for eating while we are there. We love to eat and I want to make the most of every opportunity to experience great Italian food while we are there. I've always wanted to go to Italy and eat! This doesn't mean that I want big, fancy,multiple course dinners every day. For lunch we're planning on eating pizza, picnics etc. to cut down on costs and save money for gelato!
I was just wondering how all of you decided where to eat on your trips. Especialy all of you ultra-planners (I seem to be turning into one). There are endless recommendations in books (Cheap Eats In Italy, guidebooks),on this web site and others for good restaurants, cafes etc. Did you just wing it? Did you have each meal planned out? I'm just curious what other people do.

SeaUrchin

First of all, there is one rule, well, maybe two. Don't eat at a place where the waiters (or even worse the owner) are waiting outside to entice you inside. Second is of course eat alot of gelato.

I take a few recommendations with me and when I am staying in a place long enough I even take a book or two of restaurants.

I like the recs from people who have actually eaten there more than the established guide books such as michelin.

I like Cheap Eats too, Sandra Gustafson is a well traveled, nice person.

Underhill

We just walked around and read menus (my hobby) and asked our hotel for recommendaitons. The best one from that source was for Dal Bolognese. I think it's difficult not to get good food in Italy, especially if you love pasta.

Patrick

I'm one of those ultra-planners you're talking about.
I arm myself with recommendations from various guidebooks, and more importantly with lists I've compiled from this site. When a particular place has received several raves, it gets a big star next to it.
But then I arrive and after checking out a lot of those places, much of the time I ignore all that planning. My best guide is walking around each night and checking out the crowds at other places, along with checking their posted menu. I particularly tend to be attracted to places that seem to busiest late in the evening and with a crowd that appears to have at least quite a few locals in it. Most of the time, I find these "last minute" unplanned visits some of my best dining experiences.

From my week in Rome this summer, our seven dinners:

La Tartaruga, which I found about a dozen raves here and it was very good, but didn't seem worthy of the incredible raves I had read. It was surprisingly not busy -- in fact we were almost alone, and the only other diners were all Americans.

Pizza at Da Baffeto: considered a MUST by many guidebooks and posters here as well. I guess it was fun to wait in line and share a table with a bunch of starving local college age kids, mostly who had been drinking too much, but I really didn't get it. I've had far better pizza a dozen places and it was insanely hot, uncomfortable, crowded, and lacking in service.

Il Bacaro: recommended by a couple readers here. Excellent meal and a wonderful evening.

Arco di San Calisto in Trastevere: an old stand-by of ours. As good as ever, except for the tiramisu which has totally changed for the worse.

Osteria del Pegno, just off Coronari. One of those places I'd never heard of but we passed one night, it was jammed late and smelled wonderful. We made a reservation for the next night and had maybe our best meal in Rome. Dark with candles and an incredibly friendly and jovial host.

Fiametta -- I think we had read about this place here, and stopped there mainly because we were tired and they had a great table outside available. Good, nothing spectacular.

Pancrazio-- again, an old favorite of ours. Outstanding food in a quiet little corner near Fiori.

kmoncrief

we just came back from Florence Lucca etc..I too had done so much research.In the ned Lucca was the only one I had seen in the book,oh wait one in Bologna..the must have reservations!! Well we went at lunch and were the only people in there. The one in Lucca was FULL of tourists..We had great dinners at all of the restaurants that the hotels suggested excpet one. Next time I believe I need to be very clear on what we were looking for. The one in Venice was ok,just not the experience I was looking for on our first night there
.On our very last night in Florence the hotel suggested a place and I said"are you sure??? This is our last night..etc" It was by far the best meal we have ever had!!
I did like the hotel in Verona that gave us three business cards and told us about all three. We walked to each and looked at the menu and decided..a perfect choice!

Good Luck! Dont stress! To be perectly honest we have had much better pasta ..and bread over here,our best meals were always meat! Go figure!

USNR

Experience teaches me to:

1. Avoid places that have credit card decals plastered all over their front.

2. Try eating when the locals eat, not when Americans eat. In general, you will find Romans eat later than we do.

3. Avoid places where "steerers" are posted out front to lure you inside. It may or may not be a clip joint, but why take the chance.

4. Look off main boulevards; the rents are lower, they need the business, and often it is Mom & Pop and the kids who run it.

5. I often ask to poke around in the kitchen or at least give it a look. The little places like you to do that. Especially in Mediterranean countries.

6. Watch to see who is eating. If it is locals, give it a go. If it is a bunch of expense-account types, move on.

7. If the waiters seem rushed, check it out. If they are standing around, keep walking.

8. Use your nose. If garlic is a cover-up instead of an ingredient, keep moving. Your nose is your best guide.

9. And, above all, if they have a menu posted in English only, don't even bother to slow down.

nytraveler

We're of the semi planned mode. For lunch we generally just find somewhere casuale that looks good wherever we are when we get hungy - sandwhich shop, pizzeria, tavola calda etc. (We don;t do picnics - I really like to sit down at a comfy table - especially outdoors if the weather is nice - for at least an aperatif. )

For dinner we start with a list of possibles gleaned from a bunch of sources - but then also ask locally and do an in-depth menu review (and checking out of how happy the diners look) before we enter.

Using this system have only ever had one bad meal in Italy - and it was in Venice - where its a lot easier to get burned - since for some reason the tourists there seem to have had their taste buds removed.

mcgeezer

I rarely decide here where to eat "there", with the exception of a restaurant that has architectural interest. (For example; La Perle de Prague.)
I make little notes my map, if in my research, I find a cafe or a shop that's interesting. This way I don't have to plow through notes to find a place to eat or shop & I usually have my map very handy.
We ask the staff at the hotel or a local that we strike up a conversation with, where to eat or chose a place that is very busy, preferably with local people.

Jocelyn_P

We always have our multi-course splurge meal at lunchtime. Prices are always better than at dinnertime, there's rarely a wait for a table, and the long break from active sightseeing, especially if it's hot outside, is nice. Then at dinnertime we have a pizza or a simple pasta with a glass of wine at an outdoor cafe in a popular piazza so we can watch the evening stroll.

I will take along a list of restaurants as possibilities in case I'm in the area when we get hungry, but some of the best finds are off-the-beaten-path places that are not listed in the guidebooks. Although it's a great experience to dine in a big piazza, generally you will not find your best value there.

Don't sweat it--it's hard to go wrong!

USNR

I forgot a couple thoughts:

1. Find out where the law courts are and eat near there. Why? Because lawyers and clerks are usually in a hurry, haven't time to dawdle over their food, and few Americans know about such places.

2. Failing that, look at places on the second floor -- yes, Italy has a lot of restaurants that are up on balconies. Cheaper, quieter, very Italian.

3. See if you can spot a newspaper office. You will always find a bar-and-lunch place nearby, often cheap, always rushed. Make a point to eat around 1:30 for lunch (same with lawyers) because they eat around 1:00 and must be back at work. Avoid their rush hour -- it usually is bedlam.

capo

Sometimes recommendations in guidebooks, sometimes recommendations from locals or other tourists. I've been to two places in Rome I saw mentioned here on Fodors and enjoyed both of them. Another way is just by seeing a place that looks interesting. That's how I found a lunch place I can't recommend highly enough, the Antica Tavola Calda del Corso. It's on the west side of Via del Corso, a few blocks north of Piazza Venezia. Delicious, inexpensive food. Packed with Romans at lunch.

caroline_edinburgh

Whenever I visit a city I generally book one or two dinners at Michelin starred restaurants. If they are not places I've heard about, I just go on whether the brief description and 'typical dishes' in the guide appeal - and location of course - and have never been disappointed. During our last stay in Rome we ate at La Rosetta and Il Convivio and enjoyed both very much, although they were quite different. I'd usually book these sorts of places a week or two in advance : for famous/3 star restaurants, 1-3 months in advance.

mamc

For each of our trips, I do lots of research on restaurants. I enjoy the research, love to eat and feel that eating is a very important part of our cultural experience and enjoyment. I use Chowhound, Michelin, Gourmet, Zagats, Cheap Eats, friends' recommendations, recommendations from this website and other ideas. I end up with a long list of ideas for restaurants, cafes, markets, shops patisseries, gelaterias, etc. When we get to our destination, we ask our hotel to make reservations at those places we really want to eat and we use the other places on the list as guides. We have not had anything but wonderful food on our last 4 trips. We used to rely on recommendations from our hotels but learned that they often sent us to fancy but not delicious places.

zootsi

We do a lot of research using travel books and Fodors, make a list, but often wind up at what looks good in the neighborhood we happen to be in. We have also asked for reccommendatios from locals.In Rome we stopped in a tiny wine bar/tobacco shop/hangout and struck up a conversation with some locals, who recommended a small, hidden away trattoria/butcher shop just off Campo di Fiore. Not a tourist in site. Sorry I can't remember it's name!

laurie_ann

Here are a couple of suggestions I stumbled over at different times. 1. If you are hungry and looking for place nearby, find someone who looks like you and ask (if you are a 30-something professional, ask a local business person, if you are a senior citizen ask a local older person). This makes sense because what is "good" is often relative to the person and not an absolute. 2. Ask a local shop keeper (not a young clerk but the proprietor) and ask not just for a nearby restaurant but somewhere that he or she actually goes, for example where would he or she take his or her wife/girlfriend or husband/boyfriend for lunch or dinner or whatever you are looking for. This makes sense because otherwise a shop keeper (or anyone else) may assume you want a "tourist" restaurant. Buon Appetito! (and pardon my horrible italian)

dln

I start out with lists, but more often than not, when it's close to dinner time, we're not anywhere near anything that's been recommended! Don't know how that happens, but it always does.

So we walk. And walk. And walk. It drives my husband crazy, because I have to check out the menus at every single restaurant and if they don't have anything interesting, we walk some more. That's how we end up eating on European time--we might get hungry at 7 pm but I can't find something that suits me until 10 pm.

Hope springs eternal, though. I have twice as many restaurant lists for next month in Paris! (Okay, okay, it was either that or divorce.)

IdyllicItaly

Kmoncrief,

Could you tell us the name of the restaurant in Florence where you ate the last meal of your stay? I'm intrigued.

mr_go

We walk around from place to place, looking at menus, until "the boss" (our 11-year-old daughter) decides something looks good to her. Sad but true.

Actually, some of the best meals we've had in Italy have been at places we stumbled upon, with no recommendation or prior knowledge. I tend to favor al fresco spots...and if they have an English-language menu, so much the better!

Mincepie

Never make a reservation and do not walk around all night looking at restaurant menus...just go by the look from the outside and I agree with previous poster..lunch is much better value. Always take a few reccomendations with me and give them a second look if I pass them. It is very hard to have a bad meal in Italy. We have been going for 30 years and have only had one meal we could not eat. Picnics are a great idea too..good bread and cheese and wine and people watch in the piazza. Have a good time.

twoflower

At night? Once I've settled in to accommodation, then set out to explore the town or village on foot. There'll always be a few dining places along the way, and when i see one with nice ambience and an attractive menu, in I go. I'm a meticulous itinerary planner (but frequently deviate from it, which is easier to do without disadvantage if you've planned well in the first place), but I draw the line at pre-booking where to eat. That really destroys spontaneity and closes the door on wonderful yet-to-be-discovered spur-of-the-moment opportunities.

Lunch. Ditto, if we are somewhere, or if we're "on the roasd" we'll pick up some picnic food and find some nice picturesque spot to stop at and eat. (Actually we've done that for dinner too! One of our special memories is spreading a rug out on a grassy hilltop near Donauworth in Bavaria, and sitting there gazing out over a panorama of fields, river and villages, eating made-up ham & salad rolls and drinking red wine as the sun set into twilight.