Looking forward to Italy but concerned that all the menu's I have seen seem to be the same. Surely they don't eat Pizza & Pasta all the time? I like it but I'm there for 3 weeks in August and hope to eat something different as well.

Where will you be? My mother and I did a circuit from Milan to Siena and back up to Venice, then returned to Milan. There were lots of salads and such on the menu and yes, pizza and pasta along with delicious choices of chicken dishes and some beef. I didn't much care for Italian beef, but everything else was great!

I assure you that you can eat very well in Italy without letting pizza or pasta pass your lips if you so desire. What kinds of menus have you looked at? I have been to Italy approximately 20 times and can count on two hands the number of times I have eaten pizza there.

In 4 trips to Italy, I've never eaten pizza or pasta there (I can't eat wheat). The food is wonderful and varied---Risotto, polenta, wonderful grilled meats and vegetables, fish, salads, . . . .

Buzzy, where did you see all these menus of which you speak?

No, you will have a lot of salad and sandwich options as well. I do agree that food is very different from in the states where there is a higher emphasis on the protein portion of the meal.

But, without a doubt you can find plenty of sandwiches, soups, salads, etc.

Pasta is considered a starter course, not the main dish. Menus in restaurants will be separated that way (appetizer, 1st, 2nd, main, whatever I'm not sure the exact words in Italian).

Plenty of grilled meats, seafood, stews or soups, vegetables, salads... I don't think I've ever eaten pizza in Italy.

I have actually had some good pizza in Italy.
Go to bars that have ombre y chichitti.
Little bites of things with a small glass of wine. That way you can try many things.
Try stuffed zucchini blossoms. yum.
There will be a wide variety of foods you will love. Promise...

Italian cuisine is arguably the greatest of all European cuisines.

It was the Italians who taught the French how to cook. Marie de Medici brought a small army of Italian chefs with her when she married the King of France. They introduced such "exotic" items as bay leaves to the French.

It was an Italian, Francesco Procopio Dei Coltelli, who opened the first cafe in Paris in 1686.

Pasta is only one aspect of Italian cuisine and is usually a seperate course in an Italian meal.If you don't want to eat pasta, just skip this course.

Heavens no! Like America, they have offerings of steak (bistecca), chicken (pollo), seafood (pesce e frutti di mare misto), zuppa (soup), vegetable side dishes (contorni) and even salads (insalate) are coming more forefront and larger (as a meal). I don't think you will feel limited in your dining selection, unless of course you specifically go to a pizzeria, then you could expect to eat only pizza (which is still the best in the world and my fav) Buon appetito!

One thing that you don't see commonly is salads good enough for a light meal. You know, with chicken and variety of vegetables.

Instead, salads are mostly one or two greens and they hand you the oil and vinegar bottles. No tomatoes, no chicken, etc.

One of the best salads I had was at an Italian restaurant in Barcelona, which I wanted because I had a cold and didn't want pasta or some meat or fish.

It was similar to the kinds of salads you can get in the US, with chicken and a variety of vegetables.

No - pizza is a very informal food - almost a snack - just like here. And while full dnners have a pasta course you don;t have to eat it - ot eat pasta at all. You will find all the Italian dishes you see in restaurants here - chicken, fish, all types of meats.

A couple of differences - except in the far north if ordering fish, chicken etc that's exactly what you get - veggies must be ordered separately - and are often enough for two. Salads are also ordred separatrely - after the main course. For something non-pasta first go for some of the anti-pasti (mushrooms and eggplant things are my favorite).

If you're really on a budget, then you may be eating pizza all the time. I've visited pizza places that sell for 10 euro per kg, and that's in central Florence. Other places may even be cheaper.

Italians eat pizze for dinner, not just as a snack.

If you think it's all pizza and pasta, check out this menu at www.ristorantelagiostra.it

artlover- that was one of my favorite restaurants in all Italy. We had carpaccio, seafood salad, steak with portobella mushroom, some ravioli, and 2 amazing desserts. Delish!

Even in a pizzeria you can usually order a full meal which, in Italy, is:
<b>antipasto</b> - cold appetizer (bruschette, marinated anchovies, artichokes, small salad, ...)
<b>primo piatto</b> - pasta, gnocci or risotto, sometimes soup
<b>secondo piatto</b> - fish, meat or poultry
with contorno (veggies, potatoes, ...) to order separately
<b>dolce</b> - gelato, tiamis&ugrave;, fresh fruit of the season, ...
<b>caff&egrave;</b>

Italians can easily eat this full menu ; we usually limited to half of it.

MyriamC ,
You forgot Limoncello

I think Buzzy is pulling our legs, his qustion is like asking if all you eat in China is chop-suey and noodles, or beans and tortillas in Mexico, or for that matter hambugers in USA. Sure P&amp;P are the best known synomnyms for fast Italian food, but as others has said Italy is famous for its food and I agree its better then French, check out http://www.made-in-italy.com/

I have never eaten pizza in Italy. In Northern Italy it is just as &quot;authentic&quot; as it is in the US or the UK
In fact, I have only ever seen Americans eating it. I always order a primo, though.

We were in Venice in a restaurant where most clients are locals, eating a two course lunch with wine.
A couple entered who were obviously tourists. &quot;German or American?&quot;, I muttered to Mrs. J.
&quot;We'll soon know&quot;, quoth my better half, &quot;If they are German, they will order a proper lunch. If they are Americans, they will order a pizza between two and won't order wine&quot;.
Lo and behold, they ordered a pizza between two and no wine.
Very observant woman, Mrs. J.

I think Buzzy must be talking about menus in low-end Italians eateries in the US. Another recent poster had a similar problem with French food, based on what sounded like some pretty dire experiences at home (&quot;too rich&quot.

But even so, how many Italian restaurants in the US would have nothing but pasta and pizza to offer? Even the el cheapos would offer old reliables like veal pizzaiolo and maybe grilled spatchcock with lemon, wouldn't they? I'm leaving aside faux-Italian operations like the beyond-bad Olive Branch chain, of course.