Yeah, I've seen it to, but I can't remember where. The fried potatoes I've seen have been more like what I would call steak-cut fries, not the crispy fries I have been able to get in France.

Ligurians put potatoes in some of their pasta dishes, most notably a pesto that also has green beans in it.

Ooooh, I've had that pasta with pesto, potato and green beans with clams! It was yummy.

Thanks for all the responses! I've got to catch up -had a busy day today.

" I have seen Italians (in Italy) eating pizza and pommes frites.

I have seen pizza in Italy with fries on top. "

I have seen and eaten sandwiches in England with fries (and nothing else) inside. With a drizzle of thin, proper 'sauce' (gravy) on the fries, it tasted pretty good.

In Urbino there was a little pizzaria where all the locals went for lunch. They served pizza by the slice and most people at it with their hands. Just like when I was a kid in NY!

"I'm not sure Italians ever drink milk by the glass. I don't recall seeing Italian children it."

I always order my little son a hot milk in the morning while we sit with our coffee...I've been doing this for years and no one looks at me like I have two heads or anything If fact, they seem to expect me to order it for a small child...so I was always just assuming that Italian kiddies drink milk in the am too...who knows though...maybe I'm wrong and they DO think I'm an odd-ball!

Casa,

The fact that I don't recall seeing something doesn't mean anything. Most places where I stay and eat breakfast don't have children there. But I also wouldn't expect Italians to deny a child anything, or treat someone visiting their country rudely for ordering something for their child.

Pizza that is sold by the slice (or "fette') is commonly eaten with the hands in most of Italy. One esepcially sees Roman walking on the street after work eating slices of pizza (or eating gelato).

Urbino has an enormous student population, which favors inexpensive take-out meals. Sharing popularity with pizza in Urbino, and more typcial of the local cuisine, is a flaky pastry disk that is cut with lard to make it very rich, and then folded over a filling to make a kind of flat turnover. Sometimes the filling is a cured meat or a cheese that melts, but it's often a vegetable or herb mixed into a soft, ricotta-like cheese. I can't quite remember the name -- it's callled "crescia sfogliata" I think -- but it's probably more "authentic" than pizza in that area of Italy as the "fast" food eaten with the hands.

"But I also wouldn't expect Italians to deny a child anything"

Oh how TRUE that is!!!!

My little boy was SPOILED like you wouldn't believe! heavenforbid we did not order our precious darling dessert after dinner (!) owners would RUSH over to the table to bring him ice-cresm, etc. with a wink...shop owners would hand him candy on the sly...on and on and on It was actually SO over-the-top (we were there a month this past trip) that my kid felt relief to be home...with no old ladies pinching his cheeks and patting his head all day! (he's blonde and we were in the South) good news is...he's always dying to go back! (also...great travelling with a kid...nobody EVER questions you going in the find the bathroom even before you order!)

Yes, I've often been tempted to try to borrow a child before boarding a plane for Italy. I've no complaints about the way I am treated by Italians, but chidlren are treated like royalty, and their parents get all kinds of extras too.

I really appreciate all the answers above. We are relaxed diners but I do hope to avoid embarrassing myself. (I recall once in Paris being chastised for putting my fruit salad in the 'wrong' dish and don't want to go through <i>that</i> again). I wasn't raised in a pig sty (Ira!) but I will shock you by saying I always eat pizza 'by hand' at home (and rarely eat it when dining out).

So now, I'll be at ease ordering one or two courses, for myself or to share, and deciding about dessert at the end. We'll figure out how much wine based on how many of us want some, and I've read that going with the house wine is generally satisfactory. Our son and daughter-in-law might prefer a beer sometimes. We'll just accept coffee/espresso and no milk, and at the end, we won't tip (much).

Best pizza I've had was a quattro stagioni at a place right on the Piazza Barberini. Forget the name but I think it had Naples in it.

The prosciutto was shaped sort of like fat spaghetti noodles and the cheese was nice and soft but not runny. Big contrast to most Italian pizzas where the cheese kind of curds up, leaving areas of fluid making the crust too soggy to eat with anything but a knife and fork.

I guess I'll have to search here for suggestions on pizzerias in various cities.

Why do Americans want to share dishes?
It's a puzzle that they seem to have such tiny appetites when so many of them are circumferentially challenged.
I was in a small Venetian restaurant with Mrs O.
It was essentially a sea-food place and was full of people having two course lunches. It had pizza, I suspect with pre-cooked bases, but nobody was eating it.
A couple of obvious tourists came in and I murmured to Mrs O, &quot;German or American&quot;.
&quot;We'll soon see&quot;, quth she, &quot;If they order a primo and secundo with wine, they are Germans. If they order a pizza between two and water, they are Americans&quot;.
She was absolutely right. They ordered a pizza between two and water.
I bet that from a financial point of view that the owner would have preferred Germans.
With eating pizza with or without eating irons. I'd say that if you are given a knife and fork, then use it.
If you are not, then eat it with your fingers.

any suggestions for a good non-alcoholic drink while in Italy. My non-drinker husband needs something tasty while I sip my wine.

They split a pizza between the two of them?

Sounds like an effort to save money.

Probably the euro/dollar exchange hitting them.

Plus some people just aren't into seafood.

Actually I can't eat a lot at one sitting, and another point might be that I would like to *avoid* becoming &quot;circumferentially challenged&quot;. I have never eaten an entire pizza by myself and never will. And I don't like seeing food thrown away because I can't order an amount 'in tune' with what I can actually consume.

Travelnut: With regard to wine, the Santa Margherita Pinto Grigio is very inexpensive in Italy. Here in the states in a restaurant, it is at least $40/bottle, but there it is maybe $10. And it is a very good Pinto Grigio. So if you see it on the menu, I would order it.

Another very nice wine our Italian friends served us was Est Est Est. There is a story to it, but it is long and you can google it to read about it. Very light white wine. We enjoyed it very much.

Bashamj,

Bars in Italy have menus, and all of them list non-alcoholic cocktails in addition to Italian sodas and juices.

Est! Est! Est! is an excellent white wine from Montefiascone (a beautiful town in Lazio) and it's very readily available in Roma.

Personally I don't like pinot grigio, no matter how cheap it is. I usually try to order the local white.

Travelnut,

I think ordering the house wine is an excellent strategy, although if you prefer dry wine, you should specify that to the waiter. Just asking &quot;Secco?&quot; will be enough to elicit a truthful answer. If the house wine isn't dry, the waiter can recommend something that is.

I prefer a dry full-bodied red wine. Know a couple of good terms for that?

I'm not really a wino, so there may be Italian terms of art that will get you exactly what you want, but I know what I would say -- and it might be incorrect -- if I wanted a red wine to go with a heavier food.

I would ask for &quot;robusto&quot; or &quot;forte&quot; (strong). If I knew I wanted something like another kind of wine, I would say &quot;como Chianti&quot; or &quot;como Barolo&quot; or &quot;como Brunello&quot; -- meaning &quot;like Chianti.&quot;

However, I think if you order the house wine, your options are really limited. It will be the local cheap wine. Sometimes it's a very good match for the local cuisine. Sometimes you don't want to drink it. I'm surprised to the extent Italian waiters are honest and apparently unmotivated by squeezing money out of you. When I've asked if the house wine is &quot;bene,&quot; they sometimes tell me yes, and sometimes no. When the say no, I ask for a recommendation, and ask the price. Italian waiters are usually very happy to help you select a moderately priced wine if you don't want the house wine.