Pasta Bolognaise in Bologna
 

Any suggestions for one of my favorites? Not searching for fancy places, just good food. We are staying near the train station.

Thanks in advance

do you mean Bolognese (italian), not _____aise, as in French mayonaise, hollandaise, etc?

Thank you both. Interesting difference I did not know.

Well, let me rephrase, please. Does anyone know of a good restaurant serving ragu in the area near the train station?

In December we ate at the Osteria dell'Orsa on via Mentana (it was around the corner from our hotel--maybe 10-15 minutes from the train station). It was busy--someone was filming for a travel show when we there-- inexpensive, fun and pretty good.

Osteria dell'Orsa | Authentic Italian Cuisine

How far are you willing to travel/walk? From memory, there is not a whole lot of anything around the train station. City center is about a mile or so from the Centrale station and where you would find more of the restaurants.

Gramignone verde al ragù di salsiccia (spinach pasta with ragú) at Da Cesari. 20 - 25 minute nearly straight shot walk from train station. It was the first dish they ever served. Check out link (and map) below.

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/cha...tling-bologna/


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...dcaf4d224e.png

I just read an article in a plane magazine about FICO Eataly in Bologna. I guess you love it or hate it but it told about the ragu. Has anyone been there? I will try and find the article.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenele.../#45b1f224504e

Must have been AA as they now have a direct flight from Philly. The lower fat mortadella made me think about trying it.

FICO Eataly is a bus trip away from the rail station. From our trip report last fall:

"We would never, for example, go to Disneyland Paris. But on Monday, we decided to go to something that some might feel isn’t much better. Eataly World. It’s a bus trip away, maybe 20-30 minutes, from the old city, and the entry toll booths look a lot like the way into the Magic Kingdom. The day before, we’re told, the place was packed for a beer fest. On this first day of the week, there are only a handful of visitors. It’s the world’s largest food park and larger than a typical shopping mall. There are some animals and some fruit bearing trees and plants on the grounds outside, but that part of the experience is a significant disappointment. Too small and nothing special for anyone who has ever been to even a small farm. The only excitement was a goat that was out of its pen and the fact that no one seemed to care. The indoor space is all on one floor, and, if you desire, they have three-wheel bicycles, lots of them, with shopping baskets attached, available for hourly rental. As regular walkers, we saw a few other guests using them, but we thought it silly. There are 45 restaurants or eateries of one kind or other, from Michelin-starred places to inexpensive street food. Some of these vendors, with impressive and spotlessly clean equipment, produce such things as pasta, cheese, sauces, sausage, coffee, gelato, beer and bread all day long. There are also educational opportunities about food, eating well, eating sustainably and more, but some of those were out of order. We even planted a seed, which we believe was for a future basil plant, and they have a website and an identifying number where you can follow the progress of your plant online as it moves through a hydroponic carousel. A cute idea, but we have found error messages on the website each time we have tried to access it. There is a convention center, cooking school and open air shops selling some well-known Italian brands such as cookware. And, interspersed throughout, but mostly near the checkout area, Eataly has many of its signature Italian-made grocery items. It looks like an after-thought, perhaps to appease families, but outside there was a video arcade and a fairly low quality mini-golf course. We are skeptical that this endeavor is coming anywhere near the 10,000 people a day they had hoped for, but, for the most part, it didn’t look like they were cutting many corners. Yet. The restaurants, many of them quite large, did get some lunch business, perhaps from the nearby business area; judging by prep activity, we guessed they must have some evening business from locals as well. If you count the lunch business, the whole million square feet might have had a few hundred visitors all day while we were there. We did enjoy seeing all the Italian products under one roof, and we enjoyed some of the food, some really good french fries and an excellent, perfectly cooked pasta lunch and gelato. It was a fun and different day for us. We admit we even played mini-golf on the terrible outdoor course. We suspect when things are busier that there are events and other activities going on. There were great displays, and we are glad we went, even if it wasn’t exactly what we expected."

You don't need to go to Eataly for pasta. You can walk to dozens of wonderful restaurants, many very inexpensive, maybe 20 minutes from the rail station.

Thank you Whitehall.

If you ask for Spaghetti alla Bolognese and they don't kick you out, you are in a tourist trap! In Bologna they serve their famous ragù (note spelling) only with egg based Tagliatelle pasta from Bologna. Spaghetti come from Naples, i.e. from another world.
Many tourists are surprised by how little sauce Italians put on their pasta, but Italians like pasta more than sauces. Drowning pasta in the sauce is considered a trick typical of lazy chefs, or something that only a French would like,

If this thread doesn't make you crave good old Italian dish, then I don't know what will.

We spent a month in Bologna last year, only partly in search of the perfect tagliatelle ragu.

Osteria dell’Orsa is one of more famous places in the university quarter. It was good but not the best.


Sfoglia Rina close to Piazza Maggiore was probably the best https://www.sfogliarina.it/en/ . You do need to book.

Close to the two towers is Bottega Portici https://www.bottegaportici.it/?lang=en downstairs you can watch them making the pasta and order it and eat upstairs. Great daily specials. A place just to eat, not to hang out. Either of these two places are great to sample ragu and possibly before or after head to the Quadrilatero to on of the many bars and restaurants for an aperitivo or glass of wine or one of the huge array of cured meat and cheese platters for which Bologna is arguably more renowned.

A great city. We loved our time there.

"Sfoglia Rina close to Piazza Maggiore was probably the best https://www.sfogliarina.it/en/ . You do need to book."

Excellent choice. Fantastic pasta... some photos in link below.

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/cha...tling-bologna/

Here is my risotto with pears and bacon.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...46b338460b.jpg

Another vote for Da Cesari. We also had great tagliatelle with ragu at Trattoria da Me, which is about a 20 minute walk from Bologna Centrale.