I'm from Canada where the men are strong and dollar is weak!! I'm seeing where dinner at a very good restaurant in Italy can run $100 person without the wine!! This is Canadian $$ which would be about $65 U.S. This seems so high for a country where the lira seems weak. How would the locals afford this (or maybe they don't). Would you pay this for a very highly recommended restaurant (eg. La Tenda Rossa or Cane e Gatto, Vignale's)??

It's easy to eat in Italy for much less than that! You're talking top-drawer expense account prices. <BR> <BR>If you're looking at Rome equivalent, meals in equivalent restaurants should cost about the same as Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver. Restaurants range from simple to elegant. In the countryside most restaurants would be less than in the major cities. I presume Thunder Bay is less expensive than Ottawa. <BR> <BR>In fact the locals don't eat out as often as in the US and much of Canada. Not particuarly because of prices; it's just not the custom. Nothing, in fact, is a good as mama's cooking. That may not be true in most of the rest of the world, but it is in Italy! <BR> <BR>twenj

Although you can get fabulous food at small trattorias, it would seem you have to pay the big bucks for those places that we (tourists) have made so popular by our reviews. I haven't eaten at the places you refer to but it seems pretty expensive. I wonder what it costs with the wine?!!

Dear Gourmutt, <BR>Ed is right. You don't need to spend a lot at all to eat really well. <BR> <BR>The trattorias are usually run by families. (For example "Trattoria Paolo" would be run by Paolo & his family.) These places usually have great, cheap food & although I'm not much of a drinker, unless you're going for an imported wine (& why would you?), wines are as inexpensive as $2-$3 per bottle. Don't be intimidated. I was only treated to one expensive dinner the whole time I lived in Italy & thought I ate very well the rest of the time I was there. <BR>Buon Viaggio, <BR>Kathy

But are the restaurants gourmut is talking about - the "upscale" ones, worth the splurge?

my experience dining in italy is that one can spend any amount of money one wishes. i can't remember paying more than itl 150,000 for dinner for two including wine. look for places frequented by locals. drink the vino of the region. picnic. for instance, i have two favorite wine shops in venice where i receive one and a half liters in a plastic bottle direct from the glass carboy for less than two bucks us. it is, by the way, eminently drinkable. ciao.

Dear Yeahbut, <BR>Yes, it was worth it, but it was more like $75 per person WITH the wine! <BR>Buon Appetito, <BR>Kathy

This is very interesting..One of the places I have on my "Must eat at" list is La Tenda Rossa..when I did a search I believe Paulo said that dinner with good wine for two would run $220-$250!! It is however, classed as a "medium" priced restaurant on some websites. What are people paying for at these prices? atmosphere? food? being able to say "I ate there??"...if what you're saying is that you can get as good food elsewhere for a fraction of the price, why are these places so darn popular??

Kathy, is that $75 USD? If so, that's about $114 CAD. <BR> <BR>That doesn't seem totally outrageous to me. For special dinners in Toronto, we've easily spent $225 CAD and we're not big drinkers. Mind you, I don't do that every night.

Just got back from Rome - and had lunches and dinners ranging $40 to $150, and that was for 2 people. There is a wide range of prices. Personally - there were only a couple times that I tried to have antipasti, a primo, a secondo, salad (con-something), dolce and a bottle of wine. I felt like the blueberry girl from Wille Wonka afterwards. Invariably I would have an antipasti, a primo or secondo (depending on hunger) and a dolce. I found a couple inexpensive and very good tratorrias in the Trasteverde section.

Yes, Susan, those are USDs $$ I was talking about. Fantastic meal, one of the best dining values I've ever enjoyed. <BR>Kathy

For our recent trip to Rome, I budgeted $70(American) per person per day for food for my wife and I. Having heard of high prices, I was very concerned that this wouldn't be enough. As it turned out on our 8 day trip, we didn't spend half of that budget. And we ate better than we ever would have at home or on a trip to Canada. We ate anything we wanted. <BR>In my opinion: Roman food is simple food designed by and for the working person. It is not designed as gourmet food. (eg. not like French). There are high priced restaurants and tourist traps etc and lots of "rich" Italian polititians etc who seem to enjoy spending their money to impress. But, I can tell you that a plate of pasta tastes the same whether you pay $5 for it or $20 for it. This is true for most Roman food. Price is your choice. Just stay out of places full of tourists, Via Veneto resturants, places near Vatican City etc. Like you would eat out at home? Menues are posted. Check the price of the primi courses (pasta etc.). This will tell you the price of the meal. For example: if the primo course pasta is 10,000lira, your total meal cost for 2-3 courses, dessert coffee and water should run about $20 per person without wine.(15,000 lira=$30/person) Same meal would cost about 50% more in San Francisco but not be as good. <BR>For other meals, bars pizzarias, bakeries etc are abundant. You can get sandwiches and such at very reasonable prices(read cheaper and better than at home). Example prices(approximate): Capuccino: $1+standing at the bar $2++sitting at the table; Gelato1+ 1 scoup $1.50 2 scoups; Large piece of pizza: $1.50-$2. There are also grocery stores(alimentari) and even "supermarkets" where you can buy your own ingedients and have a picnic in the piazza or in your room. <BR>I recommend as Ed does the Restorante Abruzzi Via Vaccaro 1 at Piazza Santa Apostoli. Its near the Pontifical Gregorian University off via del Corso and near the Piazza Venezia(Vittorio Emanuele Monument). Very reasonable ($40 for 2) and authentic Roman food. <BR> <BR>Fear not you won't go hungry and remember the lira is weak too. <BR> <BR>Gerry <BR>

We just spent three weeks in Italy. We had some magnificent meals for two with EVERYTHING including wine, at between $60-$90 US. We had smaller but quite wonderful meals for less than that. It was hard to break the 200,000 lira ceiling, which was about $90US while we were there. Rome seemed to be more expensive, and we had one full meal which ran about $120. It was very good, but not great so I'll not praise the restaurant as a Must Try type of place! I've posted our top experiences, where food was really unique and great in all of them, overall experience made the whole night wonderful under "Top Meals in Italy". (It is sort of a growing, episodic thread -- I plan to add some recommendations for other restaurants we liked a lot, they just weren't extra-ordinary, but I'd certainly return because of the quality!) I decided to post the restaurant recs separately because only one is in the rants and raves section of this site....

It all depends on where you eat. My husband is from Viareggio and we spend much time in around that area. His family has lived there all their lives. We eat out almost every night, and like kings, and the bill has never been over about $25 per person, including wine. His father knows some great places, which are local kinda places, and they are very cheap. Last year I had a group of 7 with me in Italy and our first dinner together, which included 6 courses and 9 bottles of wine was $135. We felt like we were stealing. When we are in Italy we tend to stick with family places and trattorias and have never had a bad meal. Ask where the locals eat, you'll eat very well.

Dawn is right. We fell into a couple of local places like that. A lunch of pasta, salad (listed under contornis -side dishes- as insalada misto) and house wine at $12 for the two of us. The (big) carafe of house red was 6000 lira...less than $3

You can get a great meal in Italy at very reasonable prices. One of our best meals in Rome which included a bottle of wine, appetizers and main courses for 2 adults, pasta and soft drinks for 2 children, came to all of us$37. It was at Mario's, Via Moro, Trastevere. We pretty much stuck to lower to mid-range restaurants and had very good meals (just 1 or 2 not so good). Also found the wine to be good and very inexpensive. I live in NYC and do like to occasional splurge on a special meal at a high price. I'm sure the Italian locals feel similar.