WHEN do we eat??
 

we are going to rome in april and know that the custom is to have the big meal midday. since we are not used to this practice, will it slow us down for the afternoon? is it possible to get the same meal in the evening? how did you all handle this?<BR>thanks for the info

No problems at all eating a lighter meal mid-day, and yes you can easily find a "full" meal at supper time (although sometimes not much open until 7:30 or 8).<BR><BR>You may find that you walk it off enough playing tourist all day long that you can enjoy great meals at both times. Other times, it may indeed result in your slowing down for the afternoon. Il dolce far niente!<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

susan<BR>the custom at home may be to have a beig mid-day meal, but that doesn't stop Romans from going to restaurants to have elaborate (or not so elaborate) meals in the evening. Restaurants don't only serve dinner to visitors<BR>(well some do, but...)<BR>There are plenty of places to have salads and sandwiches and even pizza in the afternoon (although some pizza places open only in the evening.)<BR>Even the cafeteria at the Vatican Museums offers everything from sliced hot roast beef and turkey to simple salads.<BR>If you don't want to eat big during the day, you don't have to. I for one can't drink during the day, not even a glass of wine, or else I will fall asleep! So I just order a bottle of water.<BR>Do make some time in the late afternoon for some wonderful pastry and coffee somewhere, or a gelato.

Definitely, all of the restaurants serve big meals in the evening, though I would say 8 or so is the earliest.<BR><BR>You may not want to take several hours out of mid-day sight-seeing time, or may just not want to eat a big meal mid-day. There are lots of places to buy cafeteria-style food, or even better - pizza by the slice. Those kinds of pizza places are usually called "Pizza Rustica," and usually have no sit-down dining, or maybe just a few chairs. But the pizza can be fantastic. Unlike in the U.S., Italian pizzas are usually served with only one or two ingredients, so you can, for example, get a slice of pizza with eggplant on it, then a piece with zucchini on it, then a piece with mushrooms - you get the picture.

topping, for susan...<BR>

My general experience all over Europe has been that if a restaurant is open, you can get plenty to eat. In Austria we got trapped in a big traffic jam on the autobahn west of Innsbruck. By the time we got off and found a place to eat, it was well after 2 PM, more like 2:45. The retaurant was at that time on a Saturday devoted mostly to beer drinkers. But our large order was promptly filled. The food came out freshly cooked and was quite good.<BR>I think they were actually happy to earn the money. <BR>

In italy, it is possible to get food at almost any hour in the bigger towns and cities but you will have to settle for takeouts, cafes and the like. most restaurants will serve lunch from around 12:30 or 1:00 to about 2:00 pm. In smaller towns and villages, if you miss these hours you will be very limited in your choice. Dinner starts usually around 8:30 and many places are not lively and filled until 9:30pm. Tourist oriented places will have earlier hours.<BR><BR>For a lighter lunch, try to stick to cafes or simple trattorias where you can have a simple antipasto and pasta combination. <BR><BR>Most restaruants will have the same menu for lunch or dinner.

This is a lovely problem! When to eat in Rome...<BR><BR>We had a lighter meal for lunch, a daily gelato break during the afternoon, then our big meal in the evening. This worked very well for us.

That's what was so fun about all of Itlay...walk around and grab a slice of pizza or sandwich w/ gelato. I can't wait to go back. You certainlky don't have to take a multi-course lunch. But don't skip lunch either because dinner doesn't really get going until 8:00pm or later.

Have done very much like the others in all our travels. Don't want to get so loggy at mid-day that it effects our touring. We either picnic or eat lightly with some kind of late afternoon snack. Then we enjoy a full dinner at 7:30 or 8:00 (early for most Europeans). Works for us.