Have a Glass of Wine in a Piazza
If you have already travelled around a bit before, you should know what we are talking about. It is probably the last thing a traveller will talk about when he is narrating his or her’s wonderful vacation, but this is something that every single tourist has experienced at least once in their life — that unforgettable and awkard time when he was ripped off in a restaurant while on vacation! We all have a little collection of these bruising memories of horrible meals at crazy prices so, if it’s true that you learn from your mistakes, today we are going to give you some suggestions on how to identify and avoid touristic, rip-off restaurants around Italy.
1. Do Not Follow People Inviting You to Come into a Restaurant from the Street.
Look for Good Italian Restaurants
Especially in the main streets of big cities, it is very common to see waiters out in front of the restaurants, trying to catch unaware tourists and convince them to go in and eat there by offering amazing deals. Come on, people. We are not going to pretend that you have never fallen into one of these individual’s traps at least once in your life, but to be honest, you cannot really expect to have a decent meal in a place that promises a four-course dinner for 15 dollars. You just can’t!
2. Be Careful of Restaurants with Big Signs, Blackboard Offers and Fixed Price Tourist Menus.
This may seem like another well-known cliché, but it’s better to say it twice than never — a restaurant that needs to advertise that much and offers fixed price menus aimed solely at tourists is almost always a bad one. Good restaurants simply do not need to put Las Vegas-style signs, chase clients on the street or offer 2 for 1 pizza deals to convince someone to eat there.
3. Get Off the Beaten Path
If you are looking for a good, simple, high-quality restaurant while walking on the main street leading to San Marco in Venice or on Via Condotti in Rome, prepare to have a hard time. Hidden gems are so-called because they are actually hidden. So get away from the most touristic and crowded places and discover where local people enjoy their everyday meals of a glass of wine and a plate of prosciutto or salame.
4. Seek for Places Crowded by Local People.
Sometimes you just have to cross the corner…
A widely famous indicator of the quality of a restaurant is the number of people that are eating there, but when you are in Venice, Florence or Rome in July, there seem to be not enough restaurants in the world for all that crowd! If you really want to find a good restaurant, even if all of them look very crowded, you should look for those that are packed mainly with local people. For example, if you are in Venice you should go where the gondolieri (you will recognize them by their striped shirts and typical hats) go to eat, and you can be sure you will have a good meal for a decent price. If you are in other cities, just look for where old people or workers go to eat; surely, they know better.
5. Eat What the Locals Eat.
…to find a restaurant that will make your day!
Menus in touristic restaurants usually offer a long list of both Italian and international – not to mention, low quality – dishes but you will realize that the same is not true if you are eating in little places like osterie or locande where the menu usually changes every day to follow the seasons and the mood of the chef. Let us say that there is not a well-cooked Italian dish that isn’t worth trying; even the most unappealing regional specialties like lampredotto or lingua salmistrata are truly amazing. So don’t be afraid to trust the locals and eat what they eat – you won’t regret it.
Have you ever got ripped off during your holidays, or have you ever been to a great restaurant in Italy? Tell us your experience!
About the Author: Selene
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Fabulous blog! Great advice & totally true! My father, God Bless his soul always told me to look out for all of the above. However, there were one or two occasions where even wise old Dad with all his wisdom fell short of his own advice. It’s fair to say that it didn’t happen very often but I remember a time when Dad took us to Rome for the first time and on disembarking the train at Stazione Termini, what seemed like a very kind and official looking gentleman offered to help take our suitcases. My dad of course was only to pleased to have been offered help what with two kids, a load of suitcases and a very bust train station. This was until the man turned around after loading up the cases on a trolley and started walking down the platform with a 15 mille lire price tag (About £5 in those days) on his back for his services. Dad didn’t realize this until he was half way up the platform with our cases on his trolley, but when he did, he went scampering up the platform after him and wrestled to get his cases back off what he thought was a gratitude service offered by the station! It was hilarious as Dad was reaping his praises and lecturing me and my brother on how kind people were in Italy. He later got had again that same day. He bought what he thought was a return bus ticket from the hotel to the Vatican City. He thought the bus ride was cheap until he realized that he was only sold a single ticket despite him asking for a return but was charged for a return! So I guess I have never forgotten that despite Italy being a wonderful country, your blog is spot on in looking out for rip off scenarios and con men that plague this beautiful country.