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You Can Get a Bad Meal in Rome...and here’s how. Ten signs of a lousy Italian restaurant |
Romantic notions to the contrary, Rome has plenty of bad restaurants. And while you may know how to avoid the losers on your home turf (mauve walls, a kiddie menu), the semiotics of i ristoranti are not the same. Here’s what we’re looking for: charm, authenticity, local ingredients, moderate prices. Most Roman restaurants look perfect from the outside —but watch out for these telltale signs.
- Linen-free tables and paper napkins. Usually a bad sign for more than a snack. Italians love good linens, and most decent restaurants cover tables with two layers —a solid with a printed or damask topper.
- Restaurants where you hear more English than Italian.
- Laminated or otherwise permanent-looking menus affixed outside. Better choice: handwritten chalkboards featuring daily specials.
- Menus perfectly translated into English. Or translated into several languages. Not foolproof, but very bad translations can mean very good food.
- A limited selection of seasonal contorni (side dishes).
- American-sounding Italian dishes. Meatballs, tomato sauce, and pepperoni are red flags. French fries don’t count; they’re often served as a side with steak.
- Restaurants busy before 9 p.m. Real Italians dine late. The best places don’t rev up till 9 or 10.
- Lots of asterisk-marked dishes. An asterisk usually means the food is surgelati or congelati (frozen). Look for the note in small type at the bottom of the menu.
- No real kitchen. Certain sidewalk cafés around the major piazzas are fine for people-watching and snacks, but the food may be nuked or recently thawed. Asterisks abound.
- Any pizzeria without a forno a legno. A wood-burning oven is a must.
The Perfect Roman Restaurant
Cantina Cantarini is a tiny, family-owned restaurant in a quiet neighborhood. Monday through Wednesday it serves meat; Thursday through Saturday fish. Chef Luigi, who lives around the corner, has run the kitchen for 37 years.
Here’s why it fits the profile:
- Small menu in the window in Italian, with bad English translation
- Contorni are seasonal and inexpensive
- Nearest tourist attraction is a 15-minute walk away (Trevi Fountain)
- Tables filled with locals
- English not spoken, though waiters know enough English to help
- You can see the small but lively kitchen from your table
- Cost for four courses, including a bottle of house wine: 35 euros per person
Cantina Cantarini
Piazza Sallustio, 12
00187 Rome, Italy
(011 39) 06/485528
Unless Rome's changed a lot, I can't agree with #5. The contorni should be seasonal but my favorite restaurants rarely had more than a few.
And Enoteca Cul de Sac remains a major exception to #9.
Otherwise, all good tips.
And remember, if an apparently crazy person approaches you mumbling and holding a piece of cardboard, that's a pickpocket.
We did well in Rome with restaurants that had wood-burning ovens and no servers who spoke English. Great food, but you have to choose wisely.
My first lunch in Rome was exquisite--very simple, very fresh--because I had gotten lost and away from the tourist-catering restaurants. My subsequent meals were mediocre, which is incredibly disappointing in a country that is so renowned for its cuisine. I did, however, have the best pesto of my life, which was purchased at the local supermarket.
we did pretty good in rome - the only bad meals were near major attractions, which we knew we should avoid but a couple times we were starved...those seem like pretty good guidelines. We did well with the places suggested in our guidebook, they were pretty good about recommending places in neighbourhoods rather than tourist spots.
another exception to #9 was in a tiny hotel around the corner from our apartment - it was delicious. (sorry, can't recall the name off the top of my head)
the first time I ate rabbit with rosemary was in Rome and it was very delicious-
I wonder how this list relates to Tuscana and Umbria?
The principles hold, except there is a big paper-placemat ethic in Florence. I hate it.