🧠Never Choose a Bad Restaurant in Italy Again
My step-by-step Guide
"You can eat everywhere in Italy, the food will be delicious."
Sorry my friend, but I also have doubts about Santa Claus.
The truth is food is everywhere, and it's easy to pick the wrong place while traveling. One step inside and you already know you've made a mistake. But it's late.
So, how can you avoid bad restaurants in Italy?
Here's my secret recipe.
1. Don’t (always) trust online portals
I don't rely on TripAdvisor. We all know anonymous reviews can be easily faked, and often, you'll end up focusing on the negative ones.
Google Reviews might be a bit better, but I mainly check the photos to get a feel for the restaurant and see how the portions look.
2. Scouting is the key
My restaurant selection process is like an NBA draft: constantly seeking out trusted sources to compile a winning list.
Which sources?
Being a millennial, I still look for authoritative recommendations.
The Slow Food Osterie d'Italia guide comes out every year, and I've never gone wrong with it (it’s also available as an app or ebook).
In Italy, Gambero Rosso is a food institution.
They create guides for restaurants, pizzerias, bars, gelaterias, etc. If they recommend a place, you're in good hands.
Then there's the Michelin Guide.
I’m not talking about the starred places, but the other establishments they mention or their Bib Gourmand (good quality/price ratio) selections are often excellent.
3. Locals know best
Restaurants open and close with the same speed I eat gelato. Chefs change, and sometimes you end up at a place that's lost its touch.
The best recommendations and discoveries I’ve made have always come from locals. You can't beat their knowledge.
Don’t have local friends in every city in Italy?
Neither do I.
So, ask people, don't be shy. Hire a guide, use Airbnb like in the 2000s, or strike up conversations while sipping a coffee at the counter.
Because what you’ll remember from your trip is not that hot green lasagna with creamy ragù, but the chat with the old man at the bar who explained in Italian where to find it.
Ok, you will remember the lasagna too, but you get my point.
What’s New
A new blog post about the best record stores in Bologna
Another one about the best Bologna pasta (and where to eat it)
See you next month!
Un abbraccio,
Andrea
The perfect advice. Print it out and keep it in your pocket as you travel around Italy.