In Italy there is a culture around eating which once understood will enhance your enjoyment of the country.
Breakfast
A pastry and a caffé or cappuccino is the norm. If you don’t eat breakfast at your hotel, go into any bar and choose a pastry and order a coffee. Usually they’ll also be able to make fresh squeezed juice – it is called a spremuta. If you sit down you’ll be charged more. Most Italians stand at the bar. A real pasticceria as opposed to a basic bar, will have more delectable, higher quality pastries.
Lunch
Everything shuts down from noon to about 4:00. This is sacred eating time! Most restaurants serve from noon to about 1:30, and then its siesta time. If you arrive at 2:00 you’ll often be turned away. If you are on a budget or too busy sightseeing to sit for a few hours in a restaurant in the middle of the day, you can also find, in the major cities, plenty of sandwich shops and pizza-by-the-slice places. Also in major cities you can now find some restaurants or wine bars with non-stop hours.
Dinner
The dinner hour begins at 8:00 pm. And even later into the hot summer months. Once in a while you may find a restaurant that will open for dinner at the early hour of 7:30! It is hard to get a quick dinner in a restaurant. Italians assume that you’re there for the evening. Expect dinner to take a few hours. The bill will be brought only when you ask for it, and even then it can take a while!
Courses
Antipasti (starters)
Primi piatti (pasta or soup)
Secondi piatti (meat or fish)
Dolci (desert)
Note that while Americans are used to getting coffee with their dessert, in Italy it is served after dessert, at the very end and it will NOT be American style coffee. Basically the only type of coffee one orders after dinner is an espresso. It is pretty strong if you’re not used to it! You can have liquor or grappa at this point as well as, or instead of, an espresso. When ordering don’t say “espresso” rather, you just say “un caffe” and that means espresso.
More Tips
- The appropriate drinks to have with lunch and dinner are water and or wine. Beer is considered appropriate with Pizza.
- Doggy bags are very uncommon, so try to have a big appetite. It is offensive to not finish everything on your plate.
- It is considered a big “no no” to put parmeggiano on any pasta dish containing fish!
- Don’t expect butter for the bread, it is eaten plain, as an accompaniment to the pasta dish. Mopping with bread is the norm.
- Don’t get drunk. Italians just don’t do it, especially not in public.
- Praise to the cook is very appreciated. Especially if you are eating in someone’s house, it is important to praise the food by proclaiming it “buonissimo!”