Perche

Here we go again, from you suggesting that it's easier to bring a gun into Italy and walk around with it than it is in Texas, to saying that we should punch people in the face if they like the pizza in Milan, now this.

I've been living in Venice half time for the last five years. You cannot walk into Al Covo, Il ridotto, Antiche Carampane, Il Quadri, etc., even in mid-January, without a reservation. Maybe for lunch, but not for dinner. You are not going to walk into any of the finer restaurants in Rome without a reservation either.

Are there some mom and pop places that serve good food in Italy? Yes, but telling someone to just walk into a mom and pop place is bad advice for someone staying in a touristy part of Italy. If they are anywhere near where tourists stay the food is almost always made at tourist level. If you know where to go, and you have a car or other transportation to get there, you may find a mom and pop place that is off the grid and that serves decent food. But telling a visitor to Rome, Venice, or Florence to just walk into any old place, instead of doing some research and finding out which restaurants will guarantee that you will eat well, is just a bad strategy for finding great food in Italy.

If you do your research before hand and know where you want to eat because it is a good place, if you just walk up to the door on a Saturday night and say I'd like a table, they will say, "do you have a reservation?" If you say no, they will say, "sorry." That obviously doesn't include some small town in Basilicata, but it does include everywhere that tourists tend to go, unless they get very lucky.

FlyingHoustonian

You have some serious memory issues and this is an outright lie.

FACT- I Never said it was easier to bring a gun to Italy and walk around than Texas.

Second, I realise you might have issue with sarcasm, but my point about pizza in Milano was based on humour, as the context and emiticons show, but again you are still WRONG in your posting, I said something slightly different in response. You have issues with facts...and apparently sarcasm too and nuance in replies.


Good for you, one would think you would have better knowledge of the place...
I lived there FULL time for nearly two and half in the last six years, and am back just as often as you over the last three.



And who said you could? I did not;

was this response meant for someone else? Are you confusing threads?
It seems you are confusing 'finer' restaurants with an osteria or trattoria.
No one said you did not need a res at high end place, and in fact I said to get one at Al Covo.

No, it actually is not, especially if one knows what to look for....except in Venezia; I will give you that as the food is often not that great to begin with.

But you did not say that, go back and look at what you typed and how it applies to all of Italia in your blanket post. Had you posted some qualifier related to just Venezia, maybe, but you did not.

For Venezia and Roma, yes, but that is not what you said. (Firenze, I contend you are wrong but that is for another thread.)

And that depends. There are thousands of "touristy" restaurants around Italia where people can go and eat without one and they posted about it online, in travel blogs, and in tourist guidebooks.

Of course people should do their research. That is what the OP is doing here.
However a tourist in Italia does not need to spend a large sum of money to eat well in much of Italia. Your posting made it sound like otherwise.

But you need to read words carefully and stop lying in responses...it is bad form.

People can disagree, but lying or trying to twist words is bad form.

Hawk Circle

Two excellent seafood restaurants worth considering are Trattoria da Romano on nearby Burano, and La Furatola near San Barnaba square. Dinner reservations are a good idea at both.

FlyingHoustonian

I'll second La Furatola. I have eating there several times, albeit for business dinners, but it has always been decent.

http://www.furatola.it/

holbropa

Suggestions for a family of four for dinner in both theses cities? I'll have a 6 and 8 year old with me. In Milan we are right by the Central Train station and in Venice we are staying in San Marco. I don't want something super pricey, but I also don't want cheap.

ckendall

For a family, near the train station, in Milan I'd suggest da Oscar (a bit rowdy, meat and pasta) http://ristorantedaoscar.com/ or Delicatessen, (quite nice Alto Adige) http://www.ristorantedelicatessen.com/

beltway

Re da Oscar, I note you don't mention the Mussolini iconography on the wall. (As we've discussed in the past, the proximity of the Elvis portrait tends to mitigate this a bit & suggest jokiness, but better to mention IMO in case anyone is squeamish on the subject.)

But yes, the food is excellent, and the staff are good people. My wife forgot her purse when we visited a year ago (thanks, $162 Wideroe r/t fare!) & it was safely tucked away when I made my breathless return 30 mins later.

Fair warning: the pasta portions are ENORMOUS.

PWMTrav

In Venice with kids, a short walk would be Trattoria alla Madonna. It's on the touristy side, but the Michelin Guide has written it in this year - and I personally liked it, albeit like 5 years ago. The dining room tends to be a little louder - not ear shattering or anything, but totally something I'd bring kids into.

You'll find other recs on the higher end and more recent than my experience in this forum. I'm not an expert on Venice, but this restaurant came to mind since I mostly travel with a toddler these days