beckoa

Welcome to Flyertalk Pollo ^

Curious, what is the best way to avoid "restaurants for tourists"? Thanks

Oh and welcome to Lizfio as well

Lizfio

There is an italian common joke saying "never enter a restaurant with photos of the dishes on the menu"
Yes, it's a joke but it's quite true.. so first try to avoid them. Then of you are looking for some place my sggestion would be:

1. try to never be too close to the main tourists attractions
2. pop into a bar rin by italians where you see italians having their coffee and simply ask for a restaurant and explain you want to avoid restaurant for turists, everyone will be happy to help!

Perche

1. Don't rely on your concierge. They will just send you to one of their friends.

2. Know the regional food. You wouldn't go to New Orleans and order New England clam chowder. Same principle. Locals go to places where they serve the local dishes they're used to eating.

3. If you see fettucine alfredo, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken, veal, or shrimp parmigian, walk out. Those are all italian american dishes, and only tourist restaurants serve them.

4. Examples of Roman dishes include pizza, pasta in the form of carbonara, amatriciana, cacio e pepe, etc. When in Rome, do (eat) what the Romans do.

5. Know what is seasonal. If you ask for artichokes in November, you may get a blank stare. The better restaurants really focus on what they can obtain fresh, and for this reason their menu changes frequently throughout the year.

6. Due to the beautiful surroundings in Italy no matter what a tourist eats they tend to think it was the best pizza, the best pasta they ever had. It's more about the surroundings and atmosphere than the quality of the food. This "vacation effect" generally makes sites like TripAdvisor pretty worthless.

There are some good apps/websites where independent critics rate restaurants, and they will not steer you wrong, and will ensure that you eat great, local, seasonal roman food.

Examples of some good websites are:

http://www.parlafood.com (my personal favorite)

http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome.com

http://tavoleromane.wordpress.com (It's in italian, but you can copy and paste any review that looks interesting into google translate and read it.)

http://theromedigest.com/about/ (This one is quite good. It's actually a combination of reviews from Katie Parla, Gina Tringali, and other qualified wine and food historians and critics.)

This is making my mouth water!

Perche

P.S: Do your restaurant planning early. You can't get into most of the really good restaurants, even the budget conscious ones, without either a reservation or a lot luck. They don't open until seven or eight, and Italians take hours to eat dinner. Each table might only have one or two sittings per night, and the locals reserve ahead of time. Most of the better restaurants are not well set up for walk-ins. Reserve, even if you have to go by there or call them at lunch time for a seat that night. You can search out the restaurants you want, but if it's a good one you most likely won't get in without a reservation.

PWMTrav

In addition to professional reviewers/bloggers, take a look at 2spaghi.it. There's no English version, so the traffic and reviewers are going to be a different demographic than what you find on TripAdvisor or Yelp - even on the Italian versions of those sites. There are generally fewer reviews, but for my tastes the accuracy is good. You can get by with Google Translate if you need to, but it might also encourage you to learn a few words before you go

For what you didn't plan in advance, what works up here in Maine works in Italian cities too - ask people. The best meals I've had near home were found the same way I found the best meals I had in Italy or anywhere else - word of mouth.

Reservations are a good idea. I did a lot of mine same day this past February, or a day out, but traveling with a toddler I also wasn't looking for 3 michelin stars.

I've said it, Perche has said it, but don't rely on your concierge - or anyone else in the tourism industry - for recommendations. Odds are high you're getting sent to their friends, also in the industry, and the circlejerk is complete. I might make one exception and that is if you take a food tour, the guide might have good recommendations because they're not going to risk their reputation and bad online reviews by sending you to eat crap. The other exception is asking people who work at a good restaurant about other good restaurants - if I enjoy a meal, I'll often ask where they eat or where they'd send their friends.

angatol

.....

JMN57

I have a friend, an ex-co-worker who is Italian (Roman into his 20's - parents from Sicily) who now lives in SF with his family. His #1 rule for Italian restaurants is if fettucini alfredo is on the menu, it is off the list.

There are certain things that are red flags for an unauthentic experience.

beckoa

Wow... thanks for all the input. Spent some time in BUE this spring and found the best meals didn't offer English menus. Hope I can pick up a few words of Italian before departure

PWMTrav

Start a thread with your itinerary, I'm sure others will be happy to help - I sure will. You help everyone over in the AS forum (me included).

TWA884

Made that mistake our first night in Rome, a Sunday, when most restaurants are closed. It was one of the worst meals I've ever had in my life. The service was mediocre and the food salted to the point of being virtually inedible and overcooked, i.e., limp asparagus and soft pasta way past al dente.

What I found curious was that the (mostly American) diners with whom we spoke as we left the restaurant actually liked it.

I might as well post the name to forewarn others, Girarrosto Toscano.

PWMTrav

Oh man, I'm sorry that happened.

If you really want to go to a Tuscan-influenced restaurant in Rome, I can point you to a pretty good one. I'm friends with the owner's brother, though

Another point: If you DO get a concierge recommending restaurants, it's a potential red flag if the name of the restaurant itself indicates its a style of food not of that region. There's no specific "this" or "that" when it comes to ingredients in Italian cuisine - Italian cuisine is very locally driven, so it's best to stick to the restaurants cooking with the ingredients of that region. It'd be like ordering haddock or a lobster roll somewhere other than here (Maine).

I'm looking at the menu of the place you posted. It sucks because if it were properly executed, there are some pan-Italian classics on there. The other problem is that a girarrosto is a spit or rotisserie, and I don't even think that place has one in use based on the menu!

TWA884

That was the one and only time this trip that I accepted a recommendation from a concierge. Lesson learned.

We were in Florence the prior few nights and had some great Tuscan food there.

In any event, Monday I did my homework and we dined at Ristorante Moma. It more than made up for the disappointment of Sunday night.

Tuesday we had an equally good meal at Trastevere in a restaurant whose name I can't recall of the top of my head.

PWMTrav

Was it Settembrini?

TWA884

Doesn't ring a bell. I'll check my credit card statements after I get back home next week.

Temedar

My 2 cents:
1. Must be packed with locals or at least a mixed crowd
2. No English menu (at least no Russian/German/... one)
3. On a side-street rather than on a major street
4. Open for lunch and dinner rathen than all day long (not applicable to fast food, cafes, etc.)