Full meals can be enjoyed in Italy in a trattoria or ristorante. and they consist of many dishes. Trattoria’ is traditionally cheaper and usually offers more homemade dishes (cucina casalinga), while ristorante is more elegant, it is served by waiters in tailcoats, and the tables are covered with clean tablecloths. Today, however, the border between them is often blurred.. Trattorias are often open at noon, especially in rural areas, where there is usually no menu and the waiter simply lists the dishes. that were prepared for the day. In larger cities, both types of restaurants are open in the evenings, with this. that ristoranti usually offer more choice, always have a menu. and sometimes also a self-service buffet with appetizers (Antipasti). Flour dishes cost everywhere 3000-5000 L and can be easily, without pressure from staff, limit yourself to them. The main meat or fish dishes are usually paid for 8000-12 000 L. You have to remember, that almost everywhere a pane e coperto fee is added to the bill, which is on average 1500 L per person.
In tourist destinations there are also places combining the names of several types of restaurants (tratoria-ristorantepizzeria). that do not perform well of any of their advertised functions and serve poor and relatively expensive food. You should also beware of popular among local youth combined with a restaurant bars called spagheteria. which offer simple flour dishes. Old-fashioned are also common, osterias restaurants specializing in home cooking, but the quality of food served in establishments under the noisy name hosterias can not always be relied upon.
According to Italian tradition, the meal (lunch — pramo, dinner - price) starts with antipasto (literally "before a meal”): appetizer often served in ristoranti, consisting of various cold pieces of meat and vegetable salads. Often, prosciutto is given as an appetizer, boiled ham (cotto). or smoked (crudo), solo. or with mozzarella cheese. A plate of appetizers from a self-service buffet costs ok. 5000 L, and a single appetizer a few thousand less. Worth remembering, that wanting in addition to the appetizer to order a pasta dish, not to mention the second course, you have to have a real appetite. Next dish, il primo, consists of soup or pasta and is a pretty satiated dinner itself. This is followed by il secondo: usually served without additives, except tomato or lemon, meat or fish dish. When ordering fish you should be careful. because it is given either whole or by weight. 250 g. fish is more than enough for one person. In case of uncertainty, you can ask to show the fish before cooking it. Vegetables or salads (il contorno) ordered and received separately. There is not much choice: potatoes are always served in the form of chips, and the salad is either green (Verde) or mixed (mista).
In the absence of a menu. the list of dishes exchanged orally by the waiter can be long and chaotic. If you have difficulty understanding, it's best to just order what you want to eat. Pasta or dumplings with tomato sauce (pomodoro) or meat ragu waves) are in all restaurants. Besides, almost everywhere after a meal there are fresh fruits to choose from (frutta) and desserts (Dolci). The latter are sometimes just ice cream, but it often happens. that you can order something better, for example. in Sicily, cassata ice cream with ricotta is popular, zuppa inglese (sponge cake) and fresh fruit salad (Macedonia). Another dessert, zabaglione, made from eggs, sugar and wine, you can get only in the most elegant restaurants. For the vegetarians, Italy is a fairly gracious country. There are several types of meatless sauces for pasta and pizza, and if you eat fish and frutti di mare then there should be no problems. Good and fresh are also served in generous portions of salad. The only problem is to reach an agreement: Italians do not understand how someone can not eat meat, and a simple statement of fact does not always have the desired effect. When you say Sono vegetariano (I'm a jarosz) and ask C'e carne d'entro (Is it a meat dish?), you can still get dishes from poultry or prosciutto. Therefore, it is better to ask what the dish is made of before ordering it (com’ fatto?), to see its non-vegetarian ingredients in advance. For people who do not eat dairy and no animal foods, the situation is more difficult: for lack of something better, they often have to settle for cheese-free pizza or vegetable soup. The fruits are excellent for this.
At the end of the meal, you should ask for a bill (il conto). Because in many trattorias this means an illegible scrap of paper, wanting to see if you have not been deceived, need to ask for ricevuta. very detailed bill, which all bars and restaurants are legally obliged to spend. In addition to the additional fee from the customer, a service fee is also often charged, which is usually about 10%. When this fee is not included, sometimes the waiter expects a tip of the same amount, although in trattorias in smaller cities this is not usually accepted.