Italian restaurant
Italian restaurant, scenes from an italian restaurant. Learn how to read Italian restaurant menus and be satisfied
If you plan to visit Italy, it's important to organize your trip considering Italian rules and uses concerning restaurants.
• A restaurant in Italy usually have a rigid closing time. Usually they open around midday and closes at 2.30pm to re-open for dinner around 7.00pm. It's normal in Italy, but may cause surprise in foreign people, who maybe have an american breakfast and feel like having lunch at 4.00pm.
• The same go for closing time. Rarely you will be accepted after 10:30pm.
• Nowadays, in main cities, you may find some tourist restaurants that remain open during the afternoon, but remember they are tourist (what means they will probably serve international dishes or anyhow, they are not typical) and you may find them only in the main tourist points.
• The tip isn't mandatory in Italy…even if they expect it especially from tourists and are always happy to get it.
• When you read your bill, your check, you'll see the voice "coperto". In Italy you pay for the place you occupy in the restaurant, plus the bread and napkin.
• When the waiter comes to serve you, he'll suggest you dishes beginning with the antipasto, then a first dish and a second dish, as a traditional Italian meal.
Usually he will present you a typical Italian restaurant menu, but sometimes he will just explain the dishes, without presenting them written to you. It is not comfortable because you won't know tha prices and can misunderstand, especially if you're not Italian.
In this case, ask for a written menu.
• While ordering wine, they usually have the own one (“da casa”). It is an Italian tradition and it costs less and sometimes is really good. You can ask to try it; if you don't like it, you can order a bottle.
• In Italy the taxes are included in the prices. You don't hear: “it costs 20”, and when you go to pay it is 20 plus taxes. This tax (IVA, that is from European Union) is usually 20% for most things you may buy, but can vary between 4% (bread, for example), 10% and 20%.
