10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE ORDERING IN AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT I Italy Travel

fabulous people I know ordering food at an Italian restaurant can be very stressful especially if you don't speak the language do I need to live a tip will they understand my broken Italian do they speak English how do I avoid tourist traps these are some of the questions that I get asked all the time and so in this video I will share with you 10 things you should know before ordering at an Italian restaurant and by the end of this video I will share with you words and phrases that will make your life so much easier when ordering at an Italian restaurant now before we begin please remember to smack that like button and if you're new to my channel and my vibe and the vibe of this Channel resonates with you I invite you to subscribe all right fabulous people and all right fabulous please join me for breakfast and the first thing that you should know is that a little bit of Italian will go a long way in Italy Italians will greatly appreciate if you just attempt to use a few words or phrases and a lot of times they will actually compliment you on your Italian of course they don't expect for you to speak Italian perfectly but saying bonjourno when you walk into an Italian restaurant in the afternoon or Bona for the evening will definitely make most Italians to be extra attentive to you and of course they don't expect for you to speak Italian the entire time they will switch to English almost right away now once you're seated at a table a waiter normally will ask if you prefer a menu in English or Italian sometimes they do offer menus in other languages like French or German or sometimes they will have a menu with English and Italian on the same name page and that is pretty much the standard now in all Italian restaurants you will either get an option in which language you prefer a menu or the menu will be in two languages sometimes even three now please keep in mind that if you go to tourist TRS restaurants which are mainly located around popular sites for example in Rome it's near the Coliseum Vatican Museums Pantheon you will be given a menu in English but the prices on that menu will be higher yes it is unfair yes it is illegal but unfortunately it happens all the time and that is why every time I do a video on Italy travel tips I always urge everyone to avoid eating in tourist traps and of course you might ask me Anastasia how do I avoid eating at tourist traps in Italy well first I do recommend for you to go further away away from popular sites on smaller streets to is make sure to avoid restaurants where a waiter is standing outside and calling you in number three make sure you do a thorough research on where to eat in Rome or where to eat in Florence Milan Venice Etc please remember that just because the place has a lot of reviews on trip advisor it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good place so you will have to do tons of research to prepare in advance another way is to go through a local travel agent and the reason why I say local is because you want to work with a travel agent who actually lives in the country you are visiting and not a travel agent who travels to let's say Italy once a year or does the same exact research that you would do online and then have that travel agent organize everything for you restaurants accommodations Transportation Etc something that my travel agency in Italy has been doing for years for clients from all over the world trust me you want a local expert who knows all the best local authentic spots and places that will save you countless hours in the planning process and help you to avoid disappointment when you get to Italy now another great thing that I recommend for you if you plan on visiting smaller towns in Italy and you might walk into the restaurant and most likely they will have a menu only in Italian then definitely download one of the translation apps and I go into great details on some of the best translation apps in my video must have apps for traveling Italy and of course I will make sure to leave a link for you to that video in the description down below now the next thing I absolutely absolutely have to mention is the fundamental difference between ordering in Italy and ordering in the US if you plan on doing Italy travel please do not expect the same level of service that you're used to back home please remember that waiters in Italy have a set salary and they're not really working for tips and when they serve you they do assume that you need privacy with the person or people you came to the restaurant with so normally they will not be coming to your table to check on you to make sure the food is okay to ask if you want another glass of wine Etc so if you need something from your waiter just make an eye contact with them or raise your hand and that is the best way to get a service at an Italian restaurant thank you and just be prepared to wait longer than what you're used to the service in Italy is generally slower so just prepare yourself mentally for that and don't stress because you're not going to make them move faster they will just get frustrated with you that's about it there is a famous saying in Italy kapano Vaso and valano which means whoever goes slowly goes safely and goes far so just keep that in mind when you're ordering at a restaurant in ital or doing anything in Italy now if you're going to Italy for the first time there is something very important that you must absolutely know the restaurants in Italy are not open all day they have a very strict opening hours so it is very important that you time your sites in with restaurant opening hours otherwise you might be left without lunch and you will have to settle for a sandwich which is not that bad after rolling in Italy but in case you're wondering what are the opening hours in Italy for the restaurants it is usually from 12: 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 300 p.m. for lunch and quick note here guys please make sure you do not show up at a restaurant at 2:50 p.m. asking them for lunch you might not get the best service or they might just refuse to serve your lunch saying that the kitchen is already closed and then the same goes for dinner hours most restaurants will open around 700 p.m. for dinner and then they will stay open until 11:00 p.m. sometimes even 12:00 a.m. now please keep in mind that there are some restaurants that have continuous service throughout the day but you have to do a thorough research to find them because most of them unfortunately are tourist traps now one quick travel tip for Italy that I have for you if you didn't make make a reservation in advance and you really want to try to get a table at that restaurant then make sure to show up early for example most Italians have lunch around 1 1:30 p.m. so by showing up at a restaurant around 12:00 p.m. almost guarantees you will get a table and beat crowds and the same goes for dinner most Italians have dinner around 8 8:30 p.m. so by showing up at a restaurant around 700 p.m. gives you a pretty good chance of grabbing a table and one extra bonus you will get by arriving to the resturant earlier is that the service might be faster because the more crowds come in the slower the service will get now when you travel to Italy you will quickly notice that we have many different food establishments here we have bar in and of course it can get very confusing what's the difference between all this places so I'm going to clarify it for you very quickly a bar is not a typical bar that you would think be it in the US or Canada a bar in Italy is actually a place where you go in the morning for espresso and or capuccino and a Cornetto and in the afternoon you can go there for a Sandage now osteras used to be wine bars that now evolved into C serving simple meals traditionally they are simpler than tractoras and they usually do not have a menu now their offerings changes daily according of course to the market and the season and you will typically find two to three dishes on the menu if there is a menu most of the time there is not one and usually those servings will be at a fixed price including wine now tras are A step above osteras they're traditionally family-owned casual rustic neighborhood places that serve fresh local Italian dishes of the region they're located in Italy so in Tuscany you will have mainly Tuscan dishes and Rome Roman dishes Etc now restorante is a higher-end full service restaurant with professional stuff including a Som that is knowledgeable in food wine proper etiquette you will get a professional kitchen staff and of course a wider variety of Italian dishes from different regions one very important point that I need to make here is that just because you're going to a restaurant please don't assume that the quality of the Italian food will be better there than let's say in Osteria or tra I can tell you from my personal experience some of my best meals in Italy were in osteras and tras now finally inota what is in now in the past traditionally inas were places where you just go for a glass of wine or two and now they of course also transformed into a place where you can grab a glass of wine or two or a bottle but at the same time you can enjoy some appetizers and some of them even have a full menu finally let's discuss one of the most heated topics should you tip in Italy now when you look at a menu at a restaurant just so you know the price that you see on the menu is a full price meaning it includes taxes and tips now let me tell you fabulous people waiters in Rome Italy and Italy in general love Americans because we assume that we should add a tip on top of that price and unfortunately sometimes or it happens quite often actually waiters even reinforce the fact that they should be tipped when they serve to American clients and sometimes they do say that the tip is not included yes it is included now if you get an amazing service here in Italy be in Tratoria Oria or resturante you are more than welcome to leave just a few Euros like all the Italians do if your service was truly exceptional that will be just as a thank you to your waiter for giving you extra care extra attention but it is not mandatory now please keep in mind that if you do decide to pay with a credit card which is most of us have some euros on you to leave as a tip because the machines here in Italy are not set up to add a tip on the card like they are in the US because once again the tip is included here here in Italy now one last thing for you to know if you decide to pay with a credit card they won't take it from you and then walk away they will actually bring a machine directly to your table so you can pay at your table and be done finally fabulous like I promised let me share with you some important words and phrases that will make your life so much easier when ordering at an Italian restaurant now the first thing as you walk into the restaurant you should say either bonjourno Salve or Bon depending on the time of the day so once again B Sal now let's talk about how to order food in Italy of course there are so many ways to do it but the most simple one to say I'll have something be a plate of pasta or brusa by the way fabulous people it is not brushetta it is brusketta so the way to say it is IO so if you want to get a pizza you will Sayo pizza if you want let's say A breta you will say if this is going to be your first time in Italy you might get a little bit overwhelmed when your waiter arrives and asks what type of water would you like in Italy we do have different water types and I'm going to clarify all of them for you very quickly first if you would like still water you will sayal natural now if you would like sparkling water you will say frit Sante frit Sante now here in Italy we also have my favorite water type that I didn't know exist before I moved to Italy which is leer frante which is slightly sparkling or lightly sparkling again Leger frante trust me fabulous people it's going to be your favorite water type by the time you leave Italy another useful word is GRA which is of course thank you and I really like to travel around Italy just for the fact that in different regions in Italy you will hear a slightly different variation of GRA depending again on the accent of that particular region but just make sure you're not saying gracias we're not in Spain it is quite different gra and graas all right next is for the time when you need to find restaurants and the phrase that you should use is very simple if you want to complement a dish or wine you say Bono which is good or Timo which means excellent so when your waiter arrives and asks you how was your pizza or how was your meal or that particular wine that he recommended you can say Bono or bonim or Timo once again Bono bonim now at the end of the meal when you're ready for the bill all you have to say is once again of course there are many different ways to ask for the bill but in my opinion it is one of the easiest ones finally when you go to believe in the restaurant make sure to say goodbye to everyone and the best way to do it is just to say one more time all right fabulous people thank you so much for watching this 10 things you should know before ordering in an Italian restaurant now the next video that I recommend for you to watch is how to plan your first trip to Italy and of course if you plan on traveling to Italy and want to take take all the pain out of research and organizing and booking process then I welcome you to check out my travel agency My Fabulous VA travel agency that I will leave for you in the description down below and before you go and start backing for Italy please remember to smack that like button and if you're new to my channel and my vibe and the vibe of this Channel resonates with you I invite you to subscribe all right fabulous I truly hope hope to see you all in my next video

Channel: Stay Fabulous

Views: 38,268

Keywords: 10 things you should know before ordering in an italian restaurant, italy travel, italy, rome, florence, venice, milan, italian food, how to order in italian, first time in italy, trattoria, osteria, enoteca, ristorante, how to order food in italy, travel to italy, never do in italy, going to italy for the first time, rome restaurants, tourist traps, food in italy, food in rome, italy travel tips, italy travel guide, tourist trap restaurants, italian dishes, restaurants in italy, travel

Id: EymuIruAyJE

Length: 17min 31sec (1051 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 28 2024