Cost of eating out in Italy?

Question

What is the average cost of a meal in Italy?

Answer 1

It depends on what you have and where you have it. We went in November (I am originally from there) and stayed in Milan, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Rome.

We did pretty well overall, splurged on fine dining twice but mainly stuck to the lower priced places which are called Trattoria, Osteria, Tavola calda and believe it or not wine bars (degustazione). Our average cost was around $15/$20 per person for a dinner inclusive of water, wine, bread and one main entree. As anywhere, it is cheaper to stick to the chef's specials if you can. Drink refills are usually not free.

Remember that tipping is included in your bill in Italy as a "cover charge"(coperto)

A little known fact is that some Italian bars have their version of "happy hour" between 6 and 8 PM. During this time they offer all you can eat appetizers buffet with any drink purchased. These can include small hot dogs, finger sandwiches, tarts, bruschetta etc. plenty of variety for the price of a drink.

Forget about eggs and bacon for breakfast.
Ask a local where a "Fornaio" is (Baker), get a nice slab of "focaccia" and/or a brioche.
What we did a lot, was go to the grocery store, purchase prosciutto ham and stuff our focaccia with it. It makes a great sandwich, it's cheap and it keeps nice and moist for hours.
Save your plastic bags. Grocery stores charge you for them.

Another thing to know: if you go at a coffee shop and you drink your coffee at the counter, it will be a lot cheaper than if you take it to a table and sit down.

There are lots of places right off the main drags in any town.
That is where you will find the best bargains. Ask your hotel consierge where he eats, ask the baggage handler and the old lady sweeping her front door,or the people manning a newspaper booth. I even stopped at fancy hotels and asked the valet at the front door where he eats. You want to say that you need a "buon posto a prezzo ragionevole" (good but reasonably priced place). They usually smile and give you very good directions to local places (where the locals go is where you want to be..Rachel is right)
There are plenty of Buffets around but check out the food ahead of time as it can sit there for hours!

Answer 2

I lived in Rome for 4 1/2 months and the food is a lot like the prices here. If you want to go cheap you can find little pizza places (they sell pizza by weight) and you can get a filling piece of pizza for like 2 euros. If you want to step up a little bit from that you can go to a sit down restaurant and pay 5-7 euros for a pasta dish. The thing to remember in Italy is the culture is based heavily around large meals so the portions you get in a true Italian restaurant are small. If you are a big eater you can expect to order 3-4 different courses during a good meal including antipasti (appetizer), primo (usually light pasta or gnocci), segundi (the heaviest part of the meal, some sort of meat or seafood), and dessert if you want. They also have some really cool hole in the wall restaurants that charge you a flat rate of about 20-25 euros and then they just continue to bring you food until you explode or pass out from the food and wine. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you try to find one of these places because the food is awesome and it is just an overall great experience, but plan 3 hours for your meal to make the most of it. Also, if you are in a true Italian restaurant dont fret over getting the correct wine with your meal, just order the house wine. Most of the times if the food is good the house wine will be excellent and CHEAP. Like 2-3 euros sometimes for a large caraffe. A good rule of thumb is if there are pictures of the food hanging in the door before you enter or on a sign outside stay clear because it is just crappy tourist fast food. The cheapest way to go though is going to be the pizza places, and if at all possible find a place with a wood-fired stove, the difference in quality is noticable from the gas stoves and that way you know you are getting authentic stuff.

Answer 3

We're in Rome now and as usual have chosen to stay at the Hotel delle Muse in the Parioli district, north of the city center (easily reachable by bus).

Guests at the hotel may enjoy 3-course meals at a cost of 15 euros per person. The food is delicious and the portions are generous.

Breakfast is the best in Italy - a self-serve buffet with a huge assortment from which to choose.

We have written extensively about our stays at this hotel in our non-commercial travelogues: http://www.thetravelzine.com

Hope that helps!

Answer 4

It depends. If you go off the beaten path, and get away from the tourist traps you'll find the food is less expensive and much better. I got a big plate of spaghetti (I was in Italy, I had to try the spaghetti..lol) for 6 euros including a drink. Not too bad...

Answer 5

Milan (Milano) needs to be the very first town whenever a tourist is preparing the trip to Italy because this city posseses an significant past and a wealthy cultural history so, learn more about any of it unbelievable town with hotelbye . One of the areas most popular of Milano is the Piazza del Duomo wherever Napoleon was crowned (actually, he crowned himself) in the Duomo. Milan also given musicians like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, the composer Verdi, the great tenor Enrico Caruso, and custom Giorgio Armani all existed and labored here; and Mussolini founded the Fascist party here. Also, the entire style world seems to Milan's catwalks twice annually for the season's fashions. All it has left to the Milan Town an abundance of art, cultural, and architectural treasures for you yourself to enjoy.

Answer 6

There really is no "average" as there is such a wide range of types of eateries for you to choose from with a wide range of prices as well. Also, depends on WHERE in Italy. For example, you wouldn't expect the cost of food in NYC to be the same as a town in Nebraska.

Answer 7

pisseria's are usually cheap and you can get away with 10 to 15 euro. trattoria's and hostaria's are medium priced around 20 euro and ristorati's are 20 and above. wine can change the total bill and the cheapest is always the wine you get in jug so you just need to order one quartes/ or half or a full liter "della casa" . A dinner in enoteca pinchiorri in florence pr bice in milan, two of the best restaurant with franchises worldwide can easily go to 100 euro per person

Answer 8

about 20 bucks- italy uses the EURO which is stronger then the US dollar- i've been there most local restaurants are not expensive and go for about $10-$20 and theres alot of food and the food is awesome.

Answer 9

It depends where you go.There are fancy restaurants really expensive and there are good ones with very reasonable prices!Try to locate where locals go.I have many friends from Rome and the times they suggested places for food,we had excellent meal at very good prices!

Answer 10

About 2 stone