Dining in Rome

Overview
Italian food relies heavily upon simple and fresh ingredients. Those two factors alone have made the cuisine a favorite around the world. And though you will find a variety of restaurants in Rome from the formal to the highly informal, you will not find a large number of establishments considered great by the standards of the world's food critics. Rome has not claimed the same culinary high ground as has New York, Paris, the emerging London and a handful of other cities in Europe and South America. Nevertheless, there are few complaints from those who sample the city's many and varied pasta and seafood dishes.

International Foods
The primary cuisine of Rome is, and will always remain, Italian but expect to see more restaurants than you would have expected representing food and flavors from elsewhere in the world. Italy, like many European urban centers, has seen an increase in its ethnic immigration numbers over the past few years. As people from Africa and Asia settle into the Eternal City they inevitably begin to miss the comfort food of their home countries. And if you can't go back home, the next best thing is to bring home to you. And if there are a fair number of like-minded homesick newcomers in the neighborhood, it's not long before a restaurant catering to their palates opens its doors. For example, you'll find Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Ethiopian restaurants.

Smoking
Good news for non-smokers. In a land where more than one out of every four people smoke, a country-wide ban on smoking in most bars and restaurants is now in effect. The exception is outdoor dining areas and facilities that have separate smoking rooms with ventilation.

Italians Mealtimes
Bad news for breakfast lovers. Italians aren't very big on breakfast so if this is your favorite meal of the day make sure you choose a hotel popular with American travelers since it's restaurants and room service are more likely to cater to the eating habits of Americans. But if you can wait til late morning you can take advantage of the trend of more restaurants to offer brunch.

Italians place more emphasis on lunch. For dinner don't try to use the same strategy you use at home-- getting to the restaurant around 5 PM to beat the dinner crowd. Dinner for Italians generally begins much later, around 8 PM. Verify with the restaurant what time it begins seating.

Drinks
Drinks are usually served without ice.

Don't Miss
How can you visit Italy without sampling the pizza? Fewer toppings will likely be offered than you are accustomed to but Italians keep the pizza simple, closer to its humble roots. Gelato takes the place of ice cream in Italy. It's richer than ice cream so dieters beware. You'll have no problem finding a gelaterie but you might want to have a little fun and compare the offerings from several shops especially, those that make their gelato on-site. Granita, flavored shaved ice, is also popular.