24/11/2025
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If you’ve ever wondered how Italians always seem to find the good food… it’s because we almost never check reviews.
We have a different system — less logical, more instinctive — but it works. Here’s how we actually choose a restaurant:
1. We look at the menu — but not what you think.
We’re checking how many dishes there are.
If the menu reads like a novel, we walk away.
Too many options = frozen food.
Short menu = someone is actually cooking.
2. We glance at the pasta shape.
If every pasta is the same noodle with different sauces, no thank you.
If the shapes change — pici, paccheri, tagliolini, orecchiette — that’s usually a good sign.
3. We look through the door, not at the reviews.
Are there locals inside?
Are people talking loudly?
Does the waiter look stressed in a good way, like he’s actually working?
Perfect.
4. The bread test.
If the bread looks sad, dry, or factory-made… that tells you everything you need to know.
5. We avoid restaurants with giant signs in English.
Menus in English are fine — Rome and Florence are full of tourists.
But giant banners like “BEST PASTA IN TOWN!” or “HOME MADE PIZZA!”
No Italian believes those signs.
6. We check the specials of the day.
If a place has written daily specials (ideally handwritten)… they’re cooking what they found at the market that morning.
That’s gold.
7. We read the room before we sit.
Tourist trap restaurants feel like airports:
waiters outside begging you to come in, laminated menus, photos of spaghetti.
We don’t go there.
Ever.
8. We look at the simplest dishes.
If the cacio e pepe or amatriciana looks right on a nearby table, we stay.
If it looks like yellow cream or ketchup… goodbye.
9. We don’t trust empty dining rooms at 1 PM.
In Italy, good food brings people early.
If the tables are empty during peak lunch hours, that’s a warning sign.
10. And the final rule: we follow our nose.
If you can smell garlic gently frying from the street — that’s your place.
If you smell nothing, or only fried oil… keep walking.