How to Spot A Tourist Trap Restaurant In Italy
Let us preface this post by saying there is nothing objectively wrong with eating at a tourist focused restaurant. Perhaps you want to eat with a perfect view of the Duomo in Florence or the Pantheon in Rome, or have some nice, cold AC hitting you on a hot summer day, thats fine. As long as you are aware that you most likely will be be paying a premium, and the quality and authenticity of the food might not justify the extra cost. With that being said, here are some easy ways to spot a tourist restaurant in Italy:
What to Avoid
Restaurants directly in front of or near major tourist sties
Tourist restaurants most often exist in the vicinity of major tourist attractions due to the high traffic in these areas. It may be tempting to grab a seat at a restaurant directly in front of the Pantheon in Rome or overlooking the Duomo in Florence, but you will end up paying more money than you should for often sub-par food. We recommend turning a corner and walking a couple blocks away from the most crowded area to find a more authentic restaurant.
Menus with multiple languages, country flags, and photos of the food
An easy way to spot a tourist trap is if the menu is a large book or poster with multiple country flags on the front denoting multiple versions written in English, Spanish, Russian, German, Japanese etc. This indicates a restaurant that has a main goal of attracting as many tourists as possible as opposed to producing high quality food. Authentic restaurants will have paired down menus written only in Italian, and some may have a separate English menu upon request. Keep in mind also that a restaurant with a menu adorned with country flags will usually be paired with photos of the food and signs declaring "AC inside!" or "Free Wifi!" A sure sign of a tourist trap.
Bonus Tip: Be on the look out for an unfortunate scam that is run at some restaurants where the English menu will have higher prices than the local Italian menu, or has no prices at all which can lead to you being charged obscene prices for food and drink!
Restaurant hosts beckoning you or strongly pushing you to eat at their restaurant
A common practice among tourist centric restaurants in highly trafficked areas is to have a host (sometimes called a tout) standing on the street encouraging you to eat or drink at their restaurant as you pass. They may tempt you by declaring they have the best pasta carbonara in the city, or by offering you a glass of wine or trying to show you menu. But almost always this indicates less than stellar food quality. Restaurants with a good reputation or a high rating do not need to promote themselves in this way.
Menus that have food from multiple regions in Italy
Italian cuisine is all about regionality, speciality, and freshness. This mean that food is prepared using the produce, techniques, and history of the specific region it is prepared in. For this reason, true authentic menus should be offering regional, local food. You should not, for example, see risotto alla Milanese (a traditional dish from the north of Italy), on the same menu as pasta alla Nerano (a fresh zuchini pasta dish native to Campania in the south). Tourist focused restaurants will often put all the Italian "hits" that foreigners are familiar with on the menu, no matter what region they are from. Keep in mind also that these type of restuarants will put items on the menu that are not even found in Italy but are known to Americans such as spaghetti and meatballs or fettucine alfredo.
Bonus Tip: Watch out for bloated menus that have dozens of items on them. Most authentic Italian restaurants have focused, paired down menus that are deicated to local ingredients specific types of dishes.
Are there Italians eating there?
Finally ask yourself, do you see Italians eating at the restaurant? Do you hear a lot of Itlaian or do you hear mostly English? Finding a restaurant that is full of Italians means that the restaurant is trusted by locals. Another hint is if the restaurant is open between 3 and 7 pm. Almost all authentic restaurants are closed during this time because Italians normally do not eat dinner until closer to 8 PM or later, so a restaurant that is open in the late afternoon is most likely catering to tourists.
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