Going to Italy Tomorrow! Any Suggestions?

I will be travelling to Italy tomorrow for 10 days. 3 in Rome, 3 in Florence and 3 in Venice. Do you guys have any suggestions on any great beers/pubs/restaurants to try?

The best beer I've had from Italy came from Birrifico Montegioco. We don't get a lot of Italian beer here, and I think that wine dominates their country. I'd look for good Belgian specialties while you're there.

I like some of the stuff from Birrificio Bruton, and I have heard a lot of good stuff about Baladin as well.

You can probably find some nice Belgians down there. They are a lot cheaper when they don't have to travel over an ocean. Fresher German Hefes without overseas oxidation will be good to seek out as well...

Eat some ham!

Garrett said:

I will be travelling to Italy tomorrow for 10 days. 3 in Rome, 3 in Florence and 3 in Venice. Do you guys have any suggestions on any great beers/pubs/restaurants to try?

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I was there last year doing almost the same trip. Funny, whenever I go anywhere I always do my beer research before hand.

Truthfully, the beer is not very good in Italy IMO - a step above BMC, not a big one, however if you like very light lagers you will be happy. You can drink anywhere, anytime. I have lots of pics standing in front of police cars with a beer - I am easily amused.

HUGE point to note: DO NOT eat the food on the main drags. You will be hugely dissapointed. Step a block or two off the strip (especially in Florence) and find a place full of italians - thats where the food will be good. You will know they are italians if they are wearing pants (they would not be caught dead in shorts).

My wife and I were horrified when we ate some of the food, which looked delicious, in Florence. It was like cardboard with factory produced veggies, smeared with a tiny drop of tomato paste. YUCK.

A good idea, is to generate some rapport with a local somewhere - like a convenience store guy. Ask him where HE goes to eat. Tell him "No tourist food, I want real italian food". This works in almost every country, and if you try it several times, and in different areas of the city, you will end up eating at a variety of great places.

Also, the Rick Steves book of florence is very good - the recommendatinos are almost all spot on.

Eat some pizza, and for dessert, get the lemon gellato (ice cream), just up the street from the Pantheon.

Check out La Botticella in Rome. It's just off Piazza Navona, about 2 blocks to the west. Nice little place. Ask for Giovanni (John).

my wife is from Milan and i've been to Venice but not Floence or Rome and we are going back this August. as the others have said you won't great Italian beer but you will come across a wide variety of German and Belgians, in bottles and on tap. i always have some Ceres (Denmark) while i am there because i can never find anywhere here.

If you like wine, i would say just enjoy that because there is really exceptional inexpensive wine just about everywhere.

Pm'ed ... You "can" get great Italian beer. You might not have as many choices as here in the US, but they have good beer.

Don't wear a speed-o!

gclay said:

Don't wear a speed-o!

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Nah, I think he should lol

There's an awesome German beer hall in Venice. It's in the Rick Steves book, but good luck actually finding it.

The lions den in Florence was an absolute blast, I don't remember the brew selection as it was a few years ago and we had been drinking liquor during the day, but they had a ton of beers on tap. My wife lived there for a year and ate at a place they called "the hairy leg", not the actual name but they had a boars leg hanging in the window! Enjoy your trip!

Wow! thanks for all the great suggest i cant wait!

I've been to northern Italy 3 times in the last 4 years and I don't even try to drink beer there. Get yourself a nice Italian wine and relax. Beer is for Germany and England. Italy is for wine!

Become a wine snob and guzzle Barolo which you can afford there

http://m.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyl...era-wine-review?cat=lifeandstyle&type=article

I agree with devils4ever, stick with wine in Italy. Northern Italy's Dolcetto's and Babara's from the d'Alba and d'Asti regions are something to experience. Nebbiola's (sp?) are great too.

Try them all but "Renato Ratti" is a highly reccomended label from me (for what it's worth).

Edit:
I almost forgot. Get a margarita pizza, it's a plain old cheese pizza with fresh basil. As simple as it sounds, it's better than anything I've ever had in the states.

Ravenshead said:

I agree with devils4ever, stick with wine in Italy. Northern Italy's Dolcetto's and Babara's from the d'Alba and d'Asti regions are something to experience. Nebbiola's (sp?) are great too.

Try them all but "Renato Ratti" is a highly reccomended label from me (for what it's worth).

Edit:
I almost forgot. Get a margarita pizza, it's a plain old cheese pizza with fresh basil. As simple as it sounds, it's better than anything I've ever had in the states.

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+1 on the pizza. but no sharing! everyone gets their own

Just got back today! Wines were great in all shapes and forms, could not go wrong once especially with the house wines. Beer was terrible, especially all the birra moretti that was at every restaurant. The best thing I came across was Mostodolce in Florence. Great Micro making excellent belgians and others. I love that they serve true pints, actually .51l which is around 17 ounces. Forst had some pubs with good offerings and I came across a few good german beers here and there. Best part of the whole trip was the 5 hour layover in frankfurt, which gave me a chance to take the train into the city and grab the best dunkel ever!

That's about what I experienced as well. Hope you had a Pizza.

We could walk right into any supermarket in Friulia and buy all sorts of great beer, cheap- none of it Italian. So as long as you don't expect any great revelations in locally produced beer, you're OK. OTOH, if you've got any taste for wine, you're in a great place.

hope u had a great time! Had i seen this before i would have sent u a scan of the card from the place i had "the best pizza in the world" from... ive been all over the med for work eaten more food than i should have! and venice is by far my favorite!