food in italy

Let's be honest. The Pantheon is kinda cool, the Colosseum is a bunch of rocks in a circle, but the food, the food!, is where it's at.

Italy is, of course, famous for its food. Dishes that have traveled around the world and continue to inspire cuisine to this day. Not just pizza, but even rustic dishes like scarola e fagioli or pasta ceci.

And if the North is known for being beautiful (it is), and clean (it is), and filled with historical wonders (I mean, a little bit?), then the South is known for its food.

Home of the pizza.

Home of dried pasta.

Limoncello. Mozzarella. Bruschetta.

I could literally keep going.

But I won't, time is short, and there's food that needs to be eaten.

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Below you will find a list a cities (not all of them from the South, but they still have pretty amazing food), and within each city's page anywhere from 1 to 10 of our favorite places to eat.

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This encompasses lunch, dinner, pastries, gelato, pasta, bread, all of it. Granted, some of the sections are a little light on recommendations, but we don't like recommending places that were clearly catering for tourists or only so-so. Darcy and I eat at so-so restaurants frequently. We live in Italy; chances are, we'll have another chance to eat somewhere better.

But if you're here for a short time, we want you to eat, and mangia bene.