Rome: A Few Words on Restaurants

I haven’t mentioned much about the places we’ve eaten because they’ve been mostly good and mostly all pasta. We did discover that food lovers must steer clear of Rome in August: many recommended restaurants are closed for the whole month while the owners and staff vacation, presumably in America. Here are some other tips:

• Order the house wine. It’s cheap and good. Everyone says this and it’s true.
• Sit outside for better people-watching.
• To tip for a dinner, round up the bill to the nearest dollar amount or chip in 10%. Aggravatingly, Romans aren’t expected to tip but tourists are.
• Finally, beware
  • menus with photos of entrees
  • waiters who attempt to corral you in from the street
  • restaurant names in blatant English (one I saw was called “That’s Amore!”)
  • restaurants with red-and-white checkered tablecloths