Nicknamed La Grassa, literally meaning the fat, Bologna has a reputation as a foodie paradise. With a rich local cuisine and wine history and an exciting young student feel to the city, it celebrates its wealth of culinary traditions, including its famous mortadella (ham known outside of Italy as bologna), tagliatelle al ragù (known as Bolognese sauce outside of Italy), gramigna, Parmigiano-Reggiano, tortellini in brodo and Pignoletto. While you’re essentially guaranteed something delicious wherever you go, we can vouch for the following.
Trattoria da Me
Undoubtedly our foodie highlight in the city, Trattoria da Me (formerly known as Trattoria Danio, which opened in 1937) is popular among locals and has been celebrated for its high-quality food, friendly service and undeniably Bolognese character. The trattoria emphasises good quality seasonal produce and the chefs have an utmost respect for it, reflected in the astounding flavours they manage to create. We highly recommend their tortellini and the slightly higher than typical price tag is more than worth it. Read our review of the restaurant here.
Find more information on their Facebook here.
Pizzeria da Totò
If you’re looking for a bargain in the city, look no further than this pizzeria on Via San Rocco. For around 6 EUR, they’ll cook you one of their delicious fresh oven-baked pizzas from their goliath of a menu. It doesn’t get much better than a four seasons pizza bigger than your plate with a beer to wash it down. It can get busy, but there’s plenty of room and the staff are all very friendly too. As Welsh people, we’re also big fans of their logo, the restaurant kindly giving Y Ddraig Goch a weekend job baking pizza with his fiery breath.
Find more information on their Facebook here.
Le Stanze
This bar, café and restaurant is located in a building that was originally a 16th century chapel in the Palazzo Bentivoglio and is worth visiting just for the remarkable building and frescoes themselves. With a good selection of wines and cocktails, nestled in the heart of the student quarter, Le Stanze is an ideal stop for nibbles and aperitvos. While they do serve more substantial offerings from their restaurant, we didn’t get a chance to go and only tried their delightful selection of local cheeses, hams and bread. Regardless of what you have, the location guarantees that it will be a unique experience.
For more information, visit their website here.
Il Punto
While Bologna and the surrounding Emilia-Romagna region is internationally renowned for its wines (which you can read about here), Il Punto – on Via San Rocco about two minutes from Pizzeria da Totò – is dedicated to providing its clientele with an ever-changing selection of good beers from around Italy and the rest of the world. With beer tasting boards for around 5 EUR, this is a good place to get to grips with Italian craft brewing, with helpful staff happy to make recommendations too. Their food, focusing on hearty burgers and local piadina flatbreads, is also very satisfying. You can read our review of Il Punto here.
For more information, visit their website here.
Osteria dell’Orsa
Originally a punk hub in the 1970s, Osteria dell’Orsa is a lively local Bolognese osteria with extremely reasonable prices for their traditional fare of food. No reservations necessary, simply turn up at the establishment on Via Mentana and the helpful staff will quickly seat you. We recommend the tagliatelle al ragù or gramigna along with a Lambrusco, a sparkling red that goes with it very well. You can read our review here.
For more information, visit their website here.
Cremeria della Grada
This fantastic ice creamery is tucked away from the centre of town on Via San Rocco, along with Il Punto and Pizzeria da Totò. If you follow Via San Rocco all the way to end, turning away from San Felice, there are also many trendy bars and restaurants in the area. Closing at 10 pm, Cremeria della Grada is the perfect spot for excellent Italian gelato after a couple of drinks at the bars in the area. We recommend the stracciatella.
For more information, visit their Facebook here.
Cremeria Santo Stefano
A short walk from the town centre down Via Santo Stefano leads you to one of the city’s foodie highlights, the famous Cremeria Santo Stefano. This family-run and locally popular gelateria offers beautifully soft and creamy gelato, as well as thirst-quenching granitas perfect for a hot summer’s day. We recommend the dark chocolate or pistachio gelato.
For more information, visit their website here.
Food Markets
Bologna is also home to a good range of markets, most popular among locals being the Mercato delle Erbe, founded in 1910. Bars and restaurants open in the market plaza in the evening and it is a good place to experiment with local food. Mercato di Mezzo, close to Piazza Maggiore, is a central market that showcases the city’s produce, from its wine to its sausages and gelato. Mercato della Terra is a high-quality farmers market open on Saturday mornings, where producers sell their wares in a laid-back piazza just outside of Cinema Lumiere.
Another place worth a mention is E Cucina Leopardi. Unfortunately, as we visited during the summer, the restaurant had reduced opening hours meaning that we couldn’t visit on the days it was open. From what we heard, it’s an extremely reasonably priced restaurant run by a very well renowned chef, asking diners whether they want meat or vegetarian options, and then the talented staff whip up a five-course meal for them.
Hungry for more? Read our city guide to Bologna here.
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