Trattoria dal Biassanot
TraditionalProper Bolognese cooking, hand-rolled pasta: tortellini in broth, tagliatelle al ragù, cotoletta. It's steps from the little window on Via Piella that looks onto the canal.
Open the mapRiccardo's recommendations
Where to eat in Bologna
These are the places I go to, and where I send my guests. They aren't all of them: they're the ones where you eat well and nobody charges you tourist prices. In Bologna the pasta is still rolled by hand, and you can taste it.
The real trattorias are small and they fill up: ring ahead, especially at weekends. Many close on Sundays, and quite a few close for the whole of August.
Where to eat
Da Cesari
TraditionalA family trattoria right in the centre, a short walk from Piazza Maggiore, open for more than a hundred years. Tagliatelle alla bolognese, tortellini in broth and the scaloppina alla petroniana. Finish with the chocolate tenerina.
Monday to Saturday 12.30–2.30pm and 7.30–10.30pm. Closed Sundays and the whole of August. Worth booking: 051 237710
Open the mapOsteria Bartolini
FishAdriatic fish and a great mixed fry, in the loveliest garden in the city, facing the church of San Francesco. They don't take bookings — go early.
Open the mapLa SfogliaRina
TortelliniHand-rolled pasta and seriously good tortellini. The place to understand why Bologna is Bologna.
Open the mapMortadella Lab
MortadellaProper mortadella, in the city that invented it.
Open the mapLa Sorbetteria Castiglione
GelatoArtisan gelato made with seasonal fruit, right in the centre. It's Marina's place, and she's a friend — I'll say it up front, and the gelato really is that good.
Open every day. There's a second shop at via Saragozza 83
Open the mapDragon Pub
PubThe neighbourhood pub, a short walk from the flat: for an evening beer without going all the way into the centre.
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