59 Not My Favourite Restaurants in Bologna

I hate nothing more than to eat in a restaurant frequented by North American co-eds, or crass Americans. For this reason I list Pizzeria BRACE on via San Vitale 15 as a restaurant to avoid. It may have good pizzas, which I didn’t order, but whatever good it had was spoilt by the noisy co-eds and the loud-mouthed waiter who obviously thought that he had to pander to these kids.

Let me explain what I mean by crass Americans lest I am accused of tarring all Americans with the same brush. While eating at a restaurant, the table next to mine had a group of Americans including one LOUD woman and a younger male who obviously was studying in Bologna and acting as guide. Whatever he ordered came with French fries, and he called the waitress over and asked for Ketchup! She politely but firmly explained that he was eating at an Italian restaurant and Ketchup is not part of the Italian cuisine. Hallelujah!

I made the mistake of eating at the Pizzeria Spacca Napoli on Via San Vitale 45/a. After a long wait, all my dishes arrived at the same time – they had been re-heated. Perhaps my mistake was in not ordering pizza. I would list Trattoria Anna Maria Via Belle Arte 17A as one that could be avoided although it came highly recommended. It obviously is famous, with many German tourists and walls plastered with letters of praise. I had lasagne bolognese which cost 13.50 euros. It was a small helping and dry. The total bill came to 28 euros, and all I had with the pasta was a simple salad, a quarter carafe of wine, coffee and a half litre of water. If the food had been good I would not have minded the price, but frankly, I would abandon this restaurant to the Germans.