Where to eat: Mortadella, tortellini, piadina, crescione. If you want to eat in Bologna, you are spoilt for choice. There is something for every taste and every budget.
For gourmets who want to taste special recipes linked to the Bolognese tradition, the slow food guide recommends Osteria Bottega in Via Santa Caterina. Lasagne alla Bolognese, cotoletta alla Petroniana and other recipes are all made with top quality ingredients. For an aperitif in Via Pescherie Vecchie, one of the city’s most picturesque alleys, there is Zero cinquantino, a very popular place where you can enjoy tigelle, crescente, piadine and many other appetising snacks and Bolognese, accompanied by a good glass of wine. Then there is ‘La tua piadina’ in Via Borgo Nuovo, one of the best piadinerie in the city, Osteria dell’Orsa offering rustic food at very modest prices. Less characteristic but certainly tasty for adults but also and above all for children is the Bolpetta restaurant, where you can sample dozens and dozens of different meatballs: meatballs, fishballs, vegetable meatballs, cereal meatballs. And if you like to have an aperitif among books in a charming and culturally stimulating atmosphere, you cannot miss Va Mo là in Via delle Moline.
Speaking of culinary delicacies, we cannot fail to mention Tamburini in via Caprarie, which with its 82 years of uninterrupted activity, celebrated by guides, magazines, and gastronomy books, has delighted travellers from halfway around the world. For lovers of a good breakfast, the café la Gazzetta will amaze you not only with its delicious pastries, but also with its alternative, industrial-style décor. Something halfway between an Irish pub and a cellar of vintage pieces of furniture with extraordinary taste. Its atmospheric shop windows overlook the arcades of Via Zamboni. Breakfast par excellence in Bologna is eaten at Bianca’s. On Via Santo Stefano, Breakfast at Bianca’s is now a ritual, not only for the Bolognese but also for the thousands of students and tourists passing through the city.