Bologna is called la grassa, the fat one, and it earns the name. Emilia-Romagna is the pantry of Italy, and Bologna is where its ingredients become a way of life: egg pasta rolled by hand, pork turned into mortadella and prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano from the plain and balsamic vinegar from Modena. You can eat superbly here without a single famous restaurant, if you know what to order and when to show up.
The dishes to try first
Tagliatelle al ragù is the city’s signature, fresh egg ribbons with a slow-cooked sauce of pork and beef. You will never find spaghetti bolognese here, and asking for it will earn a polite smile. Tortellini are small stuffed rings of pasta filled with pork, mortadella, prosciutto and Parmigiano, and they are at their best in brodo, in a clear meat broth, especially on a cold day. Lasagne here are green, made with spinach in the pasta and layered with ragù and béchamel. Gramigna with sausage is a humbler plate of short curly pasta. Mortadella, silky and pink and nothing like its supermarket cousins elsewhere, is eaten in thin slices, in a panino or alongside cured meats. Finish with a coffee, a small glass of something local, or a gelato in hazelnut or fior di latte.
Crescentine, tigelle and piadina
These are the breads of the region. Crescentine are fried pockets of dough served warm with cured meats and soft cheese. Tigelle are small round breads from the Modena area, split and filled. Piadina, a thin flatbread, comes from the Romagna side of the region and makes a quick lunch to eat while walking.
How aperitivo works
In the early evening, bars set out snacks or serve a tagliere, a board of cured meats and cheeses, with a drink. The best approach is to treat it as a light meal and a way to sample several things. Order a spritz or a glass of local wine, such as a bubbly Lambrusco or a Pignoletto from the nearby hills, and ask what is on the board.
Reading the signs
An osteria or trattoria is typically an informal, family-run place serving traditional recipes, while a ristorante tends to be more formal. Menus are often short and seasonal, with fresh pasta listed first. Many places add a small cover charge per person, shown on the menu as coperto, which is normal and not a trick. Tipping is modest; a few coins or rounding up is enough in most places, since service is usually already reflected in the bill or the cover charge.
When to eat
Lunch is the main meal for many locals and runs from about midday to two. Dinner starts later, typically from around half past seven or eight. Kitchens in small places close between services, and some restaurants close for one day a week, often Sunday or Monday, so check before you set out. Book anywhere small for Friday and Saturday evenings.
Where to graze
The Quadrilatero, the medieval lanes beside Piazza Maggiore, is the natural place to start: pasta shops with sheets of egg dough in the window, delicatessens hung with hams, cheese counters, fishmongers and wine bars. It is busiest on Saturday and quietest on Sunday, when many shops close. A tasting tour of the lanes is a good way to meet the shopkeepers and learn what you are looking at, and a food walking tour adds the sit-down dishes in a couple of well-chosen stops.
Get your hands in the dough
A cooking class is the best way to understand why Bolognese pasta is made the way it is. You learn the ratio of eggs to flour, roll the sheet with a long pin, and shape tortellini and tagliatelle that you then eat. It is a long, relaxed session and it suits couples, friends and curious families. Book it a few days ahead.
Beyond the city walls
The countryside around Bologna is the source of the best ingredients. In Modena, a family acetaia ages balsamic vinegar in barrels of different woods, and tastings go from the young, sharp vinegar to a syrupy aged one that you drip onto a cheese. A Parmigiano Reggiano dairy shows how milk becomes a wheel of cheese over many months, and Parma adds its prosciutto. Lambrusco, the sparkling red of the region, is the drink to try with all of it, and a cellar visit near Modena teaches you that the good ones are dry, fresh and nothing like the sweet versions you may remember. Allow a day for each of these trips and bring an appetite.
A simple plan
Start with a market tasting, have a proper lunch of fresh pasta, take a walk through the porticoes, then settle into aperitivo and a light dinner. Keep one evening for an unhurried trattoria meal and book it in advance. Eat well, walk between meals and do not worry about missing anything: there is always another plate waiting.