4 Tips For Finding An Authentic Italian Restaurant
Italian food is very popular. Almost everyone loves spaghetti, lasagna, or ravioli. When you want to go out to a restaurant to get really authentic Italian food, you want to be sure that the restaurant really is serving what you want. There are ways that you can tell that the restaurant serves the same food that you would find in Italy.
Pasta Is Always the Main Dish
One sign that the restaurant is authentically Italian is that pasta is always the feature of an entree. It will never be a side of the entree you order, so if you see something like chicken with pasta on the side, then you know that you are at a less authentic Italian restaurant.
Many Kinds of Pasta
There are all kinds of pasta out there, and they aren't interchangeable. Some sauces work better with some kinds of pasta, and using them with the wrong noodles will sign that you aren't at a truly authentic restaurant. In general, the rule of thumb is that the heavier the sauce is, the bigger and wider the noodles need to be in order to stand up to it. Spaghetti needs something like olive oil or tomato-based light sauce. That's because the sauce will coat each noodle. But ziti can take a heavier sauce and is often used in a baked dish with heavy sauce and cheese.
Mixed-In Sauce
While you might see a lot of pictures of pretty piles of pasta with a lovely sauce puddled on top, authentic Italian restaurants are going to mix the sauce and the noodles together before they come out to your table. This is going to make sure that the pasta is all coated before it leaves the kitchen and that the chef isn't going to need to add more sauce to the dish. In fact, doing it this way can actually use less sauce because everything is coated well, without huge puddles of sauce being left.
Few Ingredients
True Italian food is going to depend on the taste of a few simple ingredients. The dishes aren't going to be loaded down with all kinds of ingredients. If a dish has more than five or so ingredients, odds are that the restaurant isn't as authentic as it says it is.
If you are looking for an authentic Italian restaurant for a true taste of Italy, there are a few things that you can look for that will help you be sure that you are at the right place. Look for local restaurants, such as Villa Romana Italian Restaurant, to try authentic Italian food.