A trattoria in Venice. Photo: Lunar Sea Art.

We love Italy for its wonderful regional diversity, friendly, hospitable people who know how to enjoy life and its simple, delicious food and wine.

Italy's culinary universe goes far beyond pizza and pasta. From the top of the boot in Milan to the tip of the toe in Sicily, there's a wide array of cuisines and regional specialties to explore. There are restaurants in converted caves and 500-year-old buildings, on sandy beaches and decked out in beautiful modern hotels. There are thousands of restaurants in Italy, serving all kinds of food in all sorts of places and that’s even before you get bogged down in the different types.

If you’ve done any traveling in Italy, you may be a bit confused about the terms trattoria, osteria and ristorante. Are they really that different from each other? What can you expect from each one?

Today in Italy these terms are often used interchangeably, but there are some notable differences between them. Whether you are on the hunt, booking ahead or picking at random, you can learn a lot about an Italian eatery from its title.

For this blog post, we’ll break down the trattoria, osteria and ristorante, so you know what to expect when you walk through the door! There are some rare exceptions (like when a fine dining brand uses Osteria in their name or some iconic white table cloth restaurants call themselves Trattoria) but these are general guidelines.

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Osteria

The osteria dates back to Medieval times when it took a very different form than how we know it today. Back then, it was more of an inn where travelers, tradesmen and locals could come and take shelter from the cold, enjoying their own food that they brought (usually simple bread, cheese, cured meats) in company at communal tables. The word stemmed from oste (innkeeper) and from Latin hospes (host). To ask for a bottle of wine, all you had to do was shout “WINE!”.

Over the years, some osterias, especially those close to mines, gravel pits or construction sites, began to serve “cooked” dishes and to bear the sign “Osteria con Cucina”. Tables were tablecloth-less and wooden, and for some bizarre reason, fruit was banned. The atmosphere was that of the average people – a place for joking, amusement and the occasional celebration of a festival or wedding.

Fast forward to today and osterias are very simple restaurant-like venues serving a rotating menu usually with some mainstays. Menus are often limited, handwritten and printed or displayed on a large board. They have a very ‘homey’ feel to them as you are probably rubbing elbows with locals there for affordable, yet interesting menu’ offerings.

However, there is still one place where you can experience the Medieval-style osteria - Osteria del Sole in Bologna’s Vicolo Ranocchi. One of the oldest taverns in Europe, it’s been in business since 1465, serving wine to accompany your BYO snacks!

Visit if you’re looking for: A laid-back atmosphere, playful dishes drawing on tradition made with local ingredients, simple, but affable service, and a varied selection of Italian wines.

Trattoria

The osteria con cucina (osteria with kitchen) evolved into taverns equipped with a kitchen. The name comes from the French word “traiteur” which derives from “traiter” and respectively mean “host/caterer” and “to treat”. A trattoria is not a generic restaurant though. Here, the primary function is the preparation of complete meals of regional cuisine prepared by grandmothers and mothers. For centuries, the trattoria has been a traditional source of employment for women as they had limited independence and opportunities for work outside the family home.

Often, trattorias were family businesses with mamma, babbo, nonni and the kids living nearby or upstairs. Even to this day, many are still family owned with the food they serve being simple, seasonal and based on regional specialities and ingredients. Many of the staples in trattorias originate from the cucina povera, the concept of rustic peasant cooking with affordable ingredients that are nutrient rich and flavorful.

In Florence, for example, you would expect a trattoria to serve ribollita soups, homemade pappardelle coated in wild boar ragu or plates of lampredotto, made from the boiled fourth and final stomach of cattle, the abomasum, dressed in plenty of salsa verde.

Visit if you’re looking for: Affordable, regional cuisine and a low-key, family-style no-frills Italian experience.

Ristorante

Until the late 18th century, elites regarded public spaces as dirty and dangerous and preferred to eat at home, enjoying the luxury of having a staff that cooked and cleaned just for them. But as Italy’s middle class grew and capitalism accelerated, they sought out places to see and be seen - so the ristorante was born!

Ristorante derives from the French homonym restaurant and the Latin of “to refresh”. At the end of the 18th century, the first place that bore this name was born in Paris and served exclusively “the food that refreshes”: i.e. soup. Thanks to its proximity to France, Piedmont was the first Italian region with “proper” ristoranti, with Turin’s Il Cambio claiming the title as the country’s first restaurant, opened in 1765.

Unlike osterias, ristoranti had menus, a kitchen brigade and well-separated tables. The food was not just local and traditional, but innovative and contemporary, inspired by travel and with imported ingredients involving spices and tropical fruits. The wine was served in whole bottles rather than from a fiasco (wine flask) and the tables set and served by professional waiters.

Even to this day, career waiters still persist even if they are dwindling due to the shifting socio-economic climate in Italy. In the US, waiting tables unless in the fine dining realm is typically viewed as a means for rent until they finish University, publish some writing or break into the entertainment industry.

But in Italy, some waiters are in it for the long haul. They’ll be at the same ristorante for years, decades even. They will have perfected service to a fine art, making a fine salary at the high-end places. If you’re a regular, they’ll remember your name, your wine and dish preferences. They’ll greet you like an old friend and then leave you in peace and quiet to enjoy your meal, attending to your table with grace and subtly. No hovering. Just great service.

Sometimes these waiters are “percentualisti” meaning, they take home a percentage of the night’s earnings. Hospitality is an art and a skill that is slowly dying and becoming instead a source of exploitation. Trattoria Camillo in Florence, for example, is one of the city’s last restaurants with percentualisti waiters.

Today, a ristorante usually means a more curated menu with an emphasis on service and impressive wines. The food is going to be prepared less based on a casalinga approach (or homecooked) but rather, studied and elevated.

Visit if you’re looking for: White table cloth dining experiences with more refined service, extensive wine list and a sometimes more international, modern or creative menus.

An enoteca in Florence. Photo: Coral Sisk.

Bonus: Enoteca (or also, Fiaschetteria)

An enoteca is essentially the Italian version of a wine bar. The word is derived from derived from the Greek word Οινοθήκη, which literally means "wine repository"or wine library. Historically, an enoteca only sold wine, either by the glass or in bottles to take home and eventually, many began serving small plates.

Today, you will still find the traditional enoteca; however, many have become full-service restaurants and call themselves an “enoteca” to highlight their wine collection. The typical Italian enoteca is to spotlight the best wines of its region, but often you’ll find drops from all over the country.

Fiaschetteria comes from the word “Fiasco” which is a type of bottle (we learn more about the fiasco origins on our Wine Door Buchette Tour of Florence) and historically was bottle shop who may have also offered a buffet or trattoria-like food service. Now it’s similar to an old-school enoteca or trattoria, usually blue-collar/no-frills in vibe.

Next article? All about our other favorite dining venues: pizzerias and gelaterias! Subscribe here to get first dips on latest Italy travel tips.

Hungry for more? Check out our progressive culinary tours! We visit a few restaurants in one evening on our dining crawl that illustrates this blog post in real time. Come taste the region’s top dishes like fresh pici pasta and Florentine steak, sommelier selected wines and the city’s main points of interest by foot in between stops with a food obsessed local serving as your personal treasure chest of knowledge. Contact us for more details!