How to Avoid Tourist Trap Restaurants

It’s not. I promise.

I mean, we didn’t eat there, so I guess we don’t really know for sure that it’s not the best restaurant in Rome…

…but this place screams tourist trap.

It can be easy to get sucked into these places when you’re traveling in a new country and you don’t know the language. I know because even though we are fairly seasoned travelers, Michael and I wound up stuck eating a meal at a touristy restaurant.

Let’s set the scene: it’s our second day in Rome, and it has been raining all morning, causing us to completely miss the first part of our planned day.

“What time is our Borghese Gallery reservation?” I asked Michael, who had made the reservations a few weeks prior [side note – reservations are essential].

“The time slot is from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m.” he replied.

“Wait – but what about lunch?”

“We’ll eat beforehand!”

“No, we won’t! I’m not eating at noon, and I’m definitely not eating a rushed lunch. We’ll just have to find something to eat afterward,” I insisted, the Italian way of life already starting to settle in.

We visited the gallery, which was incredibly beautiful. We concluded our visit around 2:20 p.m. and used the WiFi to find a decent-looking restaurant. In Italy, most lunch places are open until 2:00 p.m. or 3:00 p.m. at the latest. We knew we needed to find someplace quickly. A swift search pointed us toward two possibilities, and we mapped a route between them in case one didn’t pan out.

The first restaurant looked amazing. But when we arrived the chairs were already stacked – clearly lunch had ended.

Okay, on to the next one!

We walked toward the second restaurant, the three o’clock hour approaching.

“Wait, I think that’s it there on the right,” I said, slowing my pace.

“Table for two?!” a woman shrieked at us from the doorway.

“We’re just looking at the menu,” I tried to say, knowing that I would rather eat a grab-and-go meal from the nearest supermarket than eat at a restaurant where they were so desperate for diners they had to resort to luring tourists off of the street.

But before I could get the words out, Michael had already said “Yes, please!” and followed her inside. We’d passed the point of no return. This was it. One of our limited opportunities for meals in Italy, wasted.

I glared at him after we were seated. “We weren’t going to eat here,” I said, arms folded.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “Isn’t this the place you found online?”

“Yes, but I wasn’t really sure about it. We were going to look at the menu outside, remember? We always look at the menu posted outside.”

“I’m sorry, do you want to go?”

“How can we go? No, we’re just going to eat here. And order only one course. And don’t take anything extra that you didn’t order – they are just going to charge you for it.” I warned, gritting my teeth for what was to come.

How bad was it? Honestly, not awful, but about as good as the boxed pasta and sauce from a jar that we ate through our poorer college years. Items we didn’t order kept trying to make their way onto our table, but we declined each with a “non, grazie,” except for the bread which came out lightning-fast and added €4 to the bill. We overheard the only other patrons in the restaurant talking about the additions to their bill as they determined the length of time they needed to make it back to their tour bus.

We paid and left, though no longer hungry, feeling unsatisfied.

“We should write a blog post about restaurant red flags,” I said, footsteps out the door.

So here we are.

In addition to scooting around desperate servers, here’s my short and sweet photo guide to restaurant red flags:

RESTAURANT RED FLAGS

Menus with pictures

A menu with pictures of the food and prices — Menus with pictures

(Unless you need one, of course).

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Any buffet

An arch over a doorway that reads "Lunch buffet" in Rome — Any buffet.

Literally, any buffet. I don’t care how hungry you are – don’t do it.

—

The places with the stickers

A door to a restaurant in Italy with lots of award stickers — Places with the stickers

Wait – but some of these are reputable guides?

True – but most of these were already nine years old when I took this photo.

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Menus in many languages

A menu that comes in five languages — Menus translated into lots of languages

We love places that provide access to all and people who are breaking down barriers – but that’s not what’s going on here.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON AVOIDING TOURIST TRAP RESTAURANTS

Stop and think for a moment about the atmosphere of your favorite restaurants in your hometown.

Most of the time, these favorite haunts don’t need special advertising or gimmicks to draw you in, right? They thrive on the quality of the food and service, paired with a comfortable ambiance. In my opinion, these are the types of places you should be seeking out when you travel.

How do you do that? Read the reviews carefully (bonus points if most are in the local language), swipe through photos to get a sense of the vibe, and trust your gut when walking by.

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Have you ever experienced a bad tourist trap meal? What warning signs did you miss?

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