best restaurants bologna

Swine Food Boutique Restaurant & Wine Bar, Bologna, Italy

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Swine Food Boutique Restaurant & Wine Bar is located in the center of Bologna, about a five minute walk from Piazza Maggiore (the main square), along a string of several restaurants under Bologna’s famous porticos!  Dan and I passed this place on our walk from Bologna Centrale train station to our hotel and both decided that we had to return for lunch!  Now that says one thing: they have a good facade up to draw in a crowd!  And they do – complete with a large “SWINE FOOD” sign, ample outdoor seating and wine barrels!  I mean, it was like built for us (and anyone who likes wine and pork)!  In fact, it is so done-up, that it attracted the likes of the New York Times in their famous 36 hours series (here).  However, while the facade is very “done-up,” the food was very good and it was filled with locals when we ate there.

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Restaurant Review: Trattoria da Gianni, Bologna, Italy

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I visited Bologna for one reason only – to eat!  In planning my trip, a number of foodie blogs recommended Trattoria da Gianni as a local restaurant to taste Bologna’s famous foods.  So I obviously made a reservation (or had Dan do so, since his last name is Italian!).

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Trattoria da Gianni is located in the center of Bologna, not too far from Piazza Maggiore, down a small side street.  We called ahead a few days before and made a reservation for “Sunday Lunch,” which is a very popular and heavy meal in Italy.  Actually, I recommend making a reservation for any day/night.  The restaurant is not very big and it seemed as if all of the tables were reserved when we were there.  If you do show up without a reservation and have to wait, the servers were handing out complimentary glasses of prosecco to pass the time!

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