Upcoming Italy Trip -- Parma

[FLGTR]

My family (husband and eight-year-old son) and I will be staying in Parma for one afternoon and evening on our first night in Italy (in 9 days...woo hoo!!!!) and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for late afternoon lunch/snack and dinner -- nothing too fancy...good food, good people, good times. ...Thanks...

[hornvixen]

I might suggest that you figure out where you would like to go, and then check what the hours are. In general, restaurants in Italy aren't open for the same length of hours that ones in North America are....ie. open from 11am - 11pm. But quite often, I found that they were open for a couple hours at lunch, and then closed until 7pm or 8pm. Have a nice nap in between! (not much will be open then anyways).

I am fairly sure that Thursday is the closing day in Parma...and literally EVERYTHING is closed. This past summer, was supposed to be our dinner in Parma, and we ended up with pizza with fries on top from a take away... a gelateria was open too. You could probably have pizza regardless (it was terrible, but we were stuck) Nothing in the centre of town was open; we were sad. For the afternoon snack, you might have great luck picking up a few nibblies from a small grocery/gourmet store (selling parmigiano, prosciutto and balsamico). There are a few more things at these little shops (enjoy this picnic at the hotel), and then finish off with gelato.

I have recently been eyeing a few places recommended on www.viamichelin.com Click on the "tourism" section and search restaurants. The restaurants are what seem to be in every guidebook and on chowhound and on NYTimes travel for most major centres in Italy. I would be curious for some updates on most anywhere on there.... and not necessarily the fancy "starred" ones, but Giusti, Daniel etc. HOWEVER, it seems that now as I look at viamichelin's updated website (since the weekend)- I can only find Parma as an extended area, and not any of the one's that sounded really intriguing like Hotel Fini, or Filoma. hmm. Well good luck with viamichelin.com, and I'll see if I can find a better way to search on it.

Keep us posted on where you end up, and how it is!

[hornvixen]

OK I've got it - search: Italy and Parma (pick the first one when it pops up). Also , limit by price or cuisine. That seems to provide some fun searching - notice the different symbols - some are extra special (and generally raved about on places like here).

[FLGTR]

Great suggestions...thanks so very much...or should I say...molte grazie!!!

[jangita]

Emilia-Romagna, Parma: Corale G. Verde
Vicolo Asdente, 9, Phone: [phone]

jgk from FL, 2006, #1997, "Don't miss the "torta fritta". Little pillows of fried bread with antipasti hams and salamis. Very enjoyable, cucina tipica Parmigiana. €75/ 4 with wine."

Read the detailed reviews

Emilia-Romagna, Parma: La Barricata Osteria
Borgo Marodolo, 8/A, Phone: [phone]

Monica Pileggi from MD, 2006, #1924, "Nice small mom-n-pop restaurant."

Read the detailed reviews

Emilia-Romagna, Parma: La Forchetta
Borgo San Biagio 6d, Phone: [phone]

Closing day: Sunday evenings and Monday

jgk from FL, 2006, #1984, "Small place with nice table cloths and good wine list. Delicious tortelli erbetti; interesting pasta dish with saffron and zucchini blossoms. €44/lunch for 3"

Read the detailed reviews

Emilia-Romagna, Parma: La Greppia
Via Garibaldi 39/a, Phone: [phone]

telefoNina from CT, 2007, #2532, "Worth going out of your way to Parma to eat at this restaurant."

Read the detailed reviews

Emilia-Romagna, Parma: Rigoletto
B.go Ronchini, 4/B

jgk from FL, 2006, #1986, "Nothing bad just not up to the quality of the other places in Parma. From our one experience, I would avoid this one, although we liked the salads. E36/for 2"

Emilia-Romagna, Parma: S. Martino
via S. Martino, 2, Phone: [phone]

Closing day: Thursday

Monica Pileggi from MD, 2006, #1925, "Fabulous Ristorante - Pizzeria."

Read the detailed reviews

Emilia-Romagna, Parma: Sorelle Picchi
Via Farini, 27, Phone: [phone]

jgk from FL, 2006, #1985, "We loved this place. Friendly service, great food, lots of locals. Fabulous prosciutto and parm cheese antipasto. Wonderful pasta trio primo. E78/ for 4"

Read the detailed reviews

Emilia-Romagna, Parma: Trattoria del Tribunale
Vicolo Politi, 5, Phone: [phone]

jgk from FL, 2006, #1995, "Best meal we had in Parma. Menu and blackboard specials. Very fresh! Good for veg eater. Great wine list, service. €93 for 4 including wine and dessert sampler."

To Read the detailed reviews you have to go to Slow Travel and find the Italy forum and click on the restaurant reviews on the top.

The eating in Parma was fantastic, imho.

[jen kalb]

thanks for sharing your notes, Jangita. did you eat only in the city or did you go out into the parma countryside as well?

[FLGTR]

Jangita -- Thanks for the wonderful suggestion - I've added some of your suggestions to my list...it's going to be hard to choose!!!!!!

[jen kalb]

If you want to have some fun with your Parma area choices, find out what the local chowhounds think of them.

http://www.tolasudolsa.com/locali/cla...
there's a lot to explore in this website - if you want to read it in english, you can stick the name tolasudola plus the name of your chosen restaurant into google, when you get a search result ask for the translated version. Once you are in there, simply click on the name of a restaurant and read the opinions.

[jangita]

We were there for 5 nights and stayed in the historic center. We made one day trip out to a balsamico place but all the real eating was in town.