Many people outside of Italy looooovvvveee Italian food, including here at Italy Dreams. Our favorite food was pizza growing up–OK, so maybe it was Pizza Hut pizza, which would make real Italians shudder (hey, we were in the D.C. suburbs, not New York or New Jersey!). And pasta and risotto dishes are a regular part of the meal rotation at Casa di Italy Dreams.
In any case, traveling to Italy is eye-opening when it comes to Italian food, as you start to learn what cibo Italiano (Italian food) actually is versus Italian-American food.
We gleaned many of these tips during a 2025 visit to Italy, while others were discovered online. And we’d be happy to continue the food conversation in the future.
You’re welcome for the yummy food pictures throughout. 🙂
The Big Picture
1. Italian food differs drastically by region.
When we say “Italian food,” we’re making a huge generalization. That’s because Italian food can differ drastically by region. Italy has 20 different regions, each with its own distinct food, wine, cheese, bread and desserts. Heck, food can sometimes even differ by town. Pizza and pasta may be popular throughout the country, but there are even variations there. Risotto, for example, is an Arborio rice-based dish popular in northern Italy. Couscous is famous in the island region of Sicily (see tip 12).
We’ve found the book “Rick Steves Italy for Food Lovers,” by Rick Steves and Fred Plotkin, to be particularly useful in understanding different regional foods. You’ll discover where cannoli originally are from (Sicily), where cinghiale (wild boar) is most common (Tuscany), and lots more.
2. Eating local is a way of life.
In the U.S., we like to tout that we’re eating local if we’re eating a dish with produce grown within our state or region. In Italy, eating local takes on a whole different meaning. The whole meal may come from the town where you’re eating the meal. The person preparing the meal may have even picked the produce or helped raise the chickens. It’s no wonder that Italian cuisine is known to be so yummy, with such fresh and in-season ingredients.
Eating Breakfast/Colazione
3. Breakfast is light.
Let’s face it, Italians as a whole stay slim for all the food that they eat. One secret may be that they keep their breakfast, or colazione, light. Un cornetto e un espresso–or a crossiant and an espresso–is a common Italian breakfast. Some may add yogurt or fruit as well.
4. A latte will get you milk, not coffee.
The word latte means milk in Italian. For Starbucks fans like us, latte means something different, right? It’s what you order when you want a coffee-and-milk combo. So, don’t walk into an Italian food establishment or bar and ask for a latte unless you want just milk. And you may want to study other phrases for ordering coffee, as saying the wrong phrase could lead you to an alcohol-infused drink (which, hey, you may still enjoy).
5. Italians don’t nurse a coffee all day.
Like many Americans, we at Italy Dreams find it comforting to nurse our coffee for awhile, like it’s a baby that needs affection. Italians–not so much. Those espressos are small and meant to be consumed rapidly. Keep in mind that they also pack a caffeine punch. So, what they lose in “coffee nursing” time, they still make up for with a caffeine jolt.
Pizza & Pasta
6. Italians eat a lot of pasta.
This fact may not be too surprising. After all, pasta is perhaps Italy’s best-known food. However, did you know that the average Italian eats 50 pounds of pasta (23 kilograms) a year? That compares to 20 pounds a year in the U.S. on average per person–which is still a heck of a lot of pasta.
The cool thing is that Italians have so many different ways to prepare pasta–and so many different types. Just go to a supermarket or other market of choice while you’re there to see what we mean.
7. Italians like their pasta al dente–and they eat it with a fork.
Al dente means “to the tooth.” The end result is pasta that’s still a little firm when eaten. Overcooked pasta is not common. And don’t cut your pasta with a fork and knife! They will use a fork to eat their pasta, thankyouverymuch.
One quick kind-of-related story: We once taught English to a group of Italians here in the U.S. and mentioned that we put olive oil in the water as we cooked pasta. The look of horror on their faces could have stopped a ghost. We learned that day that salt goes in the water to cook pasta, and the olive oil goes on the pasta afterwards.
8. Don’t look for pepperoni pizza or Hawaiian pizza in Italy.
Italians in Italy aren’t seeking out pineapple on their pizza. They also aren’t fans of pepperoni pizza like we are here in the U.S. However, you can get peperoni pizza (notice only one “p”), which will get you a pizza with bell peppers. You also can get pizza diavola, or Devil’s Pizza, which uses spicy salami that resembles pepperoni as we know it.
9. You’re not at Olive Garden anymore, Toto, so there’s no dipping bread in oil and vinegar.
You may get bread with your Italian meal, but Italians commonly use it to dip into the sauce and oil leftover from the pasta or other dish they’ve eaten. This practice is called fare la scarpetta, which means to make a little shoe. Cute.
There’s not usually garlic bread either. Sorry.
10. You also won’t find spaghetti with meatballs.
However, you can order meatballs as a separate dish called polpette.
Miscellaneous
11. Gelato isn’t the same as ice cream.
There’s a lot of gelato around Italy, and for good reason. It’s soooooo good. But it’s not the same as ice cream. Gelato is actually made with more milk than regular ice cream and doesn’t include eggs. It’s also denser. Make sure to look for gelato that has more natural colors versus bright colors (which could mean that the gelato was dyed).
12. There’s a Couscous Fest in Italy that you might want to attend.
When you think of couscous, you think of the Middle East, right? Yet couscous is actually a specialty in Sicily (among its many food specialties). There’s a Cous Cous Fest each year in Palermo, Sicily, each year attracting more than 200,000 visitors. It also brings in musical guests and has become a huge celebration.
Hungry yet?
Italy Dreams 