Pasta is regional
"Italian pasta" is shorthand for hundreds of regional preparations. Below are the cities where specific pasta dishes were invented or perfected — eat the local one rather than chasing famous foreign-renowned dishes.
Bologna
Bologna tagliatelle al ragù (the dish foreign menus call "Bolognese"), tortellini in brodo, lasagne verdi. Trattoria di Via Serra, Trattoria Anna Maria, Sfoglia Rina (handmade). Bologna's pasta is hand-rolled fresh, served with dense meat sauces. Egg-based dough.
Rome
Rome cacio e pepe (cheese + pepper), carbonara, amatriciana, gricia. Roscioli, Felice a Testaccio, Da Cesare al Casaletto. Roman pasta uses guanciale (cured pork jowl) and pecorino. Dry semolina pasta (spaghetti, rigatoni, tonnarelli). Trastevere dense.
Naples
Naples spaghetti alla puttanesca (anchovies, capers, olives, tomato), spaghetti alle vongole, ziti alla Genovese (onion ragù). Trattoria da Nennella, Tandem (ragù specialist), Mimì alla Ferrovia. Naples pasta poorer-South-Italian style — fewer ingredients, more punch.
Sicily / Palermo
Palermo pasta con le sarde (sardines, fennel, currants, pine nuts), spaghetti alla Norma (eggplant, ricotta salata, basil), pasta alla Trapanese (almond pesto). Sicily pasta is North African–influenced (currants, almonds). Trattoria al Vecchio Castello.
Florence
Florence pici (hand-rolled thick spaghetti, Tuscan classic), pappa al pomodoro, pasta with wild boar ragù. Trattoria Mario, Cibreo Trattoria. Santa Croce dense with trattorias.
Strategy
Trattoria over restaurant for authenticity — €15–25 plates, family-run, regional. Skip restaurants with photo-menus. Lunch (1pm–2:30pm) and dinner (8pm–10pm) — eating outside these times signals tourist place.