Padova Restaurants

This is the first restaurant we visited upon arriving in Italy. It has become a staple to us, so much so that I forgot to include it in my Travel Pages. Merely an oversight, believe me.

Lunch is a flat 10 Euro, including salads, pasta, and secondo, whether it be grilled steak, grilled pork chops, boiled meats, ham hock, roasted chicken 1/2's, and so on. The secondo is always served with polanta, but not the roasted 'slab' that I prefer. The meal comes complete with Vino, always more than Ma Kettle and I can manage. Bottled water is also included in this price.

Today, they had Easter bread, oranges, and apples for dessert. Coffee is included.

Nowhere have I found such good food, in such plentiful servings, at such a low price. They cater to the working class, but that's not to say that tables of 'suits' are not in abundance.

You have to walk past the 'bar' area just off the front sidewalk/parking lot to access the restaurant itself. You'll know you're in the right spot if the waitresses are calling back and forth to one another, and scurrying from table to table. They don't stand on pretense here, and that's a good thing.

I can't describe my favourite meal, because all except one has been excellent. The boiled meats are not my favourite. Not to say that it has not been well prepared, because judging from the tables around me, it is one of the most favoured meals offered. Neither Maria or I enjoy the boiled sausage, and that's all there is to it. Unfortunately, they often offer it on Saturdays, and that is the day we like to go out for lunch.

The atmosphere is what I imagined lunch time in Italy to be like, noisy, busy, and huge platters of food. The waitresses travel a mile a minute, but getting attention is easy, because they are so attentive.

They do tend to become a bit short with me now though, I guess after two years the staff expect I should be fluent in Italien. I understand however that their having to talk very slow' to this stupid Canadian does throw them off their pace.

The salad bar is huge, containing traditional Italian fare. Great variety.

The pasta is always so flavourful, three varieties are offered, as are three secondos. Your choice.

The supper 'fixed price' meal we have never had, and I can't say if the price is the same or not (believe it to be 20 Euro). I do know a menu is available, and grilled meats appear to be a specialty.

UPDATE...We have now enjoyed dinner here, to celebrate the visit of Vter's Bernishand and RexVaughn and respective spouses to Padova. Dinner was a huge salad bar, pasta as a primo (3 choices), two huge platters, one heaped high with grilled ribs, sausages, pork steak, bacon, and the second one filled with wonderfully tender, cut with a fork steak. Bottomless carafes of wine, topped off with two bottles of liquor left on the table with the coffee. On Wednesdays, they offer live entertainment, which is a real hoot. No more said...Total price per person this night 22 euro

Well worth the effort to visit, lots of parking, and you'll experience the true Italian meal, with no Hollywood backdrop. Just be aware, English is not spoken here, and tourists are a rare oddity.

Padova Hotels

Padova Restaurants

Visiting Padova?

Visiting Padova?

Padova Hotels