One of the best parts of traveling is experiencing the culture through food, and in many cases, eating out can be the highlight of your trip. <\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

But how are you supposed to eat like a local if you don\u2019t understand how to order off the menu?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While understanding how to read an Italian menu can be challenging, we\u2019re breaking it down into sections so you know exactly how to order an amazing meal while dining out in Italy. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Let the menu be your roadmap<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Italian menus are broken down into sections, loosely in the order that you\u2019d eat the dishes in. It\u2019s not required to order something from each section on the menu, but on the whole, Italians will usually order more than one dish when eating out for lunch or dinner. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Pasta is the most typical option for lunch, especially on the weekends, so you\u2019ll find us ordering pasta courses and maybe splitting a meat course for lunch. For dinner, we may order appetizers and a meat or fish dish before moving on to dessert. It\u2019s common to split food with people at your table, but usually this applies to antipasti or second courses, rather than splitting a pasta dish. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

All this said, the world\u2019s your oyster when it comes to eating out in Italy, so get what you want and leave the rest.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

How to read an Italian menu: important words to know<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Antipasti<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Directly translated to \u201cbefore the meal,\u201d antipasti are appetizers that most Italians order to start off their lunch or dinner. They can range from hot dishes like fried suppl\u00ec<\/em><\/a> and zucchini flowers to cold options like cured meats and cheeses, and are often split amongst the group. <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n