“Italian” Restaurant RED FLAGS | The Top Signs that Italian Food Isn’t On the Menu

Over the years we’ve figured out a few easy-to-recognize signs that an “Italian” restaurant’s menu, although it might be yummy, definitely isn’t Italian. A lot of people ask us for recommendations on how to find an authentic Italian restaurant, and it’s best to learn what to avoid if you want a taste of Italian cuisine.

To illustrate the signs we look for, we decided to play a game of “Restaurant Red Flag Bingo” with the (anonymized) listings of our own, local Italian restaurants on Yelp! Winner, winner, chicken parm dinner…

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so for quite a while now we’ve wanted to
make a video All About Italian
restaurant red flags meaning signs that
you can pick up on uh just by reading a
so-called Italian menus restaurant
Italian menus
restaurant that are pretty good signs
that they don’t actually serve real
Italian food the only problem was that
we had a really hard time narrowing it
down the original idea was that it was
going to be uh our top five red flags
then it was going to be top 10 uh We’ve
managed to narrow it down to
16 and uh that made us realize that we
could play bingo so that’s what we’re
going to do today Ava has a card I have
a card and we are going to look at our
own local Italian restaurants and see
who can get for in a row first now
before we get started a couple of quick
disclaimers number one we’re not going
to reveal any of the names of these
restaurants we’re only using them for
educational purposes we’re not here to
endorse or discourage business at any
particular restaurants number two just
because something is not authentically
Italian meaning food that would be
served in Italy does not make it bad we
are not saying that food is subjective
if you like the food that’s great that’s
not the problem we’re only here to
analyze whether you can tell if a
restaurant actually serves food that you
would find in Italy that’s it do with
that information what you will all right
you ready to play Bingo always I’m ready
always to play okay so I’ve just pulled
up uh the top results on Yelp our Bingo
cards have the same red flags on it but
in randomized order and so if we
encounter one of these items in a menu
we see you check it off good and who
will win whoever gets four first ah so
four in a row I’m so sorry it’s like
like that like that yeah diagonals it
can be it doesn’t matter the diagonal
across down you said you played Bingo
you said you knew Bingo it’s not
traditional Italian Bingo okay here’s
our first menu let’s see what we’ve got
I see one so here we have a fried
calamari nothing bad with this the
problem is fried squid lemon spicy
marinara marinara dip I know that in
America you really like to dip
everything in ital actually we don’t
have these things where we deep bread
calamari pasta pizza and all the rest so
when you have for example a plate of
fried calamari what you need to expect
in Italy is a plate of fried calamari
with maybe some lemon some piece of
lemon but for sure they don’t serve it
with any any marinu any Mayon any
mustard all right we’ve got our first
one this is not one of our red flags but
it’s kind of weird meatballs with a
balsamic glaze all right so they have a
Caraco thinly sliced raw beef
parmesan yep that’s one of the red flags
it’s real that in Italy we serve carach
with arugul on top but we don’t use
parmesan we use Paran reano and because
parmesan and parmo regano they are two
completely different things from this
you can’t understand that it’s like it’s
not real Italian that’s a big red flag
just any mention of Parmesan even if
they’re actually using paragano the fact
that they don’t that they call it
Parmesan Parmesan is just a not not not
a good sign uh-oh we might get four in a
row quicker than I was imagining ooh
this one’s close this one’s close so
they have a casar pasta with tomato
garlic ricotta cheese basil oil okay
doesn’t sound that bad but then add
meatballs for an extra
$6 technically that’s not on here but
what is on here is spaghetti and
meatballs this doesn’t count it’s not
spaghetti see but it doesn’t matter it’s
it’s not on the bingo card we can’t
check it off it’s like this spaghetti
meat B this pasta meatball problems we
separate the pasta doesn’t matter
if whatever you want from meatballs wait
you know what I just realized we can’t
check off spaghetti and meatballs but we
do have on the card pasta and meat Pasta
Plus meat which needs some
clarification bless you I’m allergic to
the pasta meat we have meat sauce that
we eat with our pasta y funny actually
like bolog just to make an example is
meat but it’s not a chunk of meat it’s
not a big piece of meat in your pasta is
grounded meat that can create a sauce if
you want to eat pasta with sausages you
open the sausage you crumble the sausage
and create the sauce but we in Italy we
don’t eat like an whole sausage with
pasta together so our problem with pasta
meat is where you have
for example a chicken pal on pasta or a
chunk of whatever beef lamb or whatever
you want on pasta this is a no no no no
no in Italy so you have to cut it with
your knife and fork and every time you
cut through it you’re just cutting all
that beautiful long spaghetti into
smaller and smaller pieces you have to
scoop up with your
fork is like a nightmare so we can check
that one off actually we have Pasta Plus
big chunks of me okay here we have
PAB tomato cream sauce if if a person
knows what PAB is for sure this person
knows that cream doesn’t belong to the
Arab because arabat is just tomato sauce
and a bunch of spicy pepper here the
problem is the cream because we Italians
we have some cream based dish like for
example what we can see in this menu is
also fil mushroom and cream oh yeah
mushrooms and cream you kind of musroom
and cream they person I wouldn’t put but
if someone likes cream yes they can go
together for sure arabad and cream they
don’t belong in the same plate it’s not
a hard and fast rule cuz as you said
there are some exceptions but if you see
a lot of cream in sauces and that’s why
it’s on our bingo card here oh I’m very
close to win are you H and this is a
very easy one to get I’m a little bit
worried we’re we’re still on the first
men there it is Caesar salad I think the
Caesar salad if I’m not mistaken was
invented in Mexico see it was invented
in Mexico by an Italian but it doesn’t
make the dish belongs to the Italian
food so the scissor salad is not an
Italian Dish I think it’s funny that
probably the reason why you see Caesar
salads on so many italian menus is just
because it’s called Caesar taser like oh
ancient Rome oh it must be Italian easy
easy easy
fragile it must be Italian well I think
that says fragile honey so Cesar salad
here this is heating up because I am one
plate of spaghetti and meatballs away
from winning and Ava is one carbonara
Mischief away from winning okay I think
that does it for this menu oh wait oh no
I just looked at the Pizza see pepperoni
pepperoni do you want to explain cuz
that one’s a little complicated all we
have in Italy the world pepperoni but
pepperoni in Italy is what you call red
bell pepper bell pepper it has one PE in
the middle and as one p in the middle if
for example you go and see on an Italian
new pizza con pepperoni one p you think
that is your pepperoni but actually what
you will have is a pizza with some
vegetables on top the pepperoni as you
call what you mean we don’t have we call
it Salam and if you want a pizza with
those pepperoni you should order a
pizzaa or pizza with Salam pepperoni is
not Italian at all on a side note I just
saw their meatball pizza see we need
also the 18 because it’s like when have
you ever seen we have to stick with
what’s on the Bingo cards but in the
meatball pizza they actually say
paragano so they have so so that means
that they have paragano they know what
paragano is but they choose in all these
other recipes to use parmesan all right
let’s go to the next restaurant they
have a barata Capra fresh mozzarella
which is not
barata oh stuffed with soft cream cheese
I see so that’s how they describe
barata okay sure served with crostini
sliced tomatoes basil truffle oil and
balsamic glaze we do have one of our red
flags here yes and uh okay we have
several red flags but just focus on what
we have and the bingo card AA I know I
know I know I stick to the game don’t
worry here we have a balsamic glit is
APR salad then doesn’t matter if you use
mozzarella
mozella cpress salad is made with one of
these three cheese tomatoes olive oil
salt maybe pepper if you like and basil
that’s it if you find a Capra with for
example balsamic glaze you know that is
not Italian because we don’t put
balsamic glaze on our c
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because here the problem is grammar
mistakes grammar and spelling and here
we have ins Salada the spaka now if
spaka is a new vegetable from America I
don’t know but I think that they want to
say inside of the spinachi which means
that if you find a grammar mistake you
know 100% that that can’t be an Italian
restaurant at least right the me the
right way yeah so that one can be a
little bit tricky unless you know
something about Italian but man
misspelled words for grammar that’s
definitely a mistake okay yes I know
that you’ve won but we’re only on
restaurant number two so let’s at least
keep going to to explain the rest of
these mad what did they win now a dinner
at at at this restaurant we’ll go to
this restaurant tonight H pasta tossed
with grilled chicken breast onions
garlic spinach and diced mangoes in a
sweet and sour cream sauce topped with
feta cheese by itself that dish if you
see that dish on a menu that is a red
flag yes we can check another one off
Polo picata chicken picata that’s a red
flag I want to make a my compliment to D
because at least and they use the word
Polo instead of chicken instead of
chicken they Tried by the way I want two
times you did I want two times but by
the way chicken picata so for my
understanding what here is called in all
this menu is called picata actually
should be a scalop that is it can be a
ve a slice of ve a slice of chicken that
is cooked usually in a sauce that can be
a lemon sauce marala sauuce the
characteristic is that is a thicker
sauce because it’s with some butter and
flour what we call this scalop yeah no
Italian we call picata I don’t know it’s
like first time I came here chicken
picata chicken Pata what is chicken
pikata and right below it we have
another one we can check off Polo Parana
I know that chicken pal is a very
beloved Italian Aman dish so here I’m
not saying that it’s a bad dish but you
sure 100% that it’s not an Italian food
it’s not an Italian Dish we fry the
chicken we have the parmesana but it
doesn’t mean that you need to put the
two things together thinking that it’s
Italian he can be a good dish by itself
but he’s not Italian all right let’s
let’s move on to the next one this one
the top review says I love Italian food
I mean real Italian food let’s take a
look there there are so many just
looking through this already there are
so many things we’ve already covered but
here finally spaghetti and meatballs
which means finally I have four in a row
wait I’ve had four in a row for a while
when did I get four in a row I need to
rewind the tape when did I get my
diagonal four in a row he was a did I
win before you no because and even if
you win before me replay the oh no I
think you just won and won take a look
look at this restaurant is that a
picture of an empty canolo deconstructed
canoli also in Italy we have the the
construction of a canol but it’s not
just an empty shell with the you break
up the pieces we put the cast The rotta
maybe in a glass or in a cup we put the
pieces of the canolo shell and weat but
not like you have just here’s an empty
shell and some r
here we go garlic toast that counts as
garlic bread right no no you tell me I’m
going to say that counts garlic toast
cuz garlic bread is definitely on the
bingo card garlic bread isn’t an Italian
thing the way in which we can pair
garlic and bread if having a brusett is
a slice of toasted bread and we just how
do you say scratch a little little bit
the garlic and then we put usually
tomatoes on top but I think where we
bake together garlic and usually butter
in a loaf of bread it’s not an Italian
Dish oh this one should be a red flag I
guess it counts as grammar mistakes
canoli is Pearl canolo is singular if
you get one canolo it’s a canolo if you
get two canoli it’s canoli there’s no
canoli ooh no they’ve foiled us so one
of the things that we have is shrimp
scampy here they’ve outsmarted us
because they have a chicken scampy
scampy actually is an animal with
clothes that we eat shrimp is an animal
in Italian we call gber the first
Italians who arrived here and couldn’t
find the ACT scampy they cooked the
shrimp that here they were abundant in
the style of scampy how we cook in Italy
but it’s not really an Italian Dish
because one think is shrimp one think
think is scy chicken scy that’s a new
one I’ve never seen that before please
all right I’m calling it we’re going to
do this last one and see if we can fill
in these these Bingo
cards yes yes I’ve got two I’ve got two
of them number one we have a Carbonaro
with bacon ham onions olive oil and eggs
I’m so surprised it took us this long to
find carbonara
Mischief see that’s from a side it’s a
good sign because it means that people
they start to finally understand yeah
anything that’s a carbonara that isn’t
just pasta eggs Guan chal black pepper
even the Guan chal it’s like if they
replace it with bacon
I kind of you know it’s like all right
that’s somewhat understandable but when
you start getting into like onions and
olive oil peas mushrooms all that then
it’s like all right you guys don’t know
anything about Italian food you let or
change or take out some of these
ingredients maybe you’re making
something else but for sure not a
carbona and right below it I finally
have my
fetui and what a weird we like look at
this okay they have this is bizarre so
they have fetuccini Alfredo which is a
classic that you see in America the real
fetu fetuin Al Alfredo in Rome is made
with just butter and paragano cheese and
then in America of course it’s like a
lot of cream and cheese and parsley and
all that stuff their fetuccini Alfredo
is bacon ham onions extra virgin olive
oil and eggs so it’s the same their
carbonara but with fucini no but
actually I think that they made a
mistake mistake because for example also
they ravioli oh yeah they’re ravioli M
bacon ham onions ah finally we got our
shrimp scampy the we can how do you say
cross yeah shrimp camping we missed just
one we missed just one and I think we
need to admit defeat we haven’t filled
in all of our bingo card because we’re
still missing spaghetti alab
Bon again and I hope one once for all
spaghetti they don’t as we say in
cab which means that they are not meant
to be together the bolog sauce that a
meat based sauce requires a pasta that
is on Flavor that is strong it’s
plat it’s how do you say fresh egg pasta
yes it’s very
specific together not because
they they become a I want to how do you
say challenge you and what you need to
do is to make a real bolog sauce and
make a plate
of you choose it doesn’t care and a
plate of
try to use a fork and tell me which one
it’s easier to eat and it also tastes
better because yes they taste different
there is a real spaghetti ala ban in
fact we made a video on it we’ll put it
up here but it has nothing to do with
bullan is a Ron it’s made tuna fish in a
can Yes actually a really good dish come
to think of it all right guys well those
were our top 16 Italian restaurant red
flags I’m very curious to know because
we try to learn about all different
kinds of Cuisines if there’s a Cuisine
that you’re very familiar with whether
it’s Chinese whether it’s Mexican and
you notice red flags when you’re you’re
visiting restaurants that are supposedly
of those Cuisines let us know in the
comments down below I have a red flag
for an for the American Cuisine that
tell for the American Cuisine for
American restaurants yeah you mean like
when you go to an American an American
restaurant in Italy in Italy we do
something that here you don’t do in
America actually most of you don’t do
which means eating on hot dogs with
ketchup what I learned here is that
ketchup doesn’t belong to a dog well you
know why in Italy every single dogs will
have ketchup oh I like I eat hot dogs
with
ketchup I got so much hate for that when
we made hot dogs in that video I put
ketchup on my hot dog I did not realize
how many people get upset about ketchup
on hot dogs well I got to take this
winner out to dinner at one of her new
favorite restaurants and um yeah but we
will uh we will see you guys next time
because I won a you won you won you are
a winner you are a winner do you want to
see what a winner eats for dinner
chicken dinner winner winner chicken
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dinner
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