12 February 2026, Italy, Rom: A plate of pasta carbonara, a typical Italian pasta dish, stands on a reatuarant table. Photo: Christoph Sator/dpa (Photo by Christoph Sator/picture alliance via Getty Images)
dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
Imagine eating at one of the best and oldest trattorias in Rome and paying just €12 for spaghetti all’amatriciana, €15 for saltimbocca alla romana and €10 for a pizza margherita. If those sound like prices from the 1990s, think again: Those are the prices being charged right now at Trattoria Vecchia Roma, which opened in 1916. At the slightly more upscale La Carbonara on the Campo di Fiori, the signature pasta costs €17 and osso buco €20. And that includes tax and service. In other cities and towns prices may be even lower for glorious regional fare.
Frankly, I don’t know how they do it––maybe they all own the buildings––but despite the swing in the value of the US dollar, you can still eat sumptuously at very little cost. Add in a bottle of the vino della casa, and you’re out the door spending less than $100 for two people.
Budapest’s Central Market is a place to nosh your way through Hungarian food.
John Mariani
But it’s not just in Italy that you find such low prices. In Eastern European countries like Hungary, Poland, Croatia and others prices are amazingly low. In Budapest you can nosh your way through the dozens of food stalls at the Central Market at Fővám Square, built in 1897, now sprawling over 11,000 square feet on two floors, for a few dollars. Across the river you can feast on Hungarian comfort food at Pest-Buda on traditional dishes like chicken paprikash with buttered noodles for $22, goulash for $20 and apple strudel for $11.50.
19 June 2024, Austria, Wien: Wiener schnitzel of veal with side dishes such as potato salad, cranberries, pumpkin seed oil and lemon on a plate in a Viennese restaurant. Photo: Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa (Photo by Frank Rumpenhorst/picture alliance via Getty Images)
dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
Vienna is not the cheapest city in Europe, but you can dine very well at very modest prices, especially at any of the grand cafes on the Ringstrasse. One of the best known restaurants for its Wiener Schnitzel is Plachutta where they sell the dish with potato salad for €25 and a glass of sparkling wine is €8.50.
A variety of fresh pork products add panache, and plenty of flavor, to humble saurkraut in the Alsatian dish, choucroute garni. (Photo by Bob Fila/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Throughout France the bistros and brasseries cater largely to the locals, who expect excellent French cuisine at reasonable prices. In Strasbourg every traditional restaurant serves choucroute garni––a huge portion of sausages, sauerkraut and potatoes––and typical is the one at Le Tire-Bouchon, where it sells for €24.
FRANCE – OCTOBER 01: Simone of Beauvoir frequented La Coupole in Paris, France on October 01, 1997. (Photo by Alain BENAINOUS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
The same is true in Paris where the average Parisian rarely dines at the haute cuisine level restaurants frequented by tourists. At Le P’tit Bistro onion soup is €13 and boeuf bourguignon €23. On Montparnasse the brasseries like La Rotonde, La Coupole, Le Dome and Le Select compete with each other and balance their menu prices accordingly. At La Coupole you can share a dozen oysters for €29.50, Burgundy snails for €12.50 and beef tartare for €19.50.
Madrid’s Mercado de San Miguel has scores of eateries within.
John Mariani
On my most recent trip to Spain I found the prices don’t seem to have budged for years. Of course, you can go on a place-to-place trail of tapas bars anywhere, sampling a wide array of small dishes for a few dollars each. On Madrid the Mercado de San Miguel is rife with eateries offering everything from Iberian ham to paella at very low prices, and at a cerverceria like Tineo in the Plaza Mayor, I enjoyed a plate of grilled langoustines and paella a la Valenciana with Mahou beer, all for €35. In the beautiful seaside town of Santander my friend and I sated ourselves with white asparagus, potato croquetas, baby lamb and half suckling pig that could feed four for €56 at Asador Lechazo Aranda.
Asador Lechazo Aranda serves hug portions of suckling pig and baby lamb.
John Mariani
Again, I remind you that these prices include tax and service so there’s no need to add a 20% tip. So, while it’s true that you can eat at three-star restaurants in Europe for €400 per person, some of the best food in big and small cities on the continent are easily found for one-eighth that price.
Dining and Cooking