Osteria dell'Orsa

A student osteria since 1979

Osteria dell'Orsa is at Via Mentana, 1, in the university district near Via Indipendenza. From Piazza Maggiore it is about ten minutes on foot. It opened in 1979 in the premises of a former pub, Dal Francese. In its early years it was a punk concert venue and later a jazz one, with Italian and foreign musicians. Today it is mostly a university-quarter osteria, with plenty of young people and everyday Bolognese cooking.

The most practical thing is the opening times. It is open every day, without a break, from 12:30 to 23:00, so you can have lunch at four in the afternoon or dinner at seven, when the restaurants in the centre are still closed. It closes only on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December and 1 January.

What to order

The basics are Bologna's pastas: tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini and lasagne. To share there are boards of cured meats, bruschette and big salads, and among the main courses, the Viennese-style escalope. The first and main courses of the day are not on the fixed menu: they change daily and are called out to you at the bar. The wine is from the hills of Imola, half an hour from Bologna. For dessert, homemade sweets such as tiramisù.

The website does not publish prices. It is a student osteria, among the cheapest in the centre for eating Bolognese pasta sitting down.

How it works

You cannot book: you arrive, wait your turn and share a table if need be. At peak times, from 13:00 to 14:00 and from 20:00 to 21:30, there is a queue. If you arrive mid-afternoon or early for dinner, you almost always get in. With children it works well because of the continuous service and because everyone likes pasta; the place is noisy, not somewhere for a quiet dinner.

It is near the central station, about ten minutes on foot, so it makes a good last meal before the train home.