Untold Italy · Friday, August 7, 2026
Nizim advises against eating dinner at 6:30 PM in Italy, as most restaurants are closed or will be opening soon. He explains that Italians typically have dinner around 8 PM or later, and a meal lasting less than 90 minutes is considered rushed. Waiting for local dining times is recommended to better experience Italian culture.
“And so it's why often if you walk into a place that's very fancy as soon as they open and you haven't booked. They'll sometimes say, I'm sorry, we don't have a table, even though there's literally no one there, because the tables have been booked for a seven, seven, fifteen, seven thirty, some forty five eight and so on.”
“But I would recommend to, you know, take local approach and if you're hungry in the afternoon, maybe have a little snack and hold out for a local place that'll open around you know, seven seven thirty, seven forty five.”
“So, yeah, it's definitely worth, in my opinion, waiting to eat at the times that other people do.”