La Baita Vecchia Malga — Restaurant in Bologna

Bologna is a nice town with a suprisingly compact historic Center. So it's easy to reach most sights by foot. Whenever you get hungry, you should head here to the Via Pescherie Vecchie - a small but bustling food lane in old town Bologna. On this small stretch of street lots of people gather to grab some food and even more so for some drinks. It's fun, it's lively - even in Corona-times. But also the quality is right. Restaurants look good and so do the shops. Some - like this one here - are two in one: a specialty shop as well as a restaurant.

This place here was a great choice. Took one of their high tables outside, where our Bulldog was welcome as well.

Ordered a plate of cured ham, mortadella and Burrata. Some mushroom antipasti on the side. Two glasses of red wine with that.

Staff was very friendly, helped us choose some good, local wine. Presentation of the food very stylish, quite the looker. Quality of the meat was very good. Burrata and meat goes very well together. If you never had Burrata (Mozzarellas creamier and milkier brother/sister), then you should really try some. The one served here is of very good quality. The red wine was delicious. Not just cheap table wine. Enjoyed every sip. The shop inside is full with good stuff. (Cured) Ham, Salami, pasta, oil, antipasti etc. A tasty looking place.

Prices are - for a big city with this location - fair. Surely would...

You don't get much more classic lunch break than Vecchia Malga, one of many choices in the alleyway street off of Bologna's main square, Piazza Maggiore. There are plates of thinly sliced meats with cheeses everywhere so it's hard to choose where to go, especially if you're a couple of vegetarians like us. We made a good choice here, ordering a cheese board for one and a mixed salad.

The cheese board was so plentiful that we had to re-confirm that this was just a serving for one. It was. Really generous with 6 different local cheeses of various tastes and firmness, surrounding a cup of honey which sealed the deal for us. We loved this cheese board and left referring back to it as we had cheese in other places on our trip.

The salad (I mean you have to occasionally eat vegetables...even in Italy) was basic, just arugula and tomatoes, but was super-fresh.

Also they brought the region's famous bread in a paper bag. Well, I don't know if "famous" is the right word, but this is the only place in the world we'd experienced the bread brought in paper bags, so sign me up for its autograph.

This was a great choice for a cheese plate among the many options on this street and in the area. The cheese board especially was our favorite cheese in the...

A warning to those who thought this would be cheaper or better than a proper osteria: it isn't. Expect to pay 50% more money for half the quality and none of the service or atmosphere. They might be good as a grocer, this review is just of sitting down and eating there.

This was recommended in a travel book and the place looked packed but it ended up being very disappointing. The meat and cheese platter cost 30 euro but was similar size and worse quality compared to 20 euro ones at places like Da Me. The cocktail I got was so bad I couldn't drink it: straight cheap vodka with the smallest bit of lime. For atmosphere, expect to be harassed by someone every 5 minutes trying to force you to buy junk like light up glasses. For service, don't expect any of it. And it isn't just an American not being used to how Europe is different, we have eaten at dozens of places of various types and price points here and none had...