Stumbled upon Ristorante Diana while in Bologna, considered to be the culinary capital of Italy. Fine Italian dining with the white table clothes and waiters in white jackets - nice!Ambiance-4 stars! Service - we arrived at lunch time and they gave us a corner table. The waiters originally ignored us in the beginning and we had to wait quite a bit for the menus to arrive. When our driver started to speak Italian to them, they perked up a little, but were very aloof and almost hostile- I guess they don't like tourists. Food - lasagna Verdi vecchia bolognese and the tortellini were delicious with its simplicity. The bollito misto (boiled meats) was extravagant in presentation, but meat was too salty. I would stick to the traditional entrees next time. read more

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Learned about this place from a blogger. Ambience was pretty nice, they plated some dishes at table side which was fun. Waiter was pretty attentive, menu was in Italian but otherwise easy to order in English. They also gave complimentary wine and a pastry at the beginning of the meal. However, we didn't like the food overall. Shrimp and lemon risotto was extremely too salty and shrimp was somehow both overcooked and raw depending on the piece. Salted chicory was one of the best dishes we tried. Rack of lamb with such thick fat, although the honey and herb sauce was pretty good. Best thing was dessert, ice cream with cherry. Would not recommend this place unfortunately. Did we order the wrong things? So sad read more

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Raining in Bologna when we arrived and our room was not ready. Hotel directed us to a few options for lunch, Diana being one. Seemingly plenty of locals dining so we decided to try it. Ordered the pasta bolognese, of course and it was a solid first meal in this city. Table location was poor - across from the front door and closest to the bathroom entrance. Service was tepid. Prices were high. Good food. Better service and placement if you're a local. Not a bad choice but not the best one. read more

Diana - pasta bolognese - Italian Near Me - Bologna, BO

We ate here for lunch on a Sunday while on vacation in Bologna. I found it through an Eater article of essential Bologna restaurants. They were able to seat the four of us without a reservation even though the restaurant was hopping. The scene was mostly locals and the staff did not speak much english but it was very easy to order. The service was slower that what we are used to in the US but I didn't get the impression that we were being treated differently because we were American just that the pace is more relaxed here. We ordered the lasagna verde, tagliatelle alla bolognese, tagliatelle verdi al funghi porcini and a tortellini en brodo for the table. All of the pastas were perfectly al dente and amazingly delicious. The mushroom pasta was only soso, it was still good but not on the level of the other 3 that we tried. Pretty sure you cannot go wrong here. Highly recommend. read more

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A very good restaurant experience. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable. They brought us a glass of Prosecco and an amuse bouche before we ordered and we had a great meal. Very good wine list. read more

My first meal in Bologna. The hotel concierge made me a last minute reservation at another establishment that the taxi driver nix'd. He said it was touristy and overpriced and recommended Diana instead. Not quite in the middle of the city. The place was empty when I arrived. Ordered the Tortellini en Brodo and the artichoke with truffles. What turned me off right away was that the waiter was clearly sick with a cold. I asked to have a different waiter. Tortellini was good. You get a lot of tortellini. Was not quite prepared for the raw artichoke, though that is a thing here. We are not accustomed to that. Was ok, but a bit toothy. I discovered that the place was pretty expensive. I would not return, only because there are better places in this food Mecca. I mean, I would return if it was in the U.S., but hey. read more

Diana - Tortellini en Brodo - Italian Near Me - Bologna, BO

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One of my favorites in Bologna! Never disappoints! Their service became better in 2022. The old crew of waiters seems to be retired, and the younger generation is doing their best :) read more

ATTENZIONE TRAPPOLA PER TURISTI A friend from Bologna directed me here, for this is a historical place and an important tradition for the city. Maybe it was once. Now it smells a bit like tourist trap. I can't comment significantly on the menu since the meat free dishes are basically non existent (vegetarians go somewhere else), but my porcini tagliatelle were good (even if I almost ruined them with the low quality grated cheese on the table). I also got a mixed cheese "platter" which consisted of a few pieces of parmesan, pecorino and a tiny slice of gorgonzola. Tiny tiny= for 16 *****ing Euros. And I also ordered some roast potatoes, maybe five pieces, for 6 Euros. Diana is a trattoria and should have trattoria prices. What I tried was OK but way too pricey. All in all: not a place where I will go back. PS 4.5 Euro for a "coperto" is a shame read more

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On my way back from Florence to Milan I stopped into Bologna to try their fantastic food and of course to go to Ducati! Ok I'll stop my Ducati drooling but I came by this place as I've seen it highly recommended and it's backed by some Michelin stars. Sweet! I decided to get a starter and of course try the Ragu alla Bolognese, which is pasta with Bolognese sauce. I asked for a starter recommendation that ended up being cheese and chunks of mortadella...delicious fattening mortadella with pistachios. Of course I got ragu as my main. The cheese was some of my least favourite cheese I've eaten in my life. I ate it all because it was recommended to me and it would be rude to my waiter but it was very hard to eat. If chalk and a thick sponge could be mated then it would be this cheese. I don't even know how to explain it because it was really dry, chalky pungent taste but had a bit of a hard sponge texture. The mortadella was really good though. I'm going to say Schwartz's smoked meat massacres this Italian ham/cold cut. They brought out the pasta and tossed it beside me in the ragu. The pasta looked fantastic and looked like it was made that day. The ragu sauce looked awesome and it wasn't an overload of sauce, just the way it's supposed to be. I must say this was the best pasta dish I had on my whole trip to Italy. The sauce was interesting and had a lot of flavours sitting on freshly made pasta. It was so good I temporarily forgot about my terrible cheese until this review. If I was in the area I would come back here to try some of the other dishes but would definitely stay away from all things cheese! read more

I am perplexed by the bad reviews this place has received. It is not a tourist trap, the great majority of diners seem to be Italians. The service is not rude, on the contrary the waiters are true professionals dressed in white coats. Solicitous friendly and knowledgeable about the product. They know how to prepare table side dishes....rare food service professionalism in this day and age. The food is excellent and the restaurant specializes in Locally sourced fare. Everything was top notch! If you are looking for trendy, this is not the place for you. If you want to see what dining in Italy was in the golden age when service was a profession and the food is truly a reflection of the place you are in then This place is a classic and a must visit when you are in Bologna. read more

Absolutely the best lasagna Verdi al forno in Bologna outside of some mammas kitchen. Been coming here for years, and never been let down yet. read more

Will not be coming back. This restaurant is long past the sell by date... The service was rude and stuck in their old ways. They charge a 4.50 euro cover per head for some crappy bread and breadsticks. They dont wait for the other people to finish their meals before taking away the finished plates. Starters the parma ham and the pasta bolognese, both fine but had better at other places. The mains, the livers and the fillet steak, again fine but nothing to get excited about. Had the service been actually friendly and warm, perhaps this restaurant would have been a 3 star rating but at least i now know and i will never go back. read more

I am not sure why locals like this place. We came here for lunch at the recommendation from a local. The meal started off quite nicely with the freshly baked bread, which was crispy on the outside and fluffy in the center. Unfortunately that was the best part of the meal. We had several cured meats for appetizers, which were good but nothing particularly better than any other place. I was hoping to order the tortellini with ragu but they didn't have it that day. Instead I went with the tortellini soup. My companion ordered risotto. They were both salty, especially the risotto. And this is coming from someone who regularly uses fish sauce. Perhaps it was off day. But you figured, for a relatively pricey place that locals like, they wouldn't have one of those days. read more

Ristorante Diana was highly recommended to us by a couple living in Bologna as the best restaurant in town. With a recommendation like that we had to try it. What a huge disappointment. The food was less than marginal, it seems their specialty is roasted meat carved at your table from a cart, it didn't look that good so none of us ordered it. Instead we ordered from the speciality menu and it was terrible. I had chicken with porcini mushrooms, tasted like a cafeteria dish left too long in the steam table. My husband had jumbo shrimp which were fair. We also ordered melon and prosciutto for an appetizer, it was inedible! The melon was tasteless and hard the prosciutto fair but it is the melon together with the prosciutto that makes the dish. The waiter explained as he picked up our full plates that is wasn't melon season....WE DIDN't PUT THEM ON THE MENU! YOU DID!!! Fresh vegetables are offered on their ala carte menu which are good, but the overall experience was extremely negative with a very large tab to shown for it. There are many wonderful restaurants in Bologna this is one to skip. I read more

Have to admit, I didn't know what to expect based on the reviews here but this was probably the best meal I had in bologna and that is saying a lot. The tortelloni primi dish was incredible, all homemade. Our server also brought over a complimentary parmaggian/ham dish ( I guess I wolfed that tortelloni down!) which was also great. My main was the beef with balsamic which was unbelievably delicious. Wife had the tuna with tomatoes- excellent!. For dessert- ice cream sundaes! Wow! Service was excellent and professional. Nice wine list and fair prices. Don't miss this 1! read more

I came for my last dinner before leaving Italy, based on the recommendation of some locals. I found the food to be really good, particularly the lasagna verde. The second course (veal with caper mayonnaise mustard sauce) looked kind of scary but it was actually quite tasty. The dessert, a form of ice cream with a semi-sweet chocolate sauce, was a bit of a disappointment -- not bad, just not great and probably not worth the price (for me). I found the wait staff to be kind of curt/not very friendly, but it's kind of a formal place and I probably wasn't dressed well enough for it. read more

The newly- remodeled and more intimate Diana- a Bologna institution - opened October 22. This " new Diana" says "elegantly modern, classical but new, Bolognese cuisine excellence." From the knowledgeable, formal but friendly, white-coated professional waiters, to the tortellini in brodo, tagliatelle bolognese, torta di riso stars, you leave this place knowing you have experienced the best. At first, I found the bright lighting intimidating, but I found it to be an acquired taste and loved it by evening's end. They don't make them like this in the US. read more

I don't know why this place has such low stars but the food is amazing. I has the tortellini in broth and the table cut roast meats. Service was great also. read more