FICO Eataly World is an amusement park, a museum, an exhibition hall, and a shopping center all in one huge building located in the outskirts of Bologna. FICO is dedicated to showcasing the best of Italian food, and visiting this attraction was a food lover's dream! Our visit started with a brief tour of the park, and our guide explained that the concept of FICO was to bring together the farming and factory aspects of Italian food production, which is why the park included displays of animals, a fruit/vegetable garden, a vineyard, and an olive grove. FICO also had a number of small-scale food production operations, and our guide started by bringing us to the Mortadella factory, where she explained how this pork sausage was made and brought us to taste a sample. We made additional stops at the exhibits on San Danielle prosciutto, Grana Padano cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano, pasta, and fruit preserves. Our tour guide could have gone on explaining more and more, but our time was up and we had barely scratched the surface of the park, so we were left to explore on our own! FICO was divided up into five different food sections: cured meat & cheese, pasta & pizza, wine & vinegar, oil & beer, and sweets. Each section had its own selection of eateries/restaurants, vendors, and interactive educational displays, which dove into some aspect of how people interacted with some aspect of the world related to food including fire, animals, plants, the sea, and the bottle (wine, oil, beer). It would literally be impossible to write about all the different aspects of this park, and it is simply a must-visit for food lovers. Seeing all the different displays about DOP (protected designation of origin) gave me a much better appreciation about the particularities about regional specialty foods-- for example, mortadella could be made at FICO because the park is located within the relevant region, but Parmigiano Reggiano could NOT be made at the park, because it's located just a few kilometers outside the designated region. On the flip side, much of the park felt a bit commercialized, as there were obviously many corporate sponsors and vendors showcasing their wares, along with an entire shopping section at the end that included a bookstore, kitchen appliance vendors, and plenty of Italian foodstuffs. Nevertheless, the 10 Euro admission fee to FICO was an absolute steal, and you could easily spend an entire day here going through the exhibits, admiring the animals, relaxing in the outdoor areas, sampling different foods, and shopping your heart out. read more

Biggest food hall in the world with over 40 restaurants. FICO is a .org trying to promote food tourism of Italy. There's also grocery store, volley ball courts, bing pong, concert stage, couple Gelateria, and mini golf course. The food prices are about average but can not commit on the quality. It's overwhelming and I'm not sure why you would visit for a second time unless you work or live nearby. Check off your list type of place. read more

This place is Disney for foodies. FICO Eataly spent 106 million dollars on the build out and I can believe it. You'll find at least 20 visible production areas making everything from pasta and meats to gelato and baked treats in house. Upon arrival, you'll notice that they've teamed up with Bianchi to offer free bikes with baskets throughout the 20 acre property (including indoors!). If you're a bike fan, they also have a store inside. You'll find more than 100 live animals on the property, dozens of live fruit/produce plants and solar panels covering the entire building with skylights sprinkled throughout. Every food stop offers educational nuggets, a view into products, and items for purchase. And, because they've thought of everything, Eataly offers a post office for tourists to send treats home. Rolling carts are provided for visitors to gather items throughout the experience and checkout efficiently in the end before exiting the property. If you're arriving without a car like us, it'll cost you around 18 euro for a taxi from downtown and Eataly offers a direct bus from Fico to the train station in Bologna for 5 Euro per head. The trip is around 20 minutes. Walking would be difficult given the distance and route. Holy jamoly...my consumption takeaways: don't miss out on the generously priced appertivos and incredible tagliatelle bolognese. For nine euro we had a large platter filled with two ages of Parmesan, three meats, pickled onions, bread, arugula and a glass of local Lambrusco. Oh, and if you want to have the whole place to yourself...go during the final World Cup game- on a Sunday evening read more

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Somebody pinch me, I have died and gone to foodie heaven! I read about FICO Eataly in a chef-centric magazine last year and booked a trip to Bologna, Italy just to go here. When I got to town I checked Yelp and was discouraged by the negative reviews and low star rating -- so much so that I almost didn't go. Boy, am I glad I went anyway because this place is INSANE! It's a Disneyland for gourmands. For real. Anyone who loves food, who is a cook, a chef, a coffee lover, a seafood snob, a picky vegan, has a sweet tooth, or is crazy about eating, stop what you're doing right now and plan a trip to Italy. It's THAT great! Getting to FICO is a bit of a challenge. The cheapest and easiest way is the public FICO bus. You have to buy a special round trip ticket (around $8) at the train station, then cross the street to catch it. It's clearly marked but confusing where to get picked up (it's in front of a small market right next to the Mercure Hotel, see my photo). The bus was clean and safe, and only ticket holders going to FICO can get on. We were the only people on the bus each time which made me sad. The trip took about 15-20 minutes each way. We arrived through theme park gates and the bus dropped us right at the main entrance. This place is HUGE. It's sprawling, massive, and they even have bicycles you can rent so you can get yourself around the grounds faster! Remarkably they are open 10 am - 12 midnight every single day, and although there was hardly anybody there when we arrived on a Thursday night at 7 pm, every single restaurant, food stand, shop, and bar was open. There was even a live band performing! It's overwhelming so we just started roaming, past the mortadella bar, the cheese factory, the indoor beach and volleyball court, the mini golf, the live animal farm, the truffle restaurant and live truffle dog demonstration, the balsamic vinegar tasting, the homemade pasta station, the insane cookbook store, the coffee roaster, the gelato factory, the cooking classrooms, the movie theater (that shows FREE food-themed movies all day long), the small vineyard, and more. I cannot stress how amazing this place is! Best of all, it's cheap! We went to the stellar wine bar and had four different glasses of prosecco and our total check was 7.50 euros. I ate a plate of fresh pasta that was literally made in front of my eyes along with a glass of wine and it set me back less than 11 euros. Hubby had freshly made fried potatoes for 4 euros. We ate our way through FICO, and I wish I had been more hungry. There were all kinds of little exhibits that they're supposed to charge 3 euros to visit but the payment centers were closed and the gates open, so we walked in all of them. One was a boring exploration of wine growing regions and another was a cool greenhouse where you pick up a seedling, plant it in a giant hydroponic garden, and make note of the number of your plot. That way you can track the growth of "your" plant from home! We spent about 4 hours here but could've easily stayed the whole day, especially if we had taken some of the classes. There was a lot to do but since it was late at night, none of the live demonstrations were running. I would've loved to see some of the chefs in action. I don't know if this was because it was late on a weeknight or if this place is such a flop that they never have the things going, but maybe early on a busy weekend is a better time to go, I'm not sure. Some people complain that this isn't supporting local businesses but I beg to differ. Many of these individual stands ARE local businesses from the nearby area and specific to Italy, and so many people are employed here. This place deserves to be a huge tourist destination in its own right, and every single foodie should see this place. read more

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I feel so incredibly lucky to have experienced all the glory that is EATELY world. I've been going to the Eately in Chicago ever since it opened, so going to the one and only eately world was a definitely a food dream that has been accomplished. It definitely exceeded all expectations. It is every food lovers dream: a food based amusement park We ended up spending 5 hours there! (And did not complete everything!) Transportation: there are fico eately buses. We bought our tickets online as were waiting for our bus. Super easy. The buses go straight to the fico. Activities: there are dairy plants and livestock stalls with pigs, cows, goats, chickens, bunnies, and truffle dogs! We didnt see the dogs we went, but still awesome. Each animal, plant, and activity had educational information about them. There is an indoor sports area and a playground for kids. You can rent bicycles to roam around the park. Many multi media centers with exhibits on environmental, agricultural, food subjects. Overall structure and environment: clean, beautiful, interactive, modern, environmentally friendly as well. Most importantly, the food: many samples of cheese, ice cream, meat, and wine. Of course we had mortadella, parmigiano, and balsamic vinegar. I love how you can get a taste of everything: from street food to michelin starred meals. We ate at both Michelin starred pasta and the other vendors. TBH, they were just both excellent. Extremely fresh cooked pasta.. I would've been fine without eating at the michelin because all the food there is just delicious. I will say, the gelato wasn't that great. We at at 2 places and out of the probably 20 gelato places we ate at all over italy, this was my least favorite. Didn't taste as soft. We spent 5 hours there and it wasnt enough! We went to the eately store and bought a bunch of sauces, jam, honey and we were able to shop it directly to the states. They have a mail shipping area. read more

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I love all things Italian, especially the food. So, as soon as I heard about Fico Italy World, I knew that we would have to make a special trip to visit. Fico Eataly World is enormous & on the day that we visited (Tuesday morning) there weren't a lot of people visiting. Thank goodness!!! After the hoards of tourists & tour groups in the cities that we visited during this trip (London, Paris, & Firenze) - it was a welcome break from the heat & oppressive groups of pushy tourists. But, we hope that more people will visit Fico Eataly World because it truly is a treasure that helps to educate everyone about the many wonderful products & gastronomical culture of Italy. There are demos & opportunities to learn about the different regions of Italy & how they develop a product, as well as the history of the product. We were staying in Firenze & the drive to Fico Eataly World was only about 1.5 hours. Not bad, plus the scenery during the drive is beautiful. It was definitely worth the trip. The only bad thing I would say about our experience at Fico Eataly World - were the bikes that you could rent. They have 2 wheels in the front & 1 wheel in the back & for some reason they were very squirrelly & difficult to control. read more

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It's a mall. A 1 million sqft mall dedicated to food. 46 restaurants. A post office (open until 2200 on Sunday!) so you can ship your fancy purchases home. Pro tip: get a cart when you enter as you will buy stuff. So much food, wine and food gadgets. Live animals. Classes and demonstrations. Take the F bus across the street from the Stazione Bologna Centrale for €7. read more

You can read the other reviews to understand what FICO is about. It was a little bit of heaven and delightful way to spend the better part of a day. Started off with the obligatory cappuccino, after getting the lay of the land at the front desk. Yes, it has that Disneyland-ish feel to it, but just go with it. Bring your appetite and go early because that is when some of the offerings are the freshest, such as the pizza's and such. Of course, other restaurants offer made-to-order pastas, seafoods, etc. Pro Tip - if you buy some items you want to ship home, there is a shipping stop after the check-out at the far end. The shipping staff is very helpful. It beats dragging things around with you during your trip. For a fee, you can take some classes while you're there - see my tortellini-making experience. Would I go back? Yup, in a minute. Well, of course with an extended visit in Bologna. read more

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We have decided to make it our mission to visit each and every Eataly in the world if we can. So today, we visited the one outside Bologna. Eataly was founded by Oscar Farinetti and is a large Italian marketplace offering a variety of restaurants, food and beverage counters, bakery, retail items, and a cooking school. Many of the stores in the United States are owned through a partnership between celebrity chefs Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. This place was enormous! FICO Eataly World is the largest agri-food park in the world, with 100,000 square meters of exhibit space. They provide 3-wheeled bicycles for you to get around! As we had already had lunch, we did not partake of any of their gorgeous restaurants. If you come to Bologna, you MUST check out this place! read more

I recently returned from a two-week trip to France and Italy. My friends keep asking me: what was the highlight of my trip? What did I enjoy most? My answer to that question is an easy one: hands down, it was Fico Eataly World. I'm a food tourist. When I travel, I always want to go try the local specialties, visit food halls, farmers' markets, sample food from the street vendors, and find popular local restaurants. Fico Eataly World was like an amusement park for food tourists. It was simply astounding! Fico Eataly World assembles a collection of some of the very best eateries, snack stands, and food purveyors that Italy has to offer. Although all of these businesses are located under the same roof, they are all independently owned and each of them has its own unique feel and style. While there, I had some delectable fresh pasta from one restaurant, snacked on some delicious fries from another, ate a delicious cut of meet from a third place, and followed those with a nightcap at the Italian-focused enoteca. While traversing the monstrous property, I also stopped at the olive oil and balsamic merchants to learn more about how these products are made and to sample them. From another place I bought some beautiful hand-crafted candy floral arrangements that wowed my friends back home. And I stopped in to enjoy some of the interactive exhibits, which included a section on winemaking, an area where I could learn about hydroponic farming, a yard area with livestock, and a truffle farm(!). For a short time I rested my feet in the center amphitheater while enjoying talented live local musicians located only steps away from the indoor beach volleyball court. In short, I was utterly amazed by this place. And to think, I almost didn't come because of the negative Yelp reviews. If I hadn't gone, I would have missed out on one of the best things to do in Bologna and what became the highlight of my trip. If you're anywhere near Bologna, run, don't walk, to Fico Eataly World. read more

If ur in Bologna and have a day to spare, I highly recommend visiting here. It's easy to get here just go to the train station and get a bus ticket than walk across the street look for the FICO WORLD BUS sign, it's easy as that read more

FICO Eataly World - Look did this sign to get the bus to FICO WORLD across the street from the train station - Food Court Near Me - Bologna, BO

We were really looking forward to visiting Eataly, but when we arrived on a Saturday at 5pm, about 90% of the shops were closed. It wasn't worth the 25 EUR taxi ride each way or the 50 EUR admission for the 5 of us. Complete disappointment and rip-off!!! read more

Great place to go to walk around and see all things from different regions of Italy. Also, they have some animal exhibits outside. A lot of food choices from the different regions. Wine and beer choices also. If you are staying at the Holiday Inn, it's about a 15 min walk to it. You can drive but believe they charge 2 Euro to park. Overall a great place to go visit if you have some down time or looking for a change for a meal. read more

Expensive, a bit dreary and generic. Feels like Costco for Italian food -- almost cheapens the culinary experience.

Thief! We were broken into our car in their front parking lot in the middle of the day and they were not willing to help. There's a good chance that is was orchestrated by their own staff. It's ridiculous and embarrassing. Being that it is a worldwide known place and they don't even have working cameras or competente security. Outrageous! read more