Ristorante Da Cesarina

Excellent evening with delicious traditional Italian dishes. We loved everything about our dining experience. Special thank you to our server for presenting our selections in the order requested with impeccable service. A lovely introduction to our visit in Bologna. Grazie mille!

It was very important for me to try classic lasagna in Bologna. It turned out to be not so easy, but in the end we found this place and were seated without a reservation. The Aperol was not very good, to be honest. As for the lasagna — it was a bit overcooked, although it was truly traditional, since in Bologna lasagna is made with spinach layers. Because of this, I would recommend searching in advance and making a reservation, specifically asking about the lasagna.

This is a very good traditional restaurant with a nice history. It has a very extensive menu with menu local specialties. It’s located in the old town with many things to see and do. We tried many different dishes and they were all very good. The restaurant is very popular so a reservation is recommended.

Best dinner in Bologna, hands down the best. The food was so good. Simple and delicious. The artichoke trio for a starter was amazing. The service was amazing, suggestions were spot on. They recommended this brilliant dessert wine, not too sweet and just right. Will be on my list whenever we go back to Bologna

Nice place with history. Went here on the recommendation of a local. We really liked the lasagne and tiramisu! The service is good, but the young tall waiter (not ours) was a bit dismissive when we asked for wine. The wine was generally good. So I took off a star for that incident. Our waiter, an older man, was very polite. The atmosphere is good, you can get in without a reservation. The restaurant is in the city center. Definitely recommend visiting

A solid restaurant serving Italian classics, all well-prepared and very tasty. The outdoor seating is on a beautiful yet quite popular square with a rather uneven stone floor. Service was okay to good – not overly attentive, but still professional.

Great location near the seven churches (sette chiesa) in Bologna. Very attentive service and delicious entrees. Visit “The Four Chains Travel” on YouTube to see our full-length Italy travel videos and reviews. (Honest, unsponsored opinions!) Reach out to us to enjoy a discount on your next booking with our Four Chains Travel link.

While dining in an upscale restaurant, you don’t expect beggars to walk to your table and practically get in your face asking for money. Three times during a single meal. While the staff does nothing. Unpleasant. The beggars go from table to table, completely unhurried, sticking hands in patrons’ faces, and the waiters just look on bored and ignore it. That’s not just bad service - it’s a complete breakdown of the social contract between a restaurant and its guests. You're not just paying for the food - you’re paying for an experience. And that includes a basic sense of privacy, safety, and, frankly, not having a stranger’s hand shoved in your face mid-forkful. The guest toilets are another point of disappointment. Overflowing trash, toilet paper all over the floor, no sign of recent cleaning - this screams “we’ve given up.”

We loved our dinner at this outstanding and well regarded restaurant while in Bologna. The atmosphere and ambiance as well as professional service made this an outstanding evening as did all of our menu selections

The food was decent -- pretty typical in Italian standards. Nothing stood out to me but service and ambiance was good. Definitely make a res if you'd like to go. Was able to accommodate party if 6 pretty easily!

We made reservations, as I suggest making anywhere for dinner and especially if the restaurant is well know. It was a party of 4 and at the time there was also graduation from college there so there were a ton of people around town. Entering the restaurant we were in a little room with a few tables which I preferred. The servers spoke both Italian as well as English so it was perfect for our party. Some of us spoke Italian and some only spoke English. Very very convenient. We ordered some appetizers (if you love artichokes get them 4 ways cooked-can't describe how delicious is was) to share, then of course in Bologna you need to order bolognese over your pasta. We ordered tiramisu and a local beer. Everything was so delicious. Beyond words can describe. Not only is this a beautiful city but the food is so incredible. I bought a jar of bolognese home and it was as delicious as when I had it there! Must try and must eat.

We're vegetarians and were excited to eat at Cesarina as it had a number of vegetarian options and is one of the better reviewed restaurants in town. We were turned away the first time we tried as they were full so we made sure to make a reservation for the next day and when we showed up we were seated right away. So, tip 1: make a reservation if you want to eat here! The bread basket was nice and varied (and a nice change to have bread served in a basket and not a paper bag.) We ordered a Tortelloni dish, Asparagus Flan, Fried Pumpkin Flowers and "Thin Fried Potato Potatoes" to some mixed results. The Fried Pumpkin Flowers were delicious though my wife thought they could have used a dipping sauce of some kind. They accidentally brought us a tortellini with meat in it instead of the Tortelloni we had ordered. Unfortunately we both took a bite of it and had to reset our vegetarian clocks as a result. :/ We asked our server about this and he pointed out it was the wrong dish. Great! The correct tortelloni was brought and it was good. The Asparagus Flan was a unique dish...we hadn't had anything quite like this before...it could have used more of the sage and saffron sauce it was sitting on to balance it out better. I'm a sucker for a potato dish so was excited to try the "Thin Fried Potatoes." Turns out this was potato chips...house made I guess which is a decent accomplishment, but not exactly what we wanted as a dinner side. We had a second server helping us...the woman who seated us (and who happened to be the one who turned us away the first night.) We really enjoyed talking with her and she was fun, but we got the sense from our first server that night that he may have been a little offended that we seemed to have jumped server ships. So sorry, first server, we just had an existing relationship with her...it's about the people, you know! Anyway this would have been 4 stars if they hadn't brought us a meat dish by mistake, and 5 if the potatoes were not potato chips. Everything was decent enough and it's off the beaten path from the nearby center of Bologna with vegetarian options available.

Very good pasta and wine... solid service. Right in the center of town, worth the wait.

Wow. Great Food. Best Place to eat. Definitely a place to dine again. 1st night in Bologna and we landed here by accident. An accident turned into a great experience, one that makes traveling in Europe a cherished experience. The service was great. Rarely do I mention service, because the restaurant is about the food for us. However, at Cesarina, the waiters were attentive, informative and spot on with recommendations. 5 stars for the team. The food - magnifico! The Balanzoni (stuffed pasta) was soft and gentle, awakening the senses with subtle tastes that made me say "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my! :-) " I love trying osso bucco. Rare to say, this is the BEST I've ever had in the 2 dozen times I've had osso bucco. The beef, tender, juicy, spiced just right. the marrow with their bread - wow..... wow..... wow. A do again dish. The waiter's recommended wine, simple and as always in Italy, delicious. Lastly the dolci, the Creama Fritta, aka deep fried custard...... as the couple dining at the table besides us asked, "did you bring your lipitor?" (lol) It was melt-in-my-mouth, what-the-heck is this, cream delights and worth every bite. The evening then turned into 3 tables in the area having simultaneous conversations about Bologna, life, work, life after work, and living locally. What a special evening, all made better by incredible food. This is a "Best" restaurant and definitely a do again, and again. Can't wait till we return. it will be the first place we go.

At Ristorante Cesarina we had the best meal we had in Bologna--and all the meals in Bologna were wonderful. I had the lasagna verde Bolognese--I have had thin verde lasagna noodles before--this was ethereal. The salads were simple and fresh--reminded me to rethink vinaigrette and opt for a very good balsamic and equally good oil. I would love to return someday.

This was our best meal in Italy on a 10-day trip through Florence, Bellagio, and Tuscany, which included two restaurants with Michelin stars. I cannot rave enough about how pleased I was with my meal. We had mortadella, ravioli alla zucca, insalata ai carciofi, tagliatelle al ragu, and ossobucco. I would order all of them again. The ossobucco was a huge portion, incredibly tender, with slightly smokey and crunchy greens. I would've ordered a side of the greens if I'd had the room. We must've eaten the tagliatelle dish 4x on our trip, and none was as good as this. Very reasonably priced.

Please go here! Everything is divine. The tortellini, the fried artichoke, bread puffs, fried zucchini, meat platters, all of it. This is honestly the best meal I've had in a really long time. Definitely come in, you should seriously make a reservation if you want to be able to get in.

Really liked this place! We came for a weekday lunch and were one of 2 tourist tables - everyone else was local and most businessmen/women. A good sign that it's a local go-to! Our server was excellent! And was constantly working his tables - you could tell he was good and loves what he does. We started with the mortadella - excellent. They had a special bianca truffle menu - I had to try! I got tagliatelle with white truffle - it was perfect. (Sometimes truffle can be too much - this was just right). Everytime we walked back by this restaurant we talked about how good it was.

A marvelous restaurant in the city center, on a delightful piazza. As we ate there in summer, it was 'al fresco'. With the sunset, it was magical. The food was stellar across the board: fried zucchini flowers, a heavenly tortellini alla panna, a Bolognese to die for, delicious vitello tonnato, and an incredible beef cheeks. The wine list was comprehensive, well balanced, and very affordable. Cesarina is a 'neighbourhood restaurant', so the service was efficient, but some may find it lavking in warmth (most of the waiters were older and 'traditional' in manner ). The Maitre D was a very friendly guy. I highly recommend Cesarina.

Really enjoyed our dinner in the heart of Bologna. We were unfortunately not able to sit outside as their tables were all taken; but really enjoyed their authentic Bolognese style dishes. Make sure you check Cesarina out when you're in Bologna!

A real classic. Traditional Bolognese, as recommended to me by locals in both Florence and Rome. Culatello, tagliatelle al ragu, tortellini en brodo, tiramisu, etc. Nice wine service, too, and they made us international clientele feel welcome.

This is not simple. Let's discuss some of the positives. We had a fiore de zuccha stuffed with ricotta and then baked to perfection. We've had these many times and the gold standard has been Antica Osteria in Sorrento. So far, it remains the gold standard but these are a clear second. Next, I had a fritto misto de peace. This was quite good-up there on the list. I'd order it again. For dessert, we had the rice cake. I asked for a scoop of vanilla gelato to go with it. What came was an order of vanilla gelato and an order of the rice cake. The Rice Cake was delicious and the gelato was creamy and, well, really a good gelato. I forgot to mention we had some cicoria as a vegetable side dish. It was 95 % stalks, and so I'd give it a one star. So, let me say, the food here is quite good. What I have to remark about is the complete distance of the staff. There was no friendliness whatsoever. It was robotic. This was exemplified by the Maitre D' and, perhaps, permeated the rest of the wait staff. I'd like to return but food itself is not a sole determinant of such matters. And so, I'd say, I'd pass. That being Sid, I do not want to show disrespect to the kitchen just because the service was so STIFF!

The service was amazing. I was dining alone and they made me feel very comfortable and chose the perfect location to seat me for wonderful people watching. I had poached egg with truffles and Parmesan, followed by a lovely arugula salad with avocado, shrimp and bufalo mozzarella. I highly recommend making the effort to find this spot.

Nice decor. The fritz misto (fried shrimp with veggies) was excellent. Lasagna too! We had a local Sangiovese wine which was nearly as good as a fine Brunello but 1/5 th the cost. I would go again. Staff helpfully too

Lovely and delicious. The Verde lasagna was a highlight. Beautiful outdoor seating on a lovely Bologna stone street. I was enchanted.

Teriible restaurant with extremely rude staff. If you are looking for a disrespectful dining experience in italy, with food that tastes like it comes from a freezer bag, this is the restaurant for you. Good location, so the tables are filled, but dont be fooled and waste your money...