Society Journal

Most Italian restaurants Tampa, Florida are flourishing in their business without much outside help; however due to the increase in Mediterranean foods, which have been touted as the new ‘diet food’ of many Hollywood stars and health experts, Italian restaurants are getting an extra shot in the arm.

Naturally, this segment of family-friendly restaurants where traditional cooking does not necessarily qualify for authentic Italian fare it’s more like Italian-American food, pasta dishes that were originally created by Italian immigrants here in the United States and somehow became Americanized.

Many Italian restaurants offer the same type of food, mostly comfort style food like spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna, chicken cacciatore, pizza and other classics associated with the Italian region.

For the consumers of these Italian restaurants, these family-style dining staples equaled the equivalent of Italian comfort food while at the same time provide low-cost food, with primary ingredients, to the restaurateurs who can save money by serving these foods that contain pasta, onions, tomatoes, olives, cheese and olive oil.

Italian restaurants in Tampa and across the nation cook this type of food because it is not so much old-fashioned but it is timeless.  However, the key to keeping these types of restaurants fresh is by understanding what customers of tomorrow are looking for in restaurants today.  Mediterranean style dishes, bakeries, cafés and more authenticated foods will all help Italian restaurants stay afloat even in these economic hard times when people expect their comfort food.  That’s not to say an Italian restaurant shouldn’t keep some of the comfort foods on their menu, they should simply incorporate new flavors, textures and tastes in with the old.

The Mediterranean style dishes are a cuisine that features higher and ingredients, lighter sauces, often lots of seafood and much more fresh vegetables.  These dishes come from the hardy peasants of Tuscany and a highly refined people of Northern Italy and the Mediterranean style dishes are much different to what American people think of as Italian foods.

In a major study of diners at Italian restaurants, their most favorite pasta was spaghetti at 40%, followed with lasagna at 12%, fettuccine at 6%, linguine at 3%, elbow at 3%, pasta salad at 3% and angel hair pasta at 2%.