Ah, Bolognese ragú. How simple and delicious it is, and yet how misrepresented pasta al ragú can be outside of Italy—too sweet or tomato-y, too spiced, too minced, too wet, too carelessly dumped atop slippery overcooked spaghetti. In Bologna and elsewhere in Emilia-Romagna, there’s very little tomato and no spices in this sauce, and the pasta is always tagliatelle, long flat ribbons made fresh and cooked perfectly al dente—the ideal noodle to carry a thick, rich, beefy ragú. The two elements of this dish are so good, in fact, it’s hard to tell if the pasta is meant as a vessel for the sauce, or vice versa.
It’s safe to say that eating tagliatelle al ragú Bolognese is an absolute must while in Bologna.
Where: We had this tagliatelle, which was made with ortica (green nettle), at Il Cantinone (Via del Pratello 56/a), a rustic osteria in Bologna with sidewalk seating on a lively, bar-filled street.
Eds’ note: Unfortunately Il Cantinone has permanently closed since our last visit. Please see below for alternatives.
Order: The tagliatelle al ragú was just as it should be: simple, thick, meaty yet silky. The short and curly gramigna con salsicca e zafferano (sausage and saffron)—another popular Emilia-Romagna pasta dish—was also excellent.
Alternatively: Predictably, this dish is very easy to find in Bologna. We also enjoyed it at the cheap and rowdy, no-frills student haunt Osteria dell’Orsa (Via Mentana 1, map), where you might wash it down with a pitcher of beer. We’ve heard good things about this dish at Trattoria Anna Maria (Via delle Belle Arti 17/a, map), a traditional-leaning spot with grandma vibes that’s been around since 1985.
Other restaurants you might seek out for this include the 20-year-old Drogheria della Rosa (Via Cartoleria 10, map), a former pharmacy turned trattoria, or Cantina Bentivoglio (Via Mascarella 4/B, map), an enoteca, osteria, and world-class jazz club with a heavily Bolognese menu, offering this dish as well as tortellini en brodo, tortelloni, mortadella, and more local classics. At Ristorante Al Pappagallo (Via Alfonso Sabattini 69, map) and Ristorante Diana (Via Volturno 5, map), you might order this tagliatelle alongside the region’s famed lasagna verde, a green lasagna made with spinach.
Updated: January 6, 2025
