What Time Do Italians Eat Dinner? Most Italians eat dinner around 8pm or 9pm. They may eat later in the summer, especially in the south of the country when dinner could be at 10pm or even later. Visitors should be aware that opening hours at Italian restaurants are limited.
The Typical Italian Dinner
Italian dinner or la cena, usually from 8:00 to 10:00pm, is another time that Italians enjoy sitting down together and socializing. Dinner can be much later than 10:00pm, especially if eating out or dining at a friend's house.
“Here's how to eat on an Italian schedule: we eat colazione (breakfast) as we get up, pranzo (lunch) in between 12.30 and 2 pm, merenda (afternoon snack) in between 4 and 5 pm, and cena (dinner) in between 7 and 8.30 pm…”
The simple answer is that it is consistent with the traditional culture of avoiding the heat of the day. Also, since the workday is divided in half by a long pausa, people don't finish work until around 7:30 or 8:00.
Most Italians eat dinner between 8 pm and 9 pm, although dinner in northern Italy can be slightly earlier, around 7pm. Restaurants may serve dinner as late as 10:30 pm, but you won't be able to sit down for dinner before 7 pm.
11:00pm – Midnight.
The Nordic countries in Europe wrap their dinner up the earliest, with Norway having one of the earliest dinner times—gasp—close to 4.30pm.
Most Italians do have a peculiar notion of punctuality and being 15, 20 or even 30 minutes late for a social situation is generally seen as perfectly acceptable – much to the dismay of people from countries where lateness is viewed as rude or inconsiderate.
Spain isn't as mellow about meal times as you might think. For years, the European country has been notorious for its super-late dinner time, usually around 10 p.m., coupled with its nationwide policy for taking a siesta in the mid-afternoon.
A typical Italian diet consists of three meals in a day. The most common foods in the Italian diet include pasta, cheese, vegetables, olive oil, meats, and wine. Italians give a lot of importance to fresh ingredients. They use seasonal ingredients to prepare meals.
In Italy, the average bedtime is 12:35 am. People in Italy also tend to get up relatively early, waking up before 8:00 am. The average time people in Italy wake up is 7:52 am. The National Sleep Foundation says most adults should aim for seven to nine hours of sleep, or an average of eight hours.
Pasta, risotto, soup, polenta, and casserole—the “pastabilities” are endless when choosing what primo piatto you want to indulge in. By the time primi rolls around, you're absolutely famished. As you can tell, this course is definitely heavier than the first two but will be a little lighter than the Secondi Piatti.
Breakfast in Italy: what to expect
Homemade breakfast in Italy is usually a straightforward affair. Traditional breakfast drinks in Italian households are coffee, tea and cocoa milk for the kids and the main breakfast foods are bread with butter and jam, biscuits and cereals.
In Italy, the average bedtime is 12:35 am. People in Italy also tend to get up relatively early, waking up before 8:00 am.
Dinner time in Rome
When to have dinner in Rome: 8 p.m.–12 a.m. As you might've guessed, Romans tend to have dinner much later than other European countries. Especially if you had aperitivo beforehand.
In Italy siesta is known as riposo. Shops are closed midday for three hours or so, that way Italians get to go home, rest, and be with family.
Australia. In Australia, a light meal eaten in the period between 10:30 am and noon is considered Morning Tea; an actual lunch will be consumed between 12 and 2 PM.
Australian families usually have dinner between 6 and 7pm, but I see older people having dinner as early as 5pm and young busy professionals can have dinner as late as 8 or 9pm. Why is dinner time in India as late as 9pm?
Most HBE consumed the first meal of the day between 6.01 and 8.00 am (76.6%) during the week and 7.01 and 9.00 am on weekends (65.9%). Most HBE consumed the first meal of the day early during the week (84.0%) compared to the weekend (54.6%).
Most of your neighbors are average Italian citizens with families and full-time jobs, in need of 7-8 hours of sleep every night. By law, silence is required between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. and again between 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Please respect this law by keeping noise to a minimum during these hours.
And please, do not burp or fart in public, it is considered extremely rude. Also, loud swearing and drinking alcohol from a bottle while walking the street, is frowned upon. Most Italians like some alcohol, but usually avoid to get drunk. Public scenes of drunkenness are much less tolerated than in other countries.
Don't wander around alone: Moving freely around someone else's home is considered rude and inappropriate. Accept something they offer: Leaving a house without having a coffee, a piece of cake, or even just a glass of water might disappoint your host. Let them welcome you.
The traditional evening meal in France is considered a family affair - around a table, lots of chatter, more good food, and an all-round convivial experience that rolls along merrily for an hour or so. They usually run from roughly 7.30pm until 8.45pm.
Greece—CR Elena Paravantes. Greeks typically have four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, afternoon coffee and dinner. Traditionally the largest meal was lunch, but many have changed their habits to a more Westernized style of living.
The Japanese people have their breakfast at around six to seven in the morning. Lunch will be held at twelve to one in the afternoon. Dinner is often eaten at around six till eight o'clock in the evening.