I grew up in Brescia and moved to Bologna in my early twenties. I came for the university. I stayed for the food — the markets at dawn, the women rolling sfoglia in the morning, the bars where aperitivo happens every day like a small, joyful ritual.
I started Tours Like a Local because I kept watching tourists eat badly in this city. They'd walk straight from Piazza Maggiore into the first restaurant they found, order a bolognese made with dried pasta and commercial sauce, pay €22 for it, and leave thinking they'd experienced Bologna. It broke my heart every time.
The places I take you on this tour are places I go myself. The trattoria where we eat pasta has a sfoglina who learned from her grandmother. The bar where we have aperitivo is where my neighbours go after work. I didn't find these places by researching — I found them by living here.
I keep the tour small (min 4 guests) because that's the only way to sit at a normal table, have a real conversation with the people behind the food, and feel like you're actually in Bologna — not inside a tourism product.
I don't publish the names of the stops. This isn't secretive — it's protective. These venues agreed to welcome my guests because they trust me. If their name appeared online linked to food tours, they'd be overrun within a week and none of us could go back.
If you're the kind of person who eats consciously, cares about where food comes from, and wants to understand a city through its food rather than just eat it — you'll love this tour. If you want to check off a list of famous restaurants, I'm probably not the right guide for you.