Tagliatelle al ragu alla bolognese is the canonical Bologna pasta: hand-rolled egg tagliatelle dressed with long-cooked minced beef, pancetta, soffritto and tomato. Never spaghetti.
The Bolognese ragu took shape in the 18th-century kitchens of the Emilian nobility, with the first written recipe attributed to Pellegrino Artusi's 1891 La Scienza in Cucina. The Camera di Commercio of Bologna deposited the official legal recipe on 17 October 1982: minced beef cartella, pancetta, soffritto of carrot-celery-onion, tomato passata, white wine, milk and beef stock, simmered three hours and bound to tagliatelle 8mm wide. The same Camera deposited the legal tagliatelle width: 8mm cooked, the 12,270th part of the Torre Asinelli height. Trattoria Anna Maria and All'Osteria Bottega serve canonical versions.
5 editor picks for Tagliatelle al ragu in Bologna, ranked by editorial score. All Bologna signature dishes · Tagliatelle al ragu across every city.
All'Osteria Bottega ★ 4.7
saragozza · Via Santa Caterina 51, 40123 Bologna BO
All'Osteria Bottega in Bologna's Saragozza is the Daniele Minarelli and Valeria Tonelli room, a tiny dining hall running the canonical Emilian carte with precision.
Trattoria di Via Serra ★ 4.7
bolognina · Via Luigi Serra 9/B, 40129 Bologna BO
Trattoria di Via Serra in Bologna's Bolognina is the Flavio Fabbri and Tommaso Trifoni room, a 28-seat osteria with the city's most-cited tagliatelle al ragu.
Trattoria Anna Maria ★ 4.6
universita · Via delle Belle Arti 17/A, 40126 Bologna BO
Trattoria Anna Maria in Bologna near Via Zamboni is the city's most-photographed sfoglia trattoria, run by Anna Maria Monari since 1985 with hand-rolled tortellini.
Da Cesari ★ 4.4
centro-storico · Via de' Carbonesi 8, 40123 Bologna BO
Da Cesari in Bologna's Centro Storico is the four-generation Carati family trattoria, operating since 1955, a steady room for the canonical Bolognese carte.
Osteria dell'Orsa ★ 4.2
universita · Via Mentana 1/F, 40126 Bologna BO
Osteria dell'Orsa in Bologna's University quarter is the canonical student trattoria operating since 1979, a no-reservations canteen for tagliatelle and crescentine.