What do you have to eat today?
Mangiare: man-JAH-reh. The gi is the soft 'j' sound — like the 's' in 'pleasure'.
Use at any rifugio or mountain trattoria. The menu changes daily based on what was delivered. Soup, pasta, and polenta dominate alpine rifugio menus.
Avete means 'do you have' (you plural — addressing the staff). Da mangiare means 'to eat'. A simple, universal phrase that works in any food context.
C'è la polenta oggi?
Is there polenta today?
Polenta is the staple of northern Italian mountain cooking.
Avete qualcosa di vegetariano?
Do you have something vegetarian?
Increasingly common question in Italian rifugi.
Quanto costa il pasto completo?
How much does the full meal cost?
Rifugio meals are typically fixed-price.
Rifugio food is surprisingly excellent. Many mountain huts age their own speck, make fresh pasta, and source local cheeses. The polenta ai funghi porcini is a staple that Italians hike specifically to eat in the mountains — it tastes different at altitude, they say.