RIGA - Practically every other week, a brand-new restaurant opens its doors and dresses its tables for the first time in the Latvian capital. And practically every other week, an established eatery is forced to close down after failing to build a loyal customer base and being hit by big losses.
The days when a central Riga restaurant could seemingly charge what they wanted for a simple meal and an alcoholic drink are over. Tougher times and fiercer competition now mean that many establishments are looking at long-term survival as their main goal, rather than falling into the trap of concentrating solely on huge short-term profits. This is good news for customers in Riga. Over the past four or five years, prices have been going up while service standards have taken a tangible nosedive. Now many restaurant owners have begun to recognize that the way to survive in this business is through price competitiveness and by offering better service.
A case in point is a brand-new Italian trattoria called del Popolo. Here, for now at least, you will find well-priced meals, good service and most importantly, excellent food. This simple Italian is tucked away down one of Old Riga's often-forgotten side streets, just fifty meters away from the wiggling hips of glamorous women with absurdly small dogs shopping in the Galerija Centrs shopping mall.
The interior is uncomplicated, with pastel white walls, the odd memento of Italy and a flat-screen TV playing DVDs of some of Italy's greatest singers, to help keep the atmosphere from being too stuffy. You know you're on to a winner when freshly baked bread arrives at the table, baked by the restaurant itself, and when you scan the menu you spot homemade pasta for just 2.60 lats. Starters at del Popolo are no-nonsense and tend to set you back around two lats, while the main course selections of pasta and pizza are all healthy on the pocket.
But does this place really turn out homemade pasta or are they hoping you just don't know what the difference is? The answer is that if you try the pasta here, you might wonder why you've been eating the inferior manufactured stuff for all those years. The homemade pasta is indeed excellent, the panna cotta and tiramisu a genuine treat for the taste buds, and once you've washed it down with a glass or two of red wine (again, at under two lats) you are left with a sense that del Popolo delivers the kind of satisfying, value-for-money dining experience that will make you return again and again.
Del Popolo
8 Jana iela,
Old Riga
www.delpopolo.lv[email protected]+371 6735 0559
