The local McDonald’s has put signs up recently saying that they are now open 24 hours every day.

Whilst this can be useful when we fly back from Madrid or Lanzarote in the middle of the night, it probaby won’t affect us much.

Or so I thought! Recently I’ve noticed that the staffing levels during the breakfast hours have gone down. The other day I ordered one item at the drive-thru and had to wait about 15 minutes for it – and those were 15 minutes that I didn’t have!

On another recent visit, none of the counters were staffed:

Not a sight you see very often!

Another place for good Italian food is hidden away in the old part of the town:

Ristorante Pizzeria Desirée
Obergasse 10-12
61348 Bad Homburg

Tel.: 06172 23524

The food is good and both pizza and pasta can be recommended.  I discovered Desirée when I was on an Italian crash course at the adult education centre (VHS), which is just around the corner.

The serviettes contain basic Italian phrases, like “please”, “thank you”, and so on, what adds to the atmosphere if you’re brave enough to try them out!

There are lots of places for Italian food in Bad Homburg. Here is one of my favourites:

La Piazza Toscana
Rathausplatz 3-7
61348 Bad Homburg

Tel.: 06172 21010

Why? Well first of all the food is very good. When I worked in Bad Homburg I used to order lunch from them sometimes, in more recent years I’ve gone there myself in my lunch hour.

In the summer there are tables and chairs outside on the Rathausplatz (behind the town hall).

My favourite dish is “Pasta alla mamma Angela” (Nr.56 in the old days!) This is pasta in a cream sauce with peas, ham, onions and parmesan.

There are weekly offers and if you sign up to the mailing list on their website http://www.pizzeriatoscana.de/ then you get a mail, usually late on Sunday or early on Monday, with all the details.

On top of this, they also have WLAN inside the restaurant!

As a side note: on more than one occasion I’ve been in an obscur part of Bad Homburg and have ordered pizza to be delivered, giving a description of where I am and how to find me – but not an actual address. They’ve found me and delivered every time!