Meals are not that high if you dont have all four courses, normally when you go to a restaurant they will take your order for appettizers, 1st plate, 2nd plate then dessert. I usually just order the 2nd plate which is the main course for me with espresso. That all I have unless I am really starving. If I recall individual pizza's cost 12,000 lire back then equivalent to $12 but I am not sure how that translates into the Euro now. My relatives told me that when the conversion took place, the lire was deflated and everything cost more. The average plate of pasta is around the same as pizza. One way to get around the restaurant costs is to go to the Deli's and get sandwiches made up. I did that many times during my day trips around Italy. Hope this helps.