A friend who lives in Italy explained to me that when most Italians go
out to eat, they
are looking for mostly the same kind of food they might make at home,
perhaps more "refined" in ingredients, but basically familiar foods.
They might go out for Chinese food once a year or so just for a lark,
but do not think, as we often do, "what shall we eat tonight, Thai,
Mexican, Japanese, French, Italian?" That being said, Italian food is
much more varied that most Americans know. The cuisine of the north,
for instance, uses butter, not ollive oil, with a definite French
influence, to the northeast, it's German-influenced, not the
tomato-based Sicilian cuisine found in most American Italian
restaurants. I would say that your impression of dedication to their
own cuisine is fairly accurate, but their own cuisine will vary from
one region of Italy to another.