Rome Travel Guide
All you need to know about the Eternal City
“ If I’m in Rome for only 48 hours, I would consider it a sin against God to not eat cacio e pepe, the most uniquely Roman of pastas, in some crummy little joint where Romans eat. I’d much rather do that than go to the Vatican. That’s Rome to me. Anthony Bourdain
After a nice walk or an intense shopping day in Rome you'll probably be hungry and ready to relax while tasting the great flavour of Italian food.
Traditional Roman cooking is made up of simple and meager ingredients, always extremely fresh and varying with the seasons.
In Rome you can find four different places where to buy and eat a meal:
- the Trattoria
- the Ristorante
- the Osteria
- the Pizzeria
The trattoria is usually a family-run concern, serving home-made cooking. The ristorante, on the other hand, is a bit more formal place, offering a wider selection of dishes and wines. The osteria, similarly to any English inn, usually offers a wide range of wines but a smaller selection of local dishes. In the pizzeria you can taste the famous Italian pizza as well as antipastos, pasta, meat and vegetables.
The quality of a ristorante or an osteria can't be judged just by its appearance. You'll be likely to eat your most memorable meal in a poorly furnished place, with plastic tablecloths, found in a tiny back street, a dingy square or a back road in the country. And please don't panic if you find yourself in a trattoria which has no printed menu:offering outstanding food and fresh produce they would need to daily update their menus.
After lunch or dinner, you could head for the nearest gelateria (ice-cream parlour) and have a gelato or simply a digestivo.
If you are looking for a place where to eat a light lunch or just a snack, enter a bar and ask for a tramezzino (sandwich) or for a panino (roll). Any delicatessen store (alimentari) sells sandwiches as well. If you have a sweet tooth enter a pasticceria and you will enjoy pastries, cakes and biscuits but if you do prefer a "walking pizza" please try a slice of pizza or a focaccia in any panetteria (bakeries).
Roman cooking is simple, made up of very few ingredients. Meat and fish are normally roasted, baked, or grilled and every main course has side dishes (usually vegetables) not always listed in the menu. Do ask for the "Specialit dello Chef".
The most typical dishes are:
- Bruschetta "ammazzavampiri" and mozzarella in carrozza
- Fettuccine al rag (home made pasta with Bolognese meat sauce )
- Spaghetti carbonara (or any equivalent pasta), served with a sauce of eggs, bacon, pecorino Romano cheese and black pepper
- Pasta all'amatriciana served with a sauce made of olive oil, onions, bacon and tomatoes
- Gnocchi (made of mashed potatoes,eggs and flour), served with a tomato sauce and sprinkled of Parmesan or pecorino cheese
- Abbacchio (milk-fed lamb) roasted with rosmary and potatoes or grilled alla scottadito
Don't miss : coda alla vaccinara, saltimbocca alla romana, artchokes "alla giudia", prosciutto crudo.
If you prefer fish, ask for sea bass, bream, flounder or batter-fried baccal.
If you need to buy some food or wine, head for the picturesque Campo de' Fiori market: you will find several stalls full of fruit and vegetables.
For good wine lovers, many wine cellars organize wine tasting courses and information-giving meetings about vineyards, harvesting, fermentation and all the processes linked to the production of the so called nectar of the gods.
In the numerous historical coffee shops you can try typical Roman food in a unique surrounding that combines culture, history and tradition. Opened in the 19th and 20th centuries, Caff Greco, Babington's Tearooms, Caff Rosati and Caff Canova still remain important meeting places for artists and writers. For espresso coffee-lovers, we recommend Caff Sant'Eustachio located in the homonym square, a fine coffee shop founded in the 1930s where the coffee is roasted by hand over wood fires.
City Centre - Budget Restaurants & Pizzerie
- Al 34 (tel 06 679 50 91, Via Mario de' Fiori 34)
- Al Moro (tel 06 678 34 95, Vicolo delle Bollette 13)
- Albistr (tel 06 686 52 74, Via dei Banchi Vecchi 140a)
- Benito (tel 06 686 15 08, Via dei Falegnami 14)
- Colline Emiliane (tel 06 481 75 38, Via degli Avignonesi 22)
- Cul de Sac (tel 06 68 80 10 94, Piazza Pasquino 73)
- Da Giggetto (tel 06 68611 05, Via del Portico di Ottavia 21-22)
- Da Gino (tel 06 687 34 34, Vcolo Rosini 4)
- Dar Filettaro a Santa Barbara (tel 06 686 40 18, Largo dei Librari 88)
- Ditirambo (tel 06 687 16 26, Piazza della Cancelleria 72)
- Edy (tel 06 36 00 17 38, Vicolo del Babuino 4)
- Gran Caff La Caffettiera (tel 06 321 33 44, Via Margutta 61)
- Hostaria Giulio (tel 06 688 06 466, Va della Barchetta 19)
- Il Bacaro (tel 06 686 41 10, Via degli Spagnoli 27)
- Il Primoli (tel 06 681 35 112, Via dei Soldati 22-23)
- Insalata Ricca (tel 06 856 88 036, Largo dei Chiavari 85, or tel 06 683 07 881, Piazza Pasquino 72)
- La Carbonara (tel 06 686 47 83, Campo de' Fiori 23)
- La Taverna degli Amici (tel 06 69 92 06 37, Piazza Margana)
- L'Orso 80 (tel 06 686 49 04, Via dell'Orso 33)
- Osteria dell'Ingegno (tel 06 678 06 62, Piazza della Pietra 45)
- Osteria Margutta (tel 06 323 10 25, Via Margutta 82)
- Otello alla Concordia (tel 06 679 11 78, Via della Croce 81)
- Pizzeria Corallo (tel 06 683 07 703, Via del Corallo 10)
- Pizzeria da Baffetto (tel 06 686 16 11, Via del Governo Vecchio 11)
- Pizzeria Il Leoncino(tel 06 687 63 06, Via del Leoncino 28)
- Pizzeria La Montecarlo (tel 06 686 18 77, Vicolo Savelli 11-13
- Ristorante Monserrato (tel 06 687 33 86, Via Monserrato 96)
- Sergio alla Grotta (tel 06 686 42 93, Via delle Grotte 27)
- Sora Margherita (tel 06 686 40 02, Piazza delle Cinque Scole 30)
- The trendy 'Gusto (tel 06 322 62 73, Piazza Augusto Imperatore 9)
- Trattoria Pizzera da Francesco (tel 06 686 40 09, Piazza del Fico 29
- Tullio (tel 06 475 85 64, Via San Nicola da Tolentino 26)
Vatican - Budget Restaurants & Pizzerie
- Cacio e Pepe (tel 06 321 72 68, Via Avezzana 11)
- Il Mozzicone (tel 06 686 15 00, Borgo Pio 180)
- L'Isola della Pizza (tel 06 397 33 483, Via degli Scipioni 43-47)
- Ostera dell'Angelo (tel 06 389 218, Via G Bettola 24)
Trastevere - Budget Restaurants & Pizzerie
- Casetta di Trastevere (tel 06 580 01 58, Piazza de'Renzi 3la)
- Da Augusto (tel 06 580 37 98, Piazza de' Renzi 15)
- Da Corrado (Va della Pelliccia)
- Osteria Der Belli (tel 06 580 37 82, Piazza Sant'Apollonia 9-11)
- Panattoni (tel 06 580 09 19, Viale di Trastevere 53)
- Pizzeria Popi-Popi (tel 06 589 51 67, Via delle Fratte di Trastevere 45)
- Pizzeria San Calisto (tel 06 581 82 56, Piazza San Calisto 9a)
- Pizzeria Vittorio (tel 06 580 03 53, Va di San Cosimato 14)
Testaccio - Budget Restaurants & Pizzerie
- Augustarello (tel 06 574 65 85, Via G Branca 98)
- Da Felice (tel 06 574 68 00, Via Mastro Giorgio 29)
- Pizzeria Remo (tel 06 574 62 70, Piazza Santa Maria Liberatrice 44)
- Trattoria da Bucatino (tel 06 574 68 86, Via Luca della Robbia 84)
San Lorenzo - Budget Restaurants & Pizzerie
- Formula 1 (tel 06 445 38 66, Via degli Equi 13)
- Le Maschere (tel 06 445 38 05, Via degli Umbri 8)
- Pizzeria l'Economia (Via Tiburtina 44)
Stazione Termini - Budget Restaurants & Pizzerie
- Da Gemma alla Lupa (tel 06 49 12 30, Via Marghera 39)
- Hostaria Angelo (Via Principe Amedeo 104)
- Trattoria da Bruno (Via Varese 29)
Monte Caelio - Budget Restaurants & Pizzerie
- Al Giubileo (tel 06 481 88 79, Via del Boschetto 44)
- Alle Carrette (tel 06 679 27 70, Vcolo delle Carrette 14)
- Il Posto Ricercato (tel 06 474 22 05, Va Leonina 90)
- Off Via Nazionale, Da Ricci (tel 06 488 11 07, Via Genova 32)
Vatican - Mid range Restaurants
- Da Cesare (tel 06 686 12 27, Via Cresenzio 13)
- Il Simposio (tel 06 321 32 10, Piazza Cavour)
Testaccio - Mid range Restaurants
- Cecchino dal 1887 (tel 06 574 63 18, Va di Monte Testaccio 30)
San Lorenzo - Mid range Restaurants
- Il Dito e la Luna (tel 06 494 07 26, Va dei Sabelli 49-51)
- Tram Tram (tel 06 490 416, Va dei Reti 44)
Monte Caelio - Mid range Restaurants
- La Tana del Grillo (tel 06 704 53 517, Via Alfieri 4-8)
- Osteria Gli Angeletti (tel 06 474 33 74, Via dell'Angeletto 3)
- Pasqualino (tel 06 700 45 76, Via dei Santi Quattro 66)
City Centre - Top Restaurants
- Camponeschi (tel 06 687 49 27) Piazza Farnese
- El Toul (tel 06 687 34 98, Via della Lupa 29)
- La Rosetta (tel 06 68 610 02, Via della Rosetta 8-9)
- Piperno (tel 06 68 80 66 29, Via Monte de'Cenci 9)
- St Teodoro (tel 06 678 09 33, Piazza dei Fienili 49-50)
- The terrace of L'Angoletto (tel 06 686 80 19, Piazza Rondanini 55)
- Vecchia Roma (tel 06 686 46 04, Piazza Campitelli 18)
Trastevere - Top Restaurants
- Alberto Ciarla (tel 06 581 86 68, Piazza San Cosimato 40)
Testaccio - Top Restaurants
- Paris (tel 06 581 53 78, Piazza San Calisto 7)
Stazione Termini - Top Restaurants
- Agata e Romeo (tel 06 446 61 15, Via Carlo Alberto 45)
City Centre - Vegetarian Restaurants
- Le Cornacchie (tel 06 681 34 544, Piazza Rondanini 53)
- L'Isola (tel 06 679 25 09, 4th floor, Via delle Vite 14)
- Margutta Vegetariano (tel 06 678 60 33, Via Margutta 118)