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Dining in Rome

Where to get authentic and affordable meals in Rome? Am travelling on budget so would really appreciate some help!

Posted by
1045 posts

I have found that Trastevere can be a good, affordable option for dinner. The closer you are to the 'main tourist sites' the more expensive you might find the menus. A couple of other ideas: get off the main streets and find a place that doesn't have a menu in 5 languages. You want it to be loud, Italian (language, not just the food), and a place you want to sit for a few hours of feeling like you belong. In most places the pasta course, maybe with a gelato later, might be filling enough. The 'secondi' tend to be smaller portions and higher prices. Or, since you'll seldom find fresher food, what about stocking up on veggies, fruit, cheese, bread and maybe some prosciutto earlier in the day? With a bottle of wine and good people watching, dinner becomes something very different! At any rate, eating in Italy should be a celebration so look for ways to make it one! Enjoy!!!!

Posted by
1501 posts

Agree with Robert. Go a block or two off a piazza and look for a restaurant that doesn't have the "tourist menu" posted. I stay near the Vatican in Rome and always eat at "Piacere Molise" at 60 Via Candia. They speak no English. It's a few blocks from the entrance to the Vatican Museum and behind the Alimandi Tunisi Hotel. Same with Trastevere. I've had a lot of reasonably priced meals. Thursday is Gnocci night in Rome, and I'd highly recommend having it at a locals place.

Pizza is a staple, and very inexpensive. Look for the words "Forno al Legna" on the menu/sign. Wood Oven. When there's a wood oven the food is usually very good -- especially the pizza.

Posted by
45 posts

Porca Vacca is DEFINITELY a place that you should try! The area's not touristy (it's called San Lorenzo), lots of students, and a lot of great restaurants and bars that fit a student/backpacker/working person's shoestring budget. Address: Via di Sabelli 101, Rome, Italy

It's got something for Everyone, even fantastic vegetarian dishes, while it's a meat-eater's paradise. The offer a wide variety of steak and even let you mix & match. The steak is brought out on a hot plate, something you don't see everywhere, and leaving Rome without trying it would be a travesty. The pizza is fantastic as well as their pasta dishes. Even the wine is very reasonably priced, enough so that 2 people can eat like kings and leave stuffed to the brim, pleasantly buzzed, and have enough money left over to come back again....and trust me, you'll want to! It's open quite late as well.

Also in the same area, is Il Cappellaio Matto, on Via dei Marsi 25, 00185 Rome, Italy. It's a very simple little place, with a far less extensive menu, but it has the feeling of dining in someone's kitchen, with excellent homemade food and fantastic prices. I used to be in there almost every other weekend, and never went broke doing it.

Both are sure to be a different kind of deliciously authentic experience :)

Posted by
1501 posts

Quirite! Thank you thank you thank you! Your English Spelling is obviously much better than my Italian. :-)

Posted by
1157 posts

There are over 8000 places to eat listed in Tripadvisor.

We stayed near Piazzale Repubblica (not too far from Termini) and found a nice inexpensive place called "eBar" run by a guy named Emanuele and his mother. They make home made pasta. It is a modest place about a block from the busy Via Nazionale. Check out the tripadvisor reviews.

If you want to spend more and have seafood try "Berzitello" in the same area.

Otherwise, the cheapest way to eat is just to find bars or cafes with pre-made sandwiches, pizzas or pastas in display cases and buy to go. If you sit at a table, you pay a bit more.

Posted by
11247 posts

We have eaten at a few of these places recommended in The Guardian. they are all bargains. We go back time and again to La Fraschetta del Pesce and Da Remo. La Fraschetta is a bit of a trek on public transportation but worth it!

Posted by
15043 posts

It's almost lunch time in California. I think I'm going to an Italian restaurant and have some GNOCCI and BRUSCETTA.

Posted by
2023 posts

Our favorite is Perilli on Via Mamorata--wonderful food and wait staff.

Posted by
7737 posts

If you tell us where you'll be staying, you might get some good recommendations nearby.