We will be spending a few days in Rome at this hotel near Piazza Barberini, and I was wondering if anyone here might have some pointers as to where to eat that will not be occupied primarily by tourists? I've heard one or two stories of the hotel staff making recommendations for places that turned out to be near 100 percent tourists.
Cheers,
Simon.
First time I stayed there, they gave me 2 recommendations, one was very good, the other was very disappointing. Most of the places in the immediate area are aimed at tourists. I took a tour on my last visit and here are the guidelines the guide listed:
1. If there's someone standing outside touting the place, skip it
2. If there's a food display in the window, skip it.
3. Locals know where the good food is. They don't need to see it or have someone invite you in.
There are several good bus lines plus a metro stop just down the hill from the hotel. It's easy to get back after dinner.
Yes, I've followed those same rules of avoidance elsewhere.
Any actual recommendations, though?
I've heard good things about Colline Emiliane nearby.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187791-d696516-Reviews-Colline_Emiliane-Rome_Lazio.html
One trick that I use in evaluating a restaurant is to find it on TripAdvisor and then check to see the percentage of reviews in English versus in Italian. If you click on the Italian reviews, you can see how Italians are rating it and even see what they're saying, using the built in translation option. (On our sixth visit to Rome, we'll be spending a couple of nights in the Flaminio neighborhood, going to a restaurant that has 215 reviews in Italian, but only 12 in English. My kind of place, but it's outside the historic center.)
My rule for hotel recommendations in Italy is: The larger the hotel, the lousier the recommendation will be. If they give you the hotel card and tell you that you'll get a discount for showing it to your waiter, it likely means they're getting a kickback.
If you're staying at a small place, you could ask the staff where they themselves would go for a special dinner.
Good luck.
