Favorite trattoria or eating spots in Rome

just about any place in Trastevere should make you happy. Much more fun, less touristy, more Roman.

My restaurant notes from the Rome portion of my summer 2016 trip:

Rome - Prati neighbourhood - Trattoria ai Villini 2x dinner. 1st night was better than 2nd - amazing gnocchi, light and fluffy. Remember Roman restaurants only make & serve gnocchi on Thursdays. It’s the thing to eat that day, all proper Romans do so. It’s a real neighbourhood joint, no Americans, I loved it.

Rome - Pantheon area - Trattoria der Pallaro very sweet old owners. Serve only a fixed menu, you can choose big or little but that’s it. Every bite delicious and the owners chatted with everyone, including us. Busy but efficient because of the fixed menu. Lovely outdoors or indoors.

Rome - Monti - La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali - beautiful brick arches, excellent food. Listed in all the tourist guides, so lots of English overheard, but the food and service was still very good. I intended to go back but got diverted to a really awful place my last night instead - see below.

*EAT HERE. BEST MEAL OF 7 WEEKS* Rome - Campo dei Fiori area - Renato e Luisa - amuse bouche was thin lemon slices marinated in olive oil, sugar, salt. SM piece of smoked herring on top. One bite, pop into mouth. Antipasto - panzanella salad with shrimp on top and celery curls. Ate here twice, 3 weeks apart. It was so good we made reservations for our return trip on the spot. Famous for fish but everything, including the meat, was out of this world. It’s hard to say “best” when I had so many good meals, but I think it was. Followed closely by a place in Pisa, of all things.

Rome - Trastevere - Trattoria da Vittorio Heart shaped pizza - pistachio pesto and fresh salmon. Relaxed, good food, inexpensive, recommended

*STAY AWAY* Rome - Monti - La Carbonara 1906. Memorable only for "tourist rush seating" at 7:00 with a demand to be done by 8:15. Plates removed at 8:00 and told to pay at bar. Food mediocre. Tourists line up outside well in advance of 7:00 to eat this crappy food and be given a bum’s rush out so proper Italians can come in at 8:30.

Best advice: get Elizabeth Minchilli’s Eat Rome app on your phone. I used it in Rome, Florence, Torino and Umbria and she never let me down. Here is her blog, but do get the app. I also like Katie Parla’s blog and her app, Katie Parla’s Rome.

Thank you both for the great recommendations! I'm getting excited?

Near the Vatican is Isola della Pizza, not only for pizza.

L'asino d'oro in Monti was wonderful. I did not go for dinner but at lunch there is a set menu for I think 14E - 3 courses plus wine. It's one menu - no choices - but if you are open to eating what they prepare you will enjoy it. Dinner is a normal menu set up, but I'm not sure of price range.