Length of Time for Meals in Rome

For us, we can stretch out a sit down meal to 1 hr 15 minutes. Measured from arrival and seating to exiting. We are not ones to sit and sit trying to emulate a Euro meal timeframe. If there is nice view perhaps we can order another bit of wine and linger some more, but after a while we are just sitting there lingering for the sake of….lingering.
Non formal settings like pizza we can be out much sooner. So if I had only 2 hrs between the Borghese and the Vatican I would opt for non formal. The biggest delay is often the ordering, but especially paying as the Euro way is not as prompt as the US way, although people seem to like waiting to flag a server or waiting for a response from the server. But that could take time.

in Italy, it seems that more and more, just going up to the front desk to pay gets paying il conto accomplished, and you can be on your way. Not sure if that’s a relatively recent situation, or if that’s been done by Italians for a long time, but I've only been aware of it since the Pandemic. Find a place that’s not too busy (which some folks would argue means it’s not as good as more popular restaurants), and the kitchen should be able to get your food to you more promptly than some place that’s swamped.

We’ve had many 1 1/2 hour lunches in Rome, and 2 hours for dinner has been the norm, but we usually have ordered several courses. If you order a meal with just 1 or 2 courses, and take your credit card up to the desk where they have the card reader, it will be faster.

Thank you for your replies. It's especially helpful to know how to pay to get things moving without being rude. Pizza is great for lunch! Any suggestions for a good pizza place near the Vatican? I'll feel less anxious if we eat near there.

Hello,

We ate our lunch after our Vatican visit at Be.Re. + Trapizzino. Little pizza triangles. There is a sandwich place next door, so you'd have a couple of options. I think about a 10 minute walk from Vatican.

Hope that helps. Enjoy!

McDonald's: 20 min
Typical Roman restaurant: plan at least 2 hours for lunch.
Italians don't ask for the check to be brought to the table. They just walk to the cash register and pay on their way out. If you ask for the check to be brought to you to the table, add another 30 min to the total time.

Thanks everyone. No McDonalds! Haha. Paying at the cash register feels like it gives us a bit more control for getting to our venues on time. Good to know.

It really is up to you, unless you head to a more formal restaurant. There are tons of fast and less formal options with pizza, sandwiches and pasta. Restaurant too are used to crowds looking for a quick bite and simple dishes. "Lunch" in Italy used to be the heavier meal, with several courses, but not many opt for that, especially in Rome. Do keep in mind, that unless you hit up a sandwich or pizza place, some restaurants may not seat you until 1:00 for lunch, but that is fading fast as well but still maybe noon at the earliest.

Dinner has become more of a longer affair, in a decent place, a few courses, a mix of shared and individual, plus wine dessert and coffee could be a couple hours, but again, lots of people will be looking for a quick plate of pasta or a pizza

I have made reservations at Il Colibrì and will have @ 1 1/2 hours for lunch. It's a 5-minute walk to the Vatican, supposedly. If anyone knows of this restaurant, please comment. Thank you to everyone!

This really isn't an answer for you. For some reason we have developed the habit of only eating two meals when traveling. We don't do it at home. We try to make the breakfast at the hotel as substantial as possible. We tend to avoid lunch with maybe a drink and little snack around 3, maybe 4 oclock. Then we try for a really nice evening meal around 8.

My wife and I do like Frank in many cases. Eat plenty at the hotel for breakfast (many hotels offer substantial or even all you can eat breakfast), then just have a quick snack and drink during the day (primarily to rest a bit, then a dinner at Italian time (dinner time in Rome is after 9:30pm, Roman’s eat dinner later). That way you don’t waste time in lengthy Italian sit down lunches. If you want sit down lunch many restaurants in Italy open for lunch at Noon or 12:30pm.

Early lunch would work for us. Now, if I could just find quick eats on Christmas Day which is the day we land and no formal dinner that night. . .

We ate here on our way to the Vatican.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/il-miraggio-roma?hrid=B05iXsrd_4xH2CzdQxkZEw

Now, if I could just find quick eats on Christmas Day which is the day we land and no formal dinner that night. .

Mercato Centrale at Termini claims they are open every day - that would give you a wide selection of decent quality food.

Markcw, thank you for your information. That may be just what we need--Mercato Centrale is a 20-minute walk from our hotel. We can eat true Italian food for an early dinner and get to bed--perfect.

Nerbone is a boiled beef stand inside the Mercato Centrale, and has been there since the 1870's. The sandwich is with juice on a crusty round roll with a dollop of pesto sauce in the middle. If you're adventurous, order the same thing but with lampredotto (cow's stomach). Still pretty good. In 2015 a sandwich was 3 Euro. Now, who knows?

Nerbone is a stand inside the Mercato Centrale of Florence, not in Rome.
Which city are we talking about?

Contrarian reply that I know won't be appealing to you: I didn't eat any restaurant food in Rome. I was traveling solo. I was afraid restaurant food is not healthy enough. Whatever time I saved was just a coincidence. But 4 hours siting in and waiting in restaurants per day feels like a waste of time. In Naples I ate food at one low-end restaurant where I walked up to a counter, pointed to some food in a hopefully refrigerated deli display case, and the guy running the place microwaved it for me and brought it to me while I sat at a table; I ate in another non-high-end restaurant in Pisa. I am not a foodie; I don't require my food to be highly spiced or flavored. I bought stuff from grocery stores. I know this won't work for you but what I did worked for me and you don't necessarily have to eat every meal in a restaurant with table service.

MikeL, not sitting down in a restaurant is sometimes a very wise and enjoyable way to travel. We might just eat "on the fly" for lunch if time is of the essence (grab a slice). I can't imagine the deli with something microwaved, however (haha).