Mangiare: Rome restaurant recommendations

I don't have a review because we are going in July but I booked Salumeria Con Cucina Roscioli because I read about it being amazing as well as, a few friends said to go there but you need a reservation. You can book it online in advance. I was only able to get a table at the bar which is fine by me. A few other suggestions on my list are:

Dar Poeta Pizza - Trastevere
Armando al Pantheon
Buff - Trastevere
Cacio Pepe Restaurant

Hey Travel,

Here's a start: http://www.campodefioriristorante.it/index.php

Via della Corda, 3, 00186, Rome
+39 06 68806321

This restaurant is within (overlooking) the piazza of Campo de' Fiori, but down a little via. Easy to find. After you pass the statue of Giordano Bruno, walking away from (facing) him and the center market (whether it still has its tents set up), the street will be on your right.

That's the best "recall" I can offer right now, lol.

If you're in and around The Vatican Area/St. Peter's, there's a whole new world past them - The Borgo neighborhood - a two minute walk from the back of St. Peter's. There, you'll find a lot of smaller eateries, pizza places, shops.

Try to stay away from most of the restaurants "edging" the Piazzas. You may find a good one or two, but the prices will be higher, and the quality may seem like "a fast food experience." That's not to say you won't stumble upon a good one though.

I stayed and ate around the Termini neighborhood. Travelers like to have eats near their sites - Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna, Colosseo. I'm sure others have found good eateries in and around those areas.

One night - a bit earlier than the customary dinner time, I felt like a quick sandwich. I stopped in at The Coop, a small market near downtown (they have one at Termini too.) I got a Panino, salad, sweets and was on my way. I walked to Navona, took a bench, people watched, enjoyed the magical fountain in front of me and listened to the street musicians' songs wafting my way from the near distance. It's the little things :)

If you go to the Jewish Ghetto, the big draw is Nonna Betta's. They get some good reviews. I can't attest to the service or plating of food.

Enjoy!

Oh, and if you guys are tea drinkers or just want to pop into an "exotic tea store," check out https://www.namastey.it/home/
They've begun to venture into coffees and sweets.

They are on the street behind The Pantheon (Piazza della Rotonda.)

adding: Another thing I like to always suggest is take some time to view some free videos from The Roman Guy
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRomanGuyTours/videos?disable_polymer=1

They might help you get ideas and refresh your navigation in and around Rome; as well as offer some tips. Sean is one of the narrators. He is easy to listen to, humorous, and down-to-Earth. He gives some really good information. He's been with TRG for over a decade but now has branched out to another part of the organization. I don't know if he still leads any tours. I don't know him personally.

Also, Bojan, another guide from the company, has done a few videos - teaching how to ride the bus or order a pizza. Funny stuff.

A long time ago, I stumbled upon the videos and found them helpful as well as entertaining. Many videos to choose from to get information. Have fun!

Adding too: Ah yes, I also took advantage of the big breakfast offered by my hotel. It sustained me for a good portion of the day. I ventured to dinner about 8-ish. I would get a snack or gelato late afternoon.

Travelite,

Unfortunately I can't think of any restaurants to suggest at the moment.

I normally take advantage of the "free" breakfast at the hotel and make sure I eat lots to prepare for a full day of touring. Lunch depends on where I am at lunch time and the available options. I might have a sit-down lunch or just get a Panini and coffee. Supper is definitely a sit-down meal, and I find a restaurant that looks good in whatever area I'm in at the time.

I've always had good luck with restaurants recommended by the hotel staff, so you could try that too.

Here are some of the restaurants we enjoyed last June in Rome. Note some of them require reservations (these are noted):

• Sprito Di Vino (Trastevere): http://www.ristorantespiritodivino.com/. Award-winning slow food restaurant with ancient wine cellar. This is a pricey, special occasion restaurant with excellent food and terrific ambience.
• I Suppli (Trastevere): https://www.yelp.com/biz/sisini-la-casa-del-suppl%C3%AC-roma. This is take-away food at its best. Pizza by the slice is good, but I would go there for the Suppli (like arancini, only better). If you go, you are not far from Innocenti (delicious Vegan bakery), serving the Trastevere community since 1929.
• Enoteca Corsi (Panteon area):http://www.enotecacorsi.com/. We went there first for lunch and loved it so much brought the rest of our group there for dinner. Low-key, great wine and food, very reasonably priced.

Enjoy Rome,
Sandy

Travelite, if you're at Termini Station, it has a huge food court inside and sit down eateries for a sandwich or a casual lunch/dinner.

Sandy, I booked marked your suggestions for future eats. Will have to explore.

Thank you all! I'm getting hungry thinking about it. Will post my recommendations upon my return.

I'm getting hungry thinking about it. Will post my recommendations upon my return.

Great! Have fun :)

We also enjoyed l'Orso 80 two years ago! We enjoyed La Matriciana dal 1870 that was recommended by Fred Plotkin. (Seriously, I just sent him a Facebook message and he replied with a recommendation!) Renato e Luisa was also quite good!

Check out Katie Parla's web site and food blog. Try googling Katie Parla or see if she still uses Parlafood.com. Also try googling Elisabeth Minchelli. Both of these two writers cover Rome and have excellent reviews of restaurants and food discussions.

Thanks for those who've just added their recommendations! This is all so helpful... and fun to contemplate!

Giada De Laurentis also has great suggestions on her website. I jotted a few down she recommended.

Tre Scalini by the Piazza Navonna, I'm told.

I'm making my notes by area. In what areas are these restaurants located: La Matriciana dal 1870; Renato e Luisa; Salumeria Con Cucina Roscioli.

To find restaurant locations, one can go to Google, type in the name and then select the response that includes a map. For example, Google shows that La Matriciana dal 1870 is in the Monti neighborhood. I use this method a lot to locate restaurants with which I'm not familiar.

We found an old Rick Steve's book (when I FORGOT my guidebook for my trip earlier this month! UGH) in our airbnb (from like 2009?) and we found our way to Trattoria da Lucia in Trastevere (Rick's hand drawn map in the book was a little vague haha) and Trattoria der Pallaro near Campo dei Fiori and they were both AMAZING. I ordered a spaghetti (I think?) alla gricia (like if cacio e pepe and carbonara had a baby) at da Lucia, and it was DELICIOUS. Be sure to get there early or reserve a table because its definitely popular. Der Pallaro doesn't have a menu, they just have a fixed price and they bring you everything. It was FANTASTIC.

I was at Nonna Betta's last week - it was good. Our best meal in 24 days in Italy was at Piperno, also in the Jewish Ghetto. It is higher end and less touristy, with wonderful service and excellent food. At both places, the fried artichokes are amazing! Armando al Pantheon was also quite good - traditional food, well done. Definite yes for reservations at Armando and Piperno. For Nonna Betta we had them but others came without (6:30pm) . They are all able to be done online, so it is worth doing.

I will excavate my notebook and post anything else notable. If you are near the Vatican and want something quick and well-priced, Be.Re is good for their Trapizzino (4 euros) and beer selection.

So, here's the first update. We arrived in Rome on Friday afternoon, utterly jet-lagged. Because we were tired, after walking around for several hours (and stopping for expresso to keep our eyes open), we decided that we wanted to eat dinner near our hotel, Albergo del Senado, next door to the Pantheon. Armando al Panteon was down the block, but our concierge told us that we'd never get in that night. He recommended Ristorante Archimede, about a block away. We walked by Armando, and perhaps should have given it a try (as we saw one empty table near the door), but since we wanted to look at Archimede, we went around the corner, and my husband thought we should try it as it had an active indoor and outdoor scene. They took us right away, but ushered us into a relatively empty back room (I would have preferred the livelier main dining room). We asked to split a glass of the house red, and we both thought it was very good (and very generous). We each ordered an insalata mixta, and though it quite simple (mixed greens, nothing more), it was excellent, we both agreed. My husband ordered pasta with shrimp in olive oil and garlic, and it was delicious. I ordered spaghetti al pomodoro, and thought it was okay (I think it was probably more than okay - my husband tasted it and thought so- nonetheless, I should have asked if they could make up a spaghetti a la marinara, as I like that better). The waiter convinced us to share a rum soaked dessert cake (I can't remember the name) with cream; I would never have ordered it, but he insisted, and yes, it was superb. The decaf expressos that we had capped off the meal; they two were excellent (why can't you get expresso like this in the U.S.? It should be simple, right?) All in all, the meal was a good one.

We will return to Rome in a few days, and I'm excited to try two of your recommendations (we will be there for one more dinner and one lunch). I'm already sad that this trip will end next week. We're going to have to throw some coins into the Trevi Fountain to ensure that we visit again.

Thanks again for the input!

We're back in Rome, this time staying in the Jewish Ghetto, just across the river from Trastevere. Tonight we tried Trattoria da Lucia, recommended by Katherine (on this thread: and we had a delicious meal. The trattoria is very simple, quite small (about ten tables) with a tiny room in the back with a few more tables. The owner and her two daughters serve you. Though we were not the only tourists, the place feels authentic. My husband ordered the anchovies with lemon, and he was a happy camper. We each ordered a mixed salad, which was good, but not out-of-this-world. I had penna all' arrabiata, which was quite good, and my husband had pasta all'amatriciana, which he thoroughly enjoyed (especially as he normally avoids cheese and bacon for health reasons). We had the house wine, which was fine, not remarkable, a chocolate mousee (good), decaf espressos, and a sambuca. Would I recommend this place? Most definitely. The food was good, and it feels like a real Roman trattoria. The bill was exceedingly reasonable, by the way. So, thank you, Katherine for this recommendation!

On our last day in Rome, we planned to get a late lunch before leaving for the airport, but we just weren't hungry for a full meal. (As some of you have noted, those hotel breakfasts tide you over for a while.) We had walked by Enoteca Corsi (recommended by Sandy on this thread), and it looked like it would have been perfect, had we not felt like having a snack, instead of lunch. We decided to share a marinara pizza (no cheese) near our hotel in the Jewish quarter, so that we weren't worried about the timing of getting back to the hotel to collect our luggage and travel to the airport. We sat down at Ba'Ghetto Milky (as the restaurant serves pizza), and we were pleasantly surprised, not by the pizza, which was ok, but by the hummus and falafel, which my husband decided to order at the last minute. OMG, I have NEVER had such delicious hummus or falafel. If you're near the Jewish Ghetto and hungry for a snack, it's worth trying. (Of course, the specialty of the Jewish quarter is fried artichoke, but we weren't particularly interested in trying that.)

Thank you! Such great recommendations.

Babette's near the Spanish Steps. Ask to dine in their garden. Good food. beautiful setting.

Rick

Thank you for sharing your culinary adventures in Rome. This was a great post and I have new ideas for my next trip to Rome.