Teen Birthday in Rome

Hi travelmom, can't give you specific recommendations regarding the best places for a 13 yr old to celebrate her birthday in Italy but in general, try to pick restaurants NOT directly facing tourist areas, like Piazza Navona. As Rick Steves advises, you only need to walk a block or two within the neighborhoods to find where the locals eat. My worst eating experience was dinner the first day I arrived in Rome. Visited Piazza Navona, got conned to sit at an outdoor table by overly aggressive waiters. Side salads and other l'antipasto items were added to my meal without ordering them, and the food was mediocre at best. One of the tell-tale signs is a menu in English. The staff at hotels are a good source for recommendations of where the locals eat. Enjoy your trip !

Hey travelmom, and soon-to-be teenager,
I'm not experienced with this, but how about the idea of celebrating this big birthday with some kind of cooking class where you end by eating the meal you have prepared? For someone who loves good Italian food, I would think that would be a memorable birthday experience. There are various of these experiences in Rome, and if that is interesting to you, I'm sure there are others on this forum who might offer some specific recommendations.

Thanks for posting this! We plan to travel to Italy next summer and celebrate our daughters 13 birthday. She sounds similar to your daughter and we had a place to travel to near Orvieto but we are rethinking that. I look forward to reading what other people say and I will report back what I find out.

A unique restaurant is Alfredo e Ada, just west of Piazza Navona. They have a limited menu, which they tell you orally. Usually 4-6 pastas and 6 secondi. they also have side dishes (contorni) and antipasti but you have to ask about them. It is very casual, with authentic Roman food, nothing fancy, just unique. No desserts, but everyone gets a type of biscotti and wine to dip them in. The family started the restaurant at the end of WWII and it has remained small and inexpensive. It is OK to share dishes too, and we usually eat for about Euro 18.00 per person including wine. You can then go to an excellent gelateria for dessert, Gelateria al Teatro is a short walk away. Look it up on Google maps. One of the best in the city.

If you want a pizza dinner, I love Dar Poeta in Trastevere and La Pratolina in Prati. You must reserve at the latter, and can reserve at D.P. but it is less necessary although you ,might have to wait 1/2 an hour. Great pizza in atmospheric neighborhoods. La Pratolina especially is a place a lot of Romans go.

Thank you Laurel. Sadly, it was three days too late for my daughter's birthday (and after we left Rome) that I saw your post. Alfredo e Ada looks fantastic! It was literally 2 blocks from our vacation rental flat. Bummer!! I will try to remember it if we ever make it back to Rome.

Here are two memorable restaurants we went to -- one on her actual birthday and one the following night. We went to Obika (the one near the parlamento) and had a delicious spread of half a dozen different mozzarella cheeses (my daughter loves it!!) and various accoutrements. The next night we went to Life restaurant and had one of their tasting menus. It was a bit of a splurge, but well worth it. We were seated in a comfortably cool (it was hot and humid outside) beautiful intimate dining room where we enjoyed delicious upscale Italian food -- probably one of the best meals we had on our trip. The service was just the right balance of friendly, helpful, and professional.

For radianhealth, we spent an afternoon in the Borghese Gardens and Park. Both my kids (13 & 10) really enjoyed our time there. We rented bike-mobiles (I don't know what their real name is...2- or 4-passenger pedal cars) and pedaled our way around the park. Frigidarium and Giolitti were our favorite gelato places in Rome. Enjoy!