Trastevere

Of course you can. Lots of restaurants in Rome don’t even take reservations. If you dine early as most Americans do, restaurants will be empty. Romans go to restaurants after 9pm

Great! Thank you. I got caught up in reading reviews that said people were turned away or had to wait a long time for a table.

In May 2015 I had a lot of trouble finding a place to be seated in Trastevere one evening even though I was quite early. It might have been around 7 PM. Folks on this forum have pointed out that Italian restaurants often don't expect to have two seatings, so if every table in the place is booked for 8, 8:30 or 9 PM, you will not get to eat no matter how early you show up. My experience in Rome is limited, so I'm just passing on the explanation (post-trip) I encountered here.

Of course you can. Lots of restaurants in Rome don’t even take
reservations. If you dine early as most Americans do, restaurants will
be empty. Romans go to restaurants after 9pm

We've never made a reservation in Rome as we DO eat early. You won't be successful everywhere but it's not like you won't be able to find a seat at the opening hour SOMEWHERE with decent food. Just avoid the places with the hawkers outside trying to get you inside.

We stayed in Trastevere in October. In our experience, if you have your heart set on a spot, Get A Reservation!!!!

There were a few places that were recommended to us that we tried to get into without reservations, but couldn't. After being turned away by those spots, we wandered a bit until we found other places where we had some wonderful meals.

We stayed in Trastevere in October. In our experience, if you have
your heart set on a spot, Get A Reservation!!!!

Agreed. Many places are quite tiny, and if it's a chosen spot, why not make a phone call? In that vicinity, I like Dar Poeta for pizza and roasted vegetables in a cool setting. Or walk across the Tiber near Campo de' Fiori to a place we found in 2017 by wandering around as you say, Elle Effe. Specializes in Sicilian cuisine--caponata and non-cheese Sicilian pizza are tremendous.

Good grief....it's Rome. There are restaurants everywhere...there is absolutely no need for a reservation to eat a good meal. If you want to eat somewhere very specific and at a specific time, yes, a reservation is a must.. and there are places in Trastevere that are well worth planning ahead for... But, if you wander the area and see a place that you would like to try, odds are you will be able to get a table..maybe not the best one but many places will seat you if they can. As has been noted, the earlier you go the easier it is to get seated. Trastevere attracts lot's of hungry tourists....most of them are wandering around without reservations and looking for a meal...join in, wander and you'll find a place to eat.
You can also cross the Tiber and find many more choices in the Ghetto area. You will not starve in Rome.

As someone else mentioned, avoid the places that have someone outside hawking! We like to eat early (6:30-7 ish) so we would show up and ask if we could. Usuaally no problem since they figured we would be long gone by the time the 8 or 9pm reservations showed up. We noticed many tourists doing the same thing.
I love Trastevere, we stayed there and ate mostly there, too.

Thanks everyone. I think we will take our chances and see what we find.