Restaurants in Rome
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Il Posto Accanto
On pretty Via del Boschetto, this homely, family-run restaurant is small - there are only 25 places - and instantly memorable, lined by harvest-festival displays of fruit and veg. The food is splendid, with homemade ravioli and fish among the house specialities.
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Siciliainbocca
Lemon-yellow and lined in dazzling southern ceramics, this trattoria is sunny in demeanour and colour. It's a great place to sample sumptuous seafood, Sicilian specialities like caponata (browned vegetables, anchovies and capers), and the island's legendary desserts, such as cannoli (fried pastry tubes filled with ricotta) accompanied by pantelleria, the great muscatel. There's another branch in Flaminio (06 324 01 87; Via Flaminia 390; ;Tue-Sun).
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'Gusto
Once a mould-breaking warehouse-style gastronomic complex – all exposed-brickwork and industrial chic – 'Gusto is still buzzing after all these years. It's a great place to sit on the terrace and eat Neapolitan-style pizzas (rather than the upmarket restaurant fare, which receives mixed reports). There's live music on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
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Alfredo e Ada
For a taste of a authentic Roman cooking, head to this much-loved place with its wood panelling and spindly marble- topped tables. It’s distinctly no-frills – the wine list consists of two choices, red or white – but the food, whatever is put in front of you (there’s no menu), is filling and warming, just like your Italian nonna would have cooked it.
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Lo Zozzone
With a few inside tables and a mile-long menu of panini, the affectionally named ‘dirty one’ is a top spot for a cheap lunchtime bite. The filling, delicious panini are made with pizza bianca and combinations of cured meats, cold cuts, cheeses and vegetables.
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Giolitti
This started as a dairy in 1900 and still keeps the hoards happy with succulent sorbets and creamy combinations. Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn swung by in Roman Holiday and it used to deliver marron glacé to Pope John Paul II.
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La Fonte della Salute
It might not be quite the ‘fountain of health’ of the name, but the fruit flavours are so delicious they must surely be good for the soul.
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Da Giggetto
The atmospheric ghetto, rustic interiors, white-jacketed waiters, Roman-Jewish cooking – who needs more? Celebrate all things fried by tucking into the marvellous carciofi alla giudia and follow on with delicious calamari (fried squid). In the warmer months, fight your way to an outside table under the shadow of the ruins of the Portico d’Ottavia.
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Hostaria Costanza
This is old-school Roman dining at its best. In the basement of Pompey's Theatre, Costanza serves up simple and wonderfully cooked food such as a creamy riso con fiori di zucca (risotto with courgette flowers), perfect ravioli di carciofi (ravioli with artichokes) and a simply delicious filetto di manzo al barolo (fillet of beef with barolo wine sauce). Bookings essential.
The waiters are friendly, the house wine is quaffable and the prices are remarkably reasonable.
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La Botticella
On a quiet Trastevere backstreet, La Botticella offers pure Roman cooking, outside under the lines of flapping washing, or inside in the picture-lined salon. Menu stalwarts include tripe and rigatoni alla paiata (pasta with calf’s intestines), but there are less demanding dishes, such as an excellent spaghetti all’amatriciana and fritto alla botticella (deep-fried vegetables).
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Buca di Ripetta
Popular with actors and directors from the district, who know a good thing when they see it, this value-for-money foodie destination offers robust Roman cuisine. Try the zuppa rustica con crostini do pane aromatizzati (country-style soup with rosemary-scented bread) or the matolino do latte al forno alle erbe con patate (baked suckling pork with potatoes) and you’ll be fuelled either for more sightseeing or for a lie down.
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Il Bacaro
Not an easy one to find, this cosy, romantic restaurant is tucked away in a tiny piazza north of the Pantheon. But it’s worth persevering because the food is top notch. Imaginative primi include risottos and soups, while mains feature both fish and meat dishes. Summer seating spills out under a vine-covered pergola. Booking is recommended.
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Da Enzo
This snug dining room with rough yellow walls and lots of character serves up great, seasonally based Roman meals, such as spaghetti with clams and mussels or grilled lamb cutlets. There's a tiny terrace on the quintessential Trastevere cobbled street.
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Matricianella
With its gingham tablecloths and chintzy murals, this popular trattoria is loved for its traditional Roman cuisine. You’ll find all the usual menu stalwarts as well as some great Roman-Jewish dishes. Romans go crazy for the fried antipasti, the artichoke alla giudia (fried, Jewish style) and the meatballs. Booking is essential.
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Sora Lella
You can’t beat the romance of Sora Lella’s setting on the river Tiber’s tiny island. Ring the doorbell to gain entrance to this timeless institution, named after the much-loved Roman TV star (the owner’s mother), and family-run since 1940. The classic Roman menu has some twists, including some wonderful fish dishes – try the standout paccheri con ragù di pesce (giant pasta tubes served with a tomato seafood sauce).
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Babette
You’re in for a feast at Babette’s, which has a chic yet unpretentious brasserie-style interior of exposed brick walls and vintage painted signs. Food is delicious, with a sophisticated, creative, French twist (think tortiglioni with courgette and pistachio pesto), and the wine list is short but super. There’s a daily buffet (€10 Tuesday to Friday, €25 weekends).
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Da Lucia
Eat beneath the fluttering knickers of the neighbourhood at this terrific trattoria, frequented by hungry locals and tourists, and packed with locals for Sunday lunch. On a cobbled backstreet that is classic Trastevere, it serves up a cavalcade of Roman specialities including trippa all romana (tripe with tomato sauce) and pollo con peperoni (chicken with peppers), as well as bountiful antipasti and possibly Rome's best tiramisu. Cash only.
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La Tazza d’Oro
- Rome, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
Head here for caffeine heaven. A busy, stand-up café with burnished 1940s fittings, this has some of the best coffee in the capital. In summer, a cooling must is the speciality, granita di caffè, a crushed-ice, sugared coffee served with a generous dollop of cream top and bottom. If you just want cream on either the top/bottom, ask for solo sopra/sotto.
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Cacio e Pepe
No-nonsense home-style cooking is why Romans flock to this humble trattoria. If you can find a seat at one of the gingham-clad tables spread across the pavement, keep it simple with cacio e pepe – fresh bucatini slicked with buttery cheese and pepper – followed by pollo alla cacciatora (‘hunter’s chicken’).
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Cul de Sac
A popular little wine bar, just off Piazza Navona, with an always busy terrace and narrow, bottle-lined interior. Choose from the encyclopedic wine list and ample menu of Gallic-inspired cold cuts, pates, cheeses and main courses. Book ahead in the evening.
reviewed
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Gelateria della Palma
A warning to parents: don't take kids in here unless you want to spend a lot. Like an ice-cream version of Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, this brightly-coloured gelateria believes in customer choice, offering up to 100 different flavours. The specialities are creamy mousse gelati and the meringata varieties with bits of meringue.
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Donati
Termini district is full of second-rate tourist traps, but this is a straightforward traditional restaurant serving up competent takes on dishes such as fried seafood or spaghetti with mussels and clams. You can eat inside, in the high-ceilinged hasn't-changed-for-years interior, or outside on the cobbled street.
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Gino
Hidden away down a narrow lane close to parliament, Gino’s is perennially packed with gossiping politicians. Join the right honourables for well-executed staples such as rigotoni alla gricia (pasta with cured pig’s cheek) and meatballs, served under hanging garlic and gaudily painted vines. No credit cards.
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Nanà Vini e Cucina
An appealing and simple trattoria, specialising in Neopolitan flavours. Eat in the high-ceilinged interior, under huge brass pipes, overlooking the open kitchen, or outside on the piazzetta. Try la carne tenenera scaloppina Nanà, cooked simply in white wine, and other southern dishes.
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Taverna dei Quaranta
Tasty traditional food, honest prices, near the Colosseum but off the beaten track – there’s a lot to like about this laid-back, airy trattoria. There are no great surprises on the menu but daily specials add variety and all the desserts are homemade – always a good sign.
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