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Panattoni
Locals know it as l ' obitorio (the morgue) because of its marble tabletops, but thankfully the similarity stops there. This is one of Trastevere's liveliest pizzerias, with paper-thin pizzas, a clattering buzz, grumpy waiters, streetside seating and excellent fried starters (specialities are supplì and baccalà ).
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Paris
Nothing to do with Paris (it's the name of the founder), this is the best place for Roman-Jewish cuisine outside of the Ghetto. Sit under wooden beams and a big metal chandelier, or white-clothed tables on the cobbled square. Outstanding dishes include the carciofi alle giudìa , tempura-crisp fritto misto con baccalà (deep-fried vegetables with salted cod) and, on Tue and Fri, the rare minestra di arzilla ai broccoli (skate soup with broccoli).
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Pizza Florida
You'll spot this takeaway place by the surrounding busy buzz. Run by the friendly Fiori family, it offers delicious slices of pizza with a fantastic range of fresh toppings, such as fontina cheese, bacon and chilli.
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Pizza Ré
Part of a chain, but a good one, this popular pizzeria - handy for Piazza del Popolo - offers Neapolitan-style pizzas, with thick doughy bases and delicious, diverse toppings. The salads are fresh and the antipasti is great - try the fried things or the mozzarella fresca di bufala e prosciutto San Daniele (buffalo mozzarella with San Daniele dry-cured ham). There's a narrow strip of outdoor tables. It's busy so you might have to book or wait.
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Pizzeria al Leoncino
It can be difficult to source a cheap meal in upmarket Tridente, which is why the existence of Leoncino should be celebrated. A boisterous neighbourhood pizzeria with a wood-fired oven, it has two small rooms, a cheerful décor and gruff but efficient waiters who will serve you an excellent Roman-style pizza and ice-cold beer faster than you can say delizioso .
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Pizzeria Amalfi
This neighbourhood pizzeria is so popular that it recently expanded into the next shop. Murals of the Bay of Naples and other Neapolitan vistas set the scene for punters tucking into splendid thick-crust pizzas.
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Pizzeria da Baffetto
Once a meeting point for '60s radicals and now a raucous pizzeria beloved by loud locals and less-loud tourists, Da Baffetto offers the full-on wham-bam Roman pizza experience. To partake, join the queue and wait for the bustling waiters to squeeze you into whatever table space is available. The pizzas are the thin-crust Roman variety, served bubbling hot from the wood-fired oven. Expect to be hurried on your way once you've finished.
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Pizzeria da Vittorio
One of the few pizzerias in this neck of the woods to serve thick-crust Neapolitan-style pizzas, backstreet Vittorio is a consistent crowd-pleaser. The tiny interior is decorated with murals depicting appropriately Neapolitan scenes such an erupting Vesuvius, and heaves with happy eaters. There are also a few outside tables.
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Pizzeria Ivo
One of Trastevere's - if not Rome's - most famous pizzerias, Ivo's is perennially popular. It has been slinging pizzas for some 40 years, and still the hungry come. With the TV on in the corner and the tables full, it's a noisy and vibrant place where the crispy, though not huge, pizzas are made with conventional toppings (exceptions include an unorthodox Gorgonzola and apple combo) and the waiters fit the gruff-and-fast stereotype.
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Pizzeria La Montecarlo
La Montecarlo, another true-Roman pizzeria full of raucous charm, is ideal for sightseers exploring the centro storico (historic centre), but is also crammed with pizza-hungry locals. Expect paper-thin, wood-charred pizzas, paper tablecloths, celebrity photos on the walls, milling queues and supercharged waiters.
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Pizzeria Remo
Not a place for a romantic tête-à-tête, Pizzeria Remo is one of the city's most popular pizzerias, busy with noisy hordes of young Romans. Expect to queue if you arrive after . The pizzas are among the biggest and thinnest in Rome, sizzling with toppings on the crisp, charred base. Place your order by ticking your choices on a sheet of paper slapped down by an overstretched waiter.
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Pommidoro
A much-loved local institution, Pommidoro is a great century-old trattoria, with high star-vaulted ceilings, a huge fireplace and outdoor conservatory seating. It's a focus for local intellectuals, including controversial film director Pier Paolo Pasolini. Celebs still stop by - from Nicole Kidman to Fabio Cappello - but it's an unpretentious place with superb-quality traditional food, specialising in magnificent grilled meat.
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Primo
Slick Primo is new-school Pigneto cool. Start with a spritzer at the bar, then slide in beneath low-slung lamps for adventurous revamps such as fried calamari and artichoke in a limoncello (sweet lemon-scented liqueur) sauce, or vanilla semifreddo (frozen dessert) with Chinese mandarins and balsamic vinegar.
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Récafe
On perhaps the chicest square in Rome (it's overlooked by the new Ara Pacis museum), this is Rome's chicest pizzeria. Take your food outside, or dine inside under twisted globelike chandeliers in an airy wood-floored space. Roman thin-crust pizzas are the name of the game, but it's also a good place for a drink.
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Renato e Luisa
A favourite among vivacious young Romans, this backstreet new-style trattoria is always busy. The cooking is more complex than the norm, with a buttery French twist. Try dishes such as the delicious goat's cheese and honey starter. Service can be haphazard.
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Ripa 12
Whether or not it's true that carpaccio di spigola (very fine slices of marinated raw sea bass) was first served at this graceful, wood-beamed Calabrian restaurant, the seafood here is top-notch. On the menu you'll find a mix of dishes playing on traditional themes - gnocchetti con fagioli e cozze (small gnocchi with beans and mussels), for example - as well as Calabrian specialities such as fiery-hot salami. There are some streetside tables but unless you want your fish smoked by traffic fumes you're better off inside.
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Ristofer
Technically Ristofer is a railway-workers' canteen, but it's open to the public and is cheerily welcoming and completely institutional. Just go through the massive wooden doors, grab a tray and choose whatever looks good on the day. It's not gourmet food, but if you want a cheap, belly-filling meal, at around €7 for a primo, secondo and dolce it's just the ticket.
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Rouge
Local artists, academics and labourers can't get enough of this place, with its kooky caged parrot, op-shop glassware, and soul-glow specials such as spicy lentil soup and pappardelle pasta with liver and truffle cream. It's like a communal retro living room, complete with Portishead tunes.
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Sergio alla Grotte
A flower's throw from the Campo, Sergio's is what a proper Roman trattoria should look like: red-and-white chequered tablecloths, bustling waiters, steaming plates of pasta, and not a frill in sight. A loyal following enjoys classic hearty Roman pastas - cacio e pepe , carbonara, - and large steaks grilled over hot coals. In the summer there are tables outside on the cobbled, ivy-hung lane.
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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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Sora Margherita
Rough-and-ready Sora Margherita started as a cheap kitchen for hungry locals, but word has spread. Expect dog-eat-dog queues; cheap, hearty pasta; Roman and Jewish dishes slapped down on Formica table tops; and a rowdy Roman atmosphere. Service is prompt and you're expected to be likewise. It's closed weekends in summer as, according to the sign, 'tutti al mare' (everyone's at the beach).
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Taverna Angelica
A gorgeous, creative trattoria tucked away at the edge of the Borgo, this has an elegant, gracious interior with huge wicker lampshades and copper-framed pictures. Food is imaginative, with delicate and delicious flavours: Take, for example, tonnarelli with garlic and oil, pachino (a type of cherry tomato) and ricotta. Sunday lunch is a bargain at around €20 or around €25 (two different set menus).
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Taverna dei Quaranta
Off the main tourist track but near the Colosseum, this airy trattoria is run by gentle staff and offers super, simple Roman cooking, with delicious daily pasta specials, great bruschetta and arostocini (beef kebabs). There's some outside seating on the leafy yet busy street.
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Tram Tram
This trendy yet old-fashioned, lace-curtained trattoria is usually filled with San Lorenzo hipsters. It takes its name from the trams that rattle past outside and offers traditional dishes, such as baccalà on Friday, as well as southern specialities such as orecchiette alla Norma (ear-shaped pasta with fried aubergine, tomato, basil and ricotta) and riso cozze patate (rice, mussels and potatoes).
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Trattoria
Walk through the discreet entrance and up the stairs to find yourself in the city's most innovative Sicilian restaurant. It has an excellent reputation for its interpretations of classics such as frittata and pasta alla Norma (with fried aubergine, tomato, basil and ricotta), as well as delicious fried gnocchi with culatello (a kind of prosciutto), all served amid modernist minimalism as well thought-out as the food.
