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Bruschetteria degli Angeli
A vibrant pub-style place, this unpretentious joint specialises in bruschetta. Thick slabs of toasted bread come with a range of toppings: from the classic tomato, basil and olive oil to courgette flowers and mozzarella, and, in season, truffles. There are also decent pasta dishes and steaks, and a good range of seldom-seen Italian beers. In summer you can sit outside, though the views are nothing special.
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Cacio e Pepe
Romans flock for the home cooking at this humble trattoria, with gingham-clad tables spreading across the pavement in all directions. They'll even put up with freezing winter temperatures to sit outside and dig into great steaming bowls of classics as spaghetti alla carbonara and meatballs, rather than wait to eat in the tiny interior. Dessert is fruit and the coffee's good.
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Café Café
This is a hugely popular gem, the kind of pint-sized wine bar, restaurant and café that everyone needs in their neighbourhood. The changing menu features light stuff such as caprese as well as tastes from elsewhere like hummus and tzatziki. The few outside tables overlook the Colosseum at the end of the street.
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Camponeschi
Elegant, elitist Camponeschi is the place to eavesdrop on Rome's high-level gossip. In a romantic setting on Piazza Farnese, it's a favourite of politicians, diplomats and rich industrialists. Inside it feels like a refined wedding reception, complete with floral decorations. The cuisine is a mix of French and Mediterranean, with game in the hunting season, lobster, black truffles and fish, and a lengthy wine list to satisfy its quaffing clientele.
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Cantina Cantarini
Expect meat in the first half of the week and fish thereafter at this crowded, jovial, salt-of-the-earth centenarian. The plastic-covered menu focuses on the simple, robust flavours of Italy's Lazio and Le Marche regions, delivered by veteran staffer Mario Fattori (on the floor since 1946). Get in early or queue.
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Casa Bleve
While away an afternoon in this stately, column-lined courtyard roofed with stained glass. It's ideal for a romantic or epicurean assignation accompanied by sublime wine and cheeses (mature or deliciously fresh, such as mozzarella and burrata) , cold cuts, carpaccio (thin slices of raw beef) and amazing roulades.
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Casetta di Trastevere
With outside seating on a cobbled Trastevere corner, this characterful trattoria is held in high regard by Italians, who will cheerfully queue for a table, either inside or out. What they're waiting for is no-nonsense hearty fare served in pleasantly large portions. Particularly good is the crema di fave con crostini (broad-bean puree with croutons) and pasta e fagioli (thick borlotti-bean soup). Service can be slow when it's busy.
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Castroni
An Aladdin's cave for gluttonous gourmands, Castroni's seemingly infinite sweep of shelves prop up everything from artichoke pâté and jaw-busting blocks of chocolate to hard-to-find foreigners such as Vegemite and Twinings tea. The bar makes a mean espresso, and you can also sample delights at the nearby Via Ottaviano 55 branch or further afield in Trevi.
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Cecilia Metella
Near the catacombs of San Callisto, the outside seating here is great, set on a low hill under a vine canopy and with glimpses of the jewel-green countryside. Inside resembles a wedding-reception room, but it's attractive, if formal, and the food is good too, including polenta ai porcini (polenta with porcini mushrooms).
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Charly's Sauciere
To recharge between San Giovanni and the Colosseum, try this small Italian-Swiss restaurant, with twee lace curtains, crisp white tablecloths and theatrical deep-red curtains. Choose from a menu that features delectable onion soup, Roquefort salad, different takes on steak and even fondue for two. Wines are mainly French.
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Checchino dal 1887
A pig's whisker from the city's former slaughterhouse, Checchino is a Roman institution, one of the grander restaurants specialising in offal, from calf heads to pig trotters. Run by the fifth generation of the Mariani family, it has risen from humble roots to become one of the city's most vaunted eateries, attracting a well-to-do clientele of local regulars and curious foreigners.
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Checco er Carettiere
Something of a food complex, this is a restaurant, bakery, gelateria and osteria . With a swinging 1950s feel, the restaurant is wood-panelled throughout and terracotta-floored. Roman dishes to savour include saltimbocca alla romana or bombolotti (ridged tube pasta) all'amatriciana . The osteria is a small, appealing place with a few daily specials. The cakes at the café ( - ) are delicious, and the ice cream good too.
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Ciampini
The graceful, traffic-free square of San Lorenzo is an ideal stop for an alfresco coffee, which you'll drink among the well-heeled folk of the neighbourhood. Bring your big sunglasses and little dog. Sitting outside is pricey (cappuccinos around €5 ) so remember it's an investment and settle.
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Città del Gusto
Foodies shouldn't miss a trip to Città del Gusto, a six-storey shrine to gastronomy run by Italy's premier food organisation, Gambero Rosso. Stock up on cookbooks in the bookshop watch top world chefs in action in the culinary 'theatre'; take a cooking course; or get wine savvy at one of the tasting sessions. Show off your newly acquired expertise at the wine bar or in the lip-smacking restaurant, Osteria del Gambero Rosso.
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Colline Emiliane
Splendid food is the name of the game at this warm, elegant trattoria. It flies the flag for Emilia-Romagna, the Italian province that has gifted the world Parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar, bolognese sauce and Parma ham. It's all about cream, veal, homemade pasta and scrumptious pasta fillings such as mashed pumpkin. Magnificent.
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Crab
Set in a converted warehouse, just steps from the Colosseum, upmarket Crab serves obscenely good seafood with a distinctly Sardinian slant. Don't miss the filling taglioni al granchio porro (pasta with juicy tomatoes and wine-soaked crab claws) or the luxe house specialities - Brittany oysters and Catalonian lobster.
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Cul de Sac
A handy address just off Piazza Navona, Cul de Sac is a deservedly popular wine bar with food. The extensive wine list features 1500 international labels, while the menu reveals a French bias: moreish meat pâté, carpaccio , delicious cheese and cured hams. The outdoor tables fill quickly, so you might have to duck into the corridor-narrow interior.
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Da Augusto
As a concession to the modern age, Augusto has printed a menu on laminated plastic. But don't look for other frills at this long-standing, much-loved trattoria. For a truly Roman meal plonk yourself at one of his rickety Formica tables and choose from the selection of traditional starters, pastas and meat dishes. Everything's good - the rigatoni all'amatriciana and stracciatella (clear broth with egg and Parmesan) are
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Da Enzo
With just a few tables, this is a classic Roman family-run trattoria that's been here for around 50 years. The chef used to cook at the parliament, and now feeds the workers from the nearby market. The fresh pasta is divine, the sausage super and the tiramisu feathery light.
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Da Enzo (Trastevere)
A warm-yellow, welcoming, pocket-sized trattoria, open to the street and decorated with pictures of cats. There are a few outside shaded tables. You can start with bruschetta with burrata, and go on to rigatoni cacio e pepe followed by abbacchio al forno (roasted lamb) and other such Roman classics.
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Da Felice
Film director Roberto Benigni has written a poem to this place. It's renowned for its food and the way cantankerous old Felice used to vet his clients. He's retired now but still keeps an occasional beady eye on proceedings. The trattoria has smartened up a lot, and is hidden behind frosted glass. If you make it inside you'll enjoy true Roman fare, great pasta and lots of meat and offal. You might get in trouble if you don't finish your food though.
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Da Francesco
Paper tablecloths, frazzled yet jovial waiters, tables sprawling along the cobbled street, and a menu of pizza, pasta and meat - this is the classic eat-up-and-ship-out joint. Long on character and short on frills, it's popular and fills up quickly, so unless you rock up early you'll have to queue. Pizzas are tasty and typical, beer is on tap and music comes by way of folksy guitar-strumming buskers.
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Da Giggetto
One of the best-known restaurants in the atmospheric Ghetto area, Da Giggetto is a marvellous labyrinth famous for its Roman-Jewish cooking. Particularly good are the fried starters like carciofi alla Giudia and fiore di zucca ; baccalà is another tried-and-tested favourite. Bag an outside table next to the ancient ruins of the Portico d'Ottavia.
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Da Lucia
Eat beneath the fluttering knickers of the neighbourhood at this terrific trattoria, frequented by hungry locals and tourists. 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 capsicum), as well as bountiful antipasti.
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Da Michele
The kosher pizza of Zi'Fenizia was a Ghetto institution, but has now moved to this more central spot, capably catered by pizza chefs Michel and Cinzia. It's without cheese: try the delicious anchovy and endive or marinated courgettes.
