RMEGuide

The Best Restaurants In Rome

Classic trattorias, fantastic pasta, great coffee, and where to eat like a local.
The Best Restaurants In Rome image

photo credit: Saghar Setareh

Rome is famously chaotic, and a fascinating mix of very old-meets-very-new: you’ll find wifi hotspots at ancient monuments, over 900 churches and nearly as many electric Bird scooters, and an Apple store in the historic Palazzo Marignoli, frescos intact. The Roman food scene reflects this same tangle of ancient and modern. 

Romans, and Italians more generally, are very particular about how they eat. Breakfast is fast and sweet and taken at the bar of a cafe. Lunch really can be the long, multi-course feast that you’ve seen in the movies, especially on weekends, and dinner is late by US standards, with many places not even opening until 8pm. But, there are still places for grabbing an early dinner if you need them.

Use this guide to navigate it all. We also have recommendations for the best pasta and where to eat and catch some sights if you’re trying to squeeze a lot in one day.


CLASSIC ROMAN TRATTORIAS


Pasta

Centro Storico

$$$$Perfect For:Classic EstablishmentDinner with the ParentsLunch
Earn 3x points with your sapphire card

Armando al Pantheon has been serving straightforward classics to loyal regulars and tourists throughout its six decades of family ownership. Come here for simple and excellent Roman food, including fantastic amatriciana made with rigatoni and a sublime spaghetti alla carbonara. You can get a half-portion of pasta if you want to save some room for a second course, like the saltimbocca alla romana or the tripe cooked in tomato with pecorino cheese. Just make sure to book your visit in advance—Armando al Pantheon is closed on Sundays and remains one of the toughest reservations to get last minute.


photo credit: Mary Stuart

Cesare may like an average family-run neighborhood trattoria with unremarkable decor, but the food here is way above average. Located in a residential neighborhood a 20-minute tram ride from Trastevere, this spot’s great for a leisurely Sunday lunch. 

Make the most of the large menu by coming with a group. Start with the rich fried shredded beef called polpette di bollito, fried eggplant croquettes, and gnocchetti fritti with pecorino sauce, followed by one of the pastas (the gricia, carbonara, rigatoni all'amatriciana and oxtail stew are all great). Another strategy: focus on entrees, like the fried lamb chops or braised veal. There’s also an excellent wine list with affordable bottles from traditional and natural producers from Italy, France, and Slovenia.


Giggetto is in the heart of Rome’s Jewish Ghetto. Once a place of poverty and oppression, this vibrant and historic neighborhood is home to the city’s main synagogue, shops, an ancient archaeological site, and fantastic restaurants where you can try Roman Jewish cuisine. (You can also book a walking tour to learn more about the area’s history.)

At Giggetto, start with traditional Roman Jewish appetizers like filetto di baccalà and deep-fried whole artichokes whose leaves become thin and crispy like potato chips. This is not a kosher restaurant, so you can still try the gricia, a pasta sauce with pecorino cheese and crispy chunks of guanciale, or the amatriciana made with the traditional bucatini. In the warmer weather, try to grab a table outside next to fragments of an ancient temple dedicated to Apollo.


Expand your Rome geography by taking the metro four stops from the Colosseum to Trattoria Trecca. There’s a large, lively dining room with simple wooden tables and chairs, a covered patio outside, and a small bar with a view of the kitchen. The menu is tight and traditional—highlights include the amatriciana that’s served with bucatini, the rich and eggy carbonara, and the padellotto regaje e patate. 

Unless you’re with a big group and a bottle of wine makes more sense, go with the sommelier's by-the-glass natural wine suggestions. Note that there are timed seatings here, and they watch the clock carefully. If you go for Saturday lunch, you can stop in at one of four papal basilicas, Saint Paul Outside the Walls.


THE BEST PASTA & PIZZA


Getting a table at Roscioli is about as difficult as remembering when Italians switch from saying “good morning” to “good evening” (it’s around noon, which yes, does feel early). That’s because the wine list is superb and the famous dishes, like their amatriciana and carbonara, burrata with sundried tomatoes, and thinly-sliced mortadella and parmesan, live up to their hype. 

If you don’t mind hearing what the table next to you thought of their Colosseum guide, try for one of the tables that fill up the narrow top floor—there are a few right up against the deli counter that's filled with gorgonzolas and prosciuttos. And if you do mind, aim for the downstairs dining room or the less-chaotic bar in the back.


The Best Pasta In Rome image

RME Guide

The Best Pasta In Rome


Everything in Rome comes with a history lesson, including a meal at Piatto Romano. It’s located in Testaccio, a neighborhood where cucina Romana was basically invented thanks in part to its history of housing what was once the largest slaughterhouse in all of Europe. Come here for a long, mid-week lunch and order the offal, amatriciana, and the great daily specials like crispy artichokes. Dessert is equally old-school: go with the tiramisu or the ricotta visciole and a bitter shot of genziana, a gentian root liqueur made in the mountains of Abruzzo.


You almost certainly know that Italy is famous for its pizza, but what you may not know is that in Rome, full pizza pies (as opposed to slices, called pizza al taglia) are typically eaten at dinner time, not lunch. But if a single slice just won’t do, head to Emma near Campo de' Fiori. The pizza here is soft-crusted Neapolitan-style with toppings like the best buffalo mozzarella from Paestum, tomatoes from the slopes of Vesuvius, prosciutto from Tuscany, and anchovies from Sicily. There’s an excellent wine list, an interesting collection of craft beers, outside seating under umbrellas, and a modern, bright dining room.


Rocco is a classic Roman trattoria with polished terrazzo and starched tablecloths, but it feels a bit more laid back than some of the other similar places in the city (but don’t worry: you can still wear the one nice outfit you packed for your trip and not feel overdressed). Sure, you might see a former president of the Republic or an Oscar-winning director at the next table, but that’s because this is their neighborhood spot. They have a great pasta menu, seafood fresh from Anzio, sides of local bitter greens, and breaded lamb chops. Just note there’s only one dinner seating at 8pm, or sometimes 9pm in the summer.


Trattoria Pennestri is in Ostiense, a modern residential neighborhood outside of Rome’s historic center where you can find more street art and apartment blocks than fountains and cobblestones. The menu includes classics like carbonara, amatriciana, and cacio e pepe, as well as less traditional dishes, like the decidedly un-Roman seared duck breast with different seasonal sauces. For dessert, try the chocolate mousse that’s served with Sardinian pane carasau, rosemary, and sea salt. Come here for lunch to sit on the patio under the umbrellas, or for a candlelight dinner in the cozy dining room.


There are plenty of mediocre places to eat near the Colosseum and Roman Forum, but unlike most of them, you’ll still find some actual locals enjoying a meal here. The menu is a hybrid of Roman, Umbrian, and southern Italian cuisine, and the pasta reflects this mix—the cacio e pepe comes dusted with truffle, the ravioli is stuffed with burrata, and there’s carbonara with fava beans, artichokes, and peas. Look for the seafood specials, as they get all their stuff from the nearby seaside fishing town of Anzio.


WINE BARS WITH GREAT FOOD


Il Goccetto was one of the city’s first wine bars and is now a Roman institution. There are a few tables inside where you can sit under a painted Renaissance ceiling, but most people stand outside on the picturesque Via dei Banchi Vecchi. There’s a varied choice of wines by the glass listed on a chalkboard that ranges from an obscure natural wine from Sicily to bubbles from the Veneto, and you can also buy bottles off the shelves. 

The mixed plate for two moves beyond the usual cured meat and cheeses with small bites like tiny rolls of salmon stuffed with soft robiola cheese, small artichokes preserved in olive oil, and thin slices of rare roast beef. It’s plenty of food for a light dinner or just enough to hold you over until that 9:30pm reservation.


Whether you’re looking to have a very late lunch or an early light dinner, Fafiuchè is the perfect place for apericena, the Italian word that combines aperitivo and cena and means something more than a snack but not quite a full dinner. They serve wines from Piedmont and Pugliese-inspired snacks, plus a few hot dishes like lasagna and the bagna cauda, a warm garlicky anchovy dip with vegetables. If you stay for dessert, order the bruschetta Fafiuchè that takes a slice of toasted bread and tops it with thin shavings of cioccolato cremino, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of sea salt.


Down a small cobblestone-lined alley near Piazza Navona is Ruma, a moody bar that serves natural wine alongside small plates featuring produce and buffalo dairy directly from the owners’ farm. If you’re only here for one thing, the cheese is straight-up phenomenal—from stracchino spooned on crusty bread to burrata that melts like your friend who got a little too emotional at the Sistine Chapel. 

Other hits include buffalo meatloaf with a savory gravy and anything involving fresh vegetables. Sit at one of the tiny wooden tables among the orange glow—of both the lighting and your skin contact wine—and end with a large scoop of velvety gelato. (Buffalo-based, of course.)


You’ll want to come to this natural wine bar located on a quiet street in Trastevere with a friend or two, as they only sell by the bottle. Inside, you’ll find one room with high-top tables and six spots at the bar that look into the kitchen. There’s a chef residency program, so every few months there’s someone new creating a limited menu of creative small plates. Not necessarily Italian, you can expect things like figs wrapped in transparent slices of lardo, a savory foie gras tart, and a deceptively simple brown paper bag of fresh bread and a dish of cultured salted butter. Make a reservation in advance, as walk-in space is limited.


In sightline of the Colosseum, Al vino Al vino is an unassuming neighborhood spot that’s perfect for a pre-dinner glass of wine. The front room is where the charm is, with shelves of wine bottles and ceramic tables painted with grapes and vines. Check out the by-the-glass menu that changes weekly, or settle in with a bottle from their extensive selection that has wines from the Alto Adige to Sardegna. Snack on a bowl of crunchy taralli crackers from Puglia or make a light dinner with their famous caponata, a sweet and sour eggplant stew that comes with very good bread for scooping and a mixed plate of cured meat and cheese.


QUICK EATS


Pizza al taglio is the perfect snack, especially if it comes from this bakery behind the flower sellers in the Campo de' Fiori. Long strips of pizza bianca get topped with tomato sauce or thinly sliced potatoes, or get stuffed with mortadella or zucchini flowers. Take it all to go and eat it while leaning against a fountain in view of a palace that Michelangelo designed in the next piazza over.


The Testaccio market is one of Rome’s best covered markets, and many of the stalls have been in families for generations selling fish, meat, and produce, plus a number of food stalls that serve things like fresh pasta, pizza, and sandwiches.

Head to Casa Manco for pizza rossa that’s spiked with chili and a scattering of parsley and mint, or to Morde e Vai, a sandwich shop that serves up crusty rolls filled with stewed beef, tripe, meatballs, or straccetti. You can also grab one of the eight stools in front of Da Corrado al Banco 18 for a glass of natural wine and pick between their pasta of the day and the meatballs (alternatively, do both). The market is open Monday through Saturday from 7am until 2:30pm, though heads up that not everything is open on Mondays.


This Danish Italian cafe is a popular spot for locals to come in the morning to work, have lunch, or a rare-for-Rome brunch on the weekends. They serve things like pastries, omelets, and salads, natural wine, and daily sandwich and pasta specials. Grab a Danish carnival bun and a spot at the long communal table and practice your Italian with somebody who lives in the neighborhood.


The Best Restaurants In Monti, Rome image

RME Guide

The Best Restaurants In Monti, Rome


When it comes to coffee, the team of baristas at Faro Rome, a third-wave coffee spot near the Villa Borghese, are a serious bunch—they’ll ask you to try your cup without adding any sugar, and the pour over, made with an Aeropress or V60, doesn’t even come with milk. For early risers (which means 8am in Rome), there are savory breakfast plates like eggs, grilled sandwiches, and maritozzi, classic Roman cream-filled pastries.


Otaleg (which yes, is gelato spelled backward) serves all-natural scoops of gelato from a narrow shop that’s located in-between two of Trastevere’s main piazzas. This spot was founded by a former employee of Claudio Torcè, one of Rome’s first of the gourmet wave of gelato makers. Try the Pistacchio al Quadrato paired with a scoop of rich dark chocolate. The fruit flavors change with the season, and are dairy-free.


Chase Sapphire Card Ad

Suggested Reading

The Best Pasta In Rome image

The Best Pasta In Rome

Caravaggios, the Colosseum, and Baroque fountains are great, but admit it, you’re in Rome for the pasta. 

The Best Restaurants In Monti, Rome image

Monti

A famous caponata, cacio e pepe, vegan gelato, and other things we love to eat in one of Rome's best neighborhoods.

How To Eat, Drink, & See (A Lot Of) Rome In A Day image

Coffee, suppli, gelato, pasta, and wine—here’s how to cram it all into one day.

undefined

Coming to London for the first time ever is exciting and intimidating. Let us take some of the pressure off by suggesting where to eat.

Infatuation Logo

Company

2024 © The Infatuation Inc. All Rights Reserved.

FIND PLACES ON OUR APP

Get it on Google PlayDownload on the App Store