Anyone eaten somewhere fab in Rome?

[bitofabelly]

Looking for somewhere with really good food...will have kids with us...early teen and 10. Any recommendations? No touristy traps...just good honest food!

We found that if you stuck to the touristy areas you got "classic Italian tourist food" - lasagne, pizza etc. But super pricey.

I can't remember names or addresses really but generally just try veering off the tourist track a bit. You'll probably find (as we did) same restaurant, different door, different menu...

We stayed in a hotel next door to the French embassy, and the restaurant opposite was really good. At lunchtime it was full of Italian workers and the buffet looked amazing. We ate elsewhere as well, but this was the best place.

Can't quit remember the names but I found everywhere we went bar one place was great in Rome.

Not v.helpful, sorry!

Have a great time, Rome is my favourite place so far.

Probably not too kid friendly - by uk standards. But everywhere we went in Italy seemed to have kids in it and no one batted an eye.

But we found a great bar off one of the streets near the Trevvi fountain. Served chilled red wine sherry and ham. Yum.

We found most places really good value actually, looking at about €10 for pizza or pasta. Drinks are expensive. Everywhere we went was lovely although my dc were surprised to find out that unless the menu said pizza had tomato on it, then it was tomato sauce free. My daughter had a very bland calzone which was only mozzarella and prosciutto!

Our favourite place was near the colosseum. Sat outside as night fell with a view of the colosseum and ate fantastic pasta. Great memory!

L'Archetto. You can choose three types of pasta for your main (manageable amount); it was delicious. If you google the name the location comes up.

We loved That's Amore after having it recommended to us and we had a 1 year old with us. It's small but so lovely and they couldn't do enough for her. I then recommended it to a friend and they loved it too.

We really liked l'archetto https://www.tripadvisor.com/RestaurantReview-g187791-d777431-Reviews-SpaghetteriaaLArchetto-RomeeLazio.html

Near the Trevi fountain. Really nice pizza and pasta, although this was a few years ago! Nice tables lining the pedestrian street it is down - didn't eat inside. There was a queue each time we went so took that as a good sign!

TBH we struggled to eat well in Rome which was a real shame as I thought it would be amazing. A lot were very average. It might be because we were looking for pizza and pasta places and apparently this isn't traditional Italian in the Rome area, it's more meat dishes etc (or so I've been told - correct me if wrong!!).

MotherVulva great minds !

Two I can recommend- La Buvette (Via Victoria 44) and Sapori Sardi (Via Piemonte 79). Amazing food!

We found a restaurant called Da Olimpio really good, with our young teens on Via degli Avignonesi, reasonably priced too.

Pane e salame

It's about three minutes from the trevi fountain and you may need to que but it's worth it. They do cutting boards and big sandwiches, cheap as chips and absolutely amazing. We went last year and took our 12 year old last week and the food was great - the quality of cheeses and hams and breads that you would pay through the nose for here.

Agree about don't go anywhere with pictures on the menu too!

YES. Amazing family restaurant only just off the beaten tourist track. Full of Italians. Best pizzas and pasta ever. Good prices. Can't remember the name but am off to Google map to try and track it down for you. Lovely with DC who were similar age to yours. Will repost when I find it.

Vineria Il Chianti is excellent, really high quality, and much better than the vast majority of restaurants around the major attractions - it's just round the corner from the Trevi Fountain. Agree with the above that it's actually quite tricky to eat well if you're just hoping to stumble across excellent authentic Italian food - definitely do your research before you head out for a meal.

Yes - my favourite subject

Whereabouts are you staying?

Most important point is to never ever eat at a restaurant on a main piazza looking directly at the big touristy thing - guaranteed overpriced horrid food. We made this mistake twice (steer clear of anywhere on the Piazza Navona) before cottoning on that if you walked round the corner, there would be somewhere much much better.

Around the Campo di Fiori we liked Ditirambo, Grappolo d'oro and Ostaria di Fortunata. I'd especially recommend the last one if you have children as two ladies sit in the window all evening making the pasta which is great to watch.

Elsewhere we liked I Clementini which is opposite San Clemente - which is a great church to visit as it has the 3 underground layers and temple of Mithras.

For a fun and loud experience, I would highly recommend Trattoria Vecchia Roma in Via Ferruccio. You will probably need to book as the place is absolutely heaving with Italians - they do have English menus and English speaking waiters. All the waiters look like they might be extras on the set of Gladiator and the food is typically Roman.

Avocado

Pizza and pasta are totally traditional in Rome! They even have their own style of pizza. It's just there are a bazillion tourists so crap places abound - you have to make a lot of effort to research the good ones I am a total foodie so this is a big part of my planning

Typical food sold everywhere will be pasta carbonara, cacio e pepe, alla gricia, and amatriciana which are basically the 5 main pasta sauces.

Coda all vaccinara - oxtail stew- is also v popular and yummy. If you are feeling up to it then trippa alla Romana - tripe- is also traditional. Vechia Roma helpfully serve this on their set menu with a big portion of something else so you can try it and then give up

Essentially the economy of Rome used to be that all the best bits of meat were taken off to the Vatican/super rich families and everyone else was making do with what's left so traditional recipes are for filling foods that use minimal meat (guanciale from pig cheeks) or the bits of meat leftover like tripe or oxtail.

Anywhere saying things are made 'della casa', especially pasta and desserts will probably be a cut above as they take effort to do and are easily bought from the wholesaler.

I think the place we went to was Li Rioni to Santi Quattro. It looks as I remember and has brilliant reviews for being good value, excellent with kids and lovely food.

We stayed near the colosseum on via capo d'Africa and there were a couple of great value, cheap and cheerful places near there. Our favourite had the interior as if you were surrounded by house and shop fronts. Great pizza but can't remember the name.

It was Li Rioni! Thank you millifiori!

2nd vote for Chianti near the trevi fountain !!! ABSOLUTELY AMAZING

Just googled where we ate that was so good.

It was Al Forno della Soffitta in Via Piave. Nowhere near any of the sights.

we didn't eat well in Rome, but you have to go to Gelateria Fassi on Via Principe Eugenio. Wonderful!