Last minute tips for Rome - especially restaurants please!

[Rifling]

Hello everyone. We are about to go to Rome and I haven't planned anything. I also haven't been for a while and would love your restaurant tips or anything else! Should have booked the colosseum but too late now....

Just eat gelato.

Wander through the villa borghese to the Pariolli area for lovely bars and restaurants.

Not been here for 5 years so not sure what the food is like but worth popping in here at least for a drink
www.canovatadolini.com/

My recommendations are Pane e Salame, Piccolo Arancio and La Tavernetta 29.
Always carry cash. Things might have changed since Covid, but I’ve always found that some of the smaller places don’t process cards.
Dinner starts late, so if you want an atmosphere, aim to eat at 8-9pm.

We went in Aug 2020 and it was so quiet because there were still so many travel restrictions. Places we loved for food were Piccolo Buco near Trevi Fountain. It's tiny so gets very busy.

maps.apple.com/?address=Via%20del%20Lavatore%2091,%2000187%20Rome,%20Italy&auid=7297742586048129544&ll=41.901312,12.484635&lsp=9902&q=Piccolo%20Buco&_ext=CjIKBQgEEJABCgQIBRADCgQIBhAUCgQIChAACgQIUhABCgQIVRANCgQIWRABCgUIpAEQARImKTr4LjvL8kRAMSdEzJgT9ShAObjNVJfx80RAQac+KYxB+yhAUAQ%3D&t=m

And Babingtons Tea Rooms for brunch at the bottom of the Spanish steps:

maps.apple.com/?address=Piazza%20di%20Spagna%2023,%2000187%20Rome,%20Italy&auid=1398567054993291216&ll=41.906042,12.482344&lsp=9902&q=Babington's%20Tea%20Room&_ext=CjIKBQgEEJABCgQIBRADCgQIBhAUCgQIChAACgQIUhABCgQIVRAPCgQIWRACCgUIpAEQARImKSH7xQJm80RAMclO/8je8yhAOZ/Q616M9ERAQXdaUtoM+ihAUAQ%3D&t=m

Obviously just wondering around there are loads of lovely places, we didn't have a bad meal.

Kids loved Vatican museums with an audio guide when we got a rainy day. And since we were there for a week and it was mostly baking hot we got a bus out to Hydromania water park and a train to Santa Marinella for a change of scenery in and amongst covering all the usual tourist spots.

Da Francesco (hidden away behind Piazza Navonna!) - not fancy but lovely local Italian (the locals queue to get into in the early evening - but usually easier to walk-in for table for lunch).

Cacio y Pepe (Via Giuseppe Avenzza)

There’s a good place up the hill (not far from the cannons but can’t remember either the name or address - sorry!)

Enjoy - I love Rome!

Oh @endoflevelbaddy we always visit Santa Marinella too. Quite a few nice restaurants there as I recall!

Thanks - will look these up.

Where are you staying?
Arlu at the back of the Vatican gets a really high score on TripAdvisor. We ate there twice. Was in Rome last summer and eating out was almost embarrassingly cheap everywhere. Had the best ravioli of my life just down a side street from the Pantheon.
The Colosseum will be closed anyway later this week as they will do the Stations of the Cross vigil there on Friday night. Probably closed to the public all day I imagine. It's Easter week obvs so there will be lots of religious things going on. All the churches will be holding a feet washing mass on Thursday night which is then followed by a dimming of the lights and veiling of the cross until Sunday. Many also have "sepolcri" which is a special altar made up just got Easter. Tradition has it that you visit several on Thursday night so churches will be thronged. Whether you're religious or not it's fascinating.

Arlu looks amazing! We are staying near the Trevi fountain. Piccolo Buco is near where we are staying so might try that. Babingtons looks great but soooo expensive! Getting excited now.

Used to live by the Pantheon. Macheroni via delle copelle/plazza copelle is fabulous, very reasonable and amazing food. 2 min from Pantheon, beautiful. Not touristy.

You'll need to drop them an email to book as is popular.

Thank you everyone for all your tips! We had a great time despite the crowds.
@Fivemoreminutes1 We went to Pane e Salame - twice! Great tip. We couldn[t get into Piccolo Arancio.
@endoflevelbaddy Piccolo Buco was very popular - huge queues so we gave it a miss but might try another time if we go in low season
@ElaineMarieBenes Da Francesco looked great but again we couldn[t get in.
@PAFMO I read your post then promptly forgot and went to the Forum on Friday at lunch - just as it was closing! Got in the next day though.
@adriftabroad We went to Maccheroni - thanks for the tip. The food was great but unfortunately they only had space left in the basement. Lesson learnt! Next time we will book a bit more in advance.
Other places I can recommend:
Il Corsaro - for fish
Hostaria Romana (Via Rasella) - couldn[t actually get in but it looked lovely!

Thanks again everyone.

Glad you had a good time!