Roman cuisine is a reflection of the city itself—layered, deeply rooted in tradition, and full of contrasts. After years of exploring Rome’s culinary landscape, the best meals are shaped as much by history as the hands that prepare them. Family-run trattorias have served the city’s defining dishes for generations: cacio e pepe, carbonara, roasted lamb, and offal-based specialties, many of which trace their origins to Rome’s historic slaughterhouse economy. While these places remain essential, a wave of neo-trattorias constantly reinterprets the classics, and the broader dining scene continues to shift too. The influence of Rome’s immigrant communities and cuisines, from Ethiopian to Venezuelan, is stronger than ever.
Rome in February and March can feel like a damp intermission which pivots quickly toward spring. One day you’re ducking into bars to escape the downpour and the next you’re scanning patios for a table in the sun. If recent years are any indication, high season now revs up well before Holy Week, and by late March the city is already moving at full tilt. This is the narrow stretch to lean into artichokes simmered with the first peas, favas, and lettuce into vignarola, Rome’s definitive spring stew. Blink and you’ll miss it.
Eating and drinking well in Rome isn’t just about knowing where to go; it’s about knowing how to navigate the city’s idiosyncratic dining culture. Travelers often book tables months in advance, making last-minute reservations tough. While online booking is becoming more common, many places still rely on the phone, and it’s best to call at the very start or very end of service, when the staff actually has time to pick up. Plan ahead—but leave some room for spontaneity too.
The dining scene reflects an ever-changing landscape, highlighted by notable updates across the city’s neighborhoods. In San Giovanni, Beppe e I Suoi Formaggi has moved beyond its former Ghetto shop, with a larger space where Beppe Giovale’s selection of Italian and French cheeses shares the table with dishes like tajarin with alpine butter. Near the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius, third-generation family-run Taverna Cestia serves Roman classics, seafood, and wood-fired pizza alongside a thoughtful wine list. In Prati-adjacent Della Vittoria, Vetro pairs natural wines with small plates that borrow freely from Roman and wider European traditions, making it as appealing for dinner as for a drink.
Vetro
Vetro’s sidewalk crowd can look like the cigarette-rolling Olympics, with drinkers claiming improvised seats and lingering over glasses of wine and beer. Inside, high-tops and tables offer a more settled way to explore a menu whose ingredients often speak Roman, while its sensibility ranges across Europe. Gildas and eggs with mayonnaise join tongue with sweet potatoes and piquillo peppers, while baccalà mantecato goes by brandade and comes with marinated zucchini and isot pepper. Order a few snacks and small plates, and suddenly staying for dinner becomes an appealing proposition. Set in a former alimentari on Viale Carso, the bar pairs its neighborhood hangout atmosphere with a thoughtful natural wine selection spanning Italy, Spain, and southern France, including wines served sfuso on tap. The vibe encourages staying outside for people-watching, or claiming a table inside to work through the food menu.
Orma Roma
Colombian chef Roy Caceres is a veteran of Roman fine dining. His landmark, Michelin-starred restaurant, Metamorfosi, didn’t survive the pandemic, but his signature dishes have found a place at Orma, an anagram of Roma, located just a few blocks southeast of the Galleria Borghese. Orma is home to a number of distinct concepts: The bistrot is a power-lunch spot set on a shaded terrace, the cocktail bar specializes in tropical fruit- and herb-forward drinks, and the restaurant offers tasting menus and a la carte dishes that blend Caceres’s Colombian heritage with Italian flavors and ingredients. Fans of the chef’s Uovo 65° Carbonara will find it in the bistrot, while the restaurant serves his renowned lacquered eel with pickled onions. The business lunch serves as a great deal for anyone into fine dining but not keen to linger.
Colline Emiliane
A short walk from the Trevi Fountain, this friendly trattoria has been serving satisfying dishes from Emilia-Romagna, a region in northeastern Italy, since 1931, with current owners taking the helm in 1967. The menu is rich in egg-based house-made pastas like tortelli di zucca and tagliatelle alla bolognese. Diners save room for meaty mains including bollito misto and fried liver. Must-try dishes include tortellini in brodo and the bollito misto.
Armando al Pantheon
Just 100 feet from Rome’s most intact ancient monument, Armando al Pantheon champions local food traditions. For more than five decades, the Gargioli family has been dutifully producing Roman classics like fettuccine con le rigaglie di pollo and coda alla vaccinara. Among the seasonal side dishes, look for puntarelle with anchovy sauce and carciofi alla romana in the cooler months. Dessert features the torta antica Roma, a ricotta and strawberry jam pie, complemented by a lovingly curated wine list. Diners should book online exactly one month ahead to secure a spot.
Moriondo e Gariglio
Moriondo e Gariglio is a time capsule with a cocoa perfume. Founded in Turin by cousins Agostino Moriondo and Francesco Gariglio, former chocolatiers to the Savoy royal household, the chocolate shop followed the court to Rome in the late 19th century and eventually settled on Via del Piè di Marmo, a couple of minutes from the Pantheon. Glass counters hold more than 80 chocolates and bonbons, all made by hand. In autumn, locals stock up on the shop’s cult marrons glacés, while spring brings elaborately engineered Easter eggs. Chocolate production winds down in the warm months, making way for pâte de fruits.
Cesare Al Pellegrino
After Settimio al Pellegrino shuttered in 2022, Leonardo Vignoli and Maria Pia Cicconi resurrected the restaurant. They have retained the institution’s signature tiled floors, midcentury furniture, and infamous doorbell required for customers to gain access. The trattoria near Campo dei Fiori serves a succinct menu, including minestra con broccoli e arzilla and former chef-owner Teresa Zazza’s legendary pan-fried meatballs, best paired with the affordable wine list.
Hosteria Grappolo d’Oro
If Roman restaurants have become known for brusque service, Hosteria Grappolo d’Oro offers affable servers circulating through dining rooms beneath exposed wooden beams, delivering pure versions of cucina romana classics like tonnarelli cacio e pepe and tender roasted suckling lamb. The 36 euro, four-course Roman tasting menu remains one of the city’s best deals.
Forno Campo de’ Fiori
In the southwest corner of one of Rome’s most touristy squares, Forno Campo de’ Fiori bakes sweet and savory Roman specialties like jam tarts and flatbreads. Pizza alla pala is sold in slices by weight, pairing unctuous toppings with crispy bases. An annex across the alley on Vicolo del Gallo stays open during the main bakery’s afternoon break.
Mazzo
Culinary power couple Francesca Barreca and Marco Baccannelli reopened their landmark restaurant Mazzo after a five-year hiatus in a central location in San Lorenzo. The dining room features a massive porthole peering into the brightly lit kitchen. The menu plays with nostalgic forms in dishes like wagon wheel pasta with braised beef and onions, alongside classics like fried tripe with grated pecorino Romano in tomato sauce.
Trattoria Monti
The Camerucci family’s well-loved trattoria is located in the multicultural Esquilino district near Stazione Termini. The cuisine is heavily Marchigiano, featuring game like braised rabbit and roasted duck, meat-filled fried olives, and fresh pasta like the legendary raviolo filled with a runny egg yolk and dressed with butter and sage.
Salumeria Roscioli
Founded in the Historic Center in 2004 by Rome’s premier baking family, Salumeria Roscioli functions as a deli, wine bar, and restaurant. Highlights include cheeses like burrata with semi-dried tomatoes, cured meats, and pasta classics like gricia, cacio e pepe, amatriciana, and carbonara. The wine list is wide-ranging, ending with distilled spirits.
Boccione – Il Forno del Ghetto
For two centuries, Rome’s Jewish community was confined to a walled ghetto along the Tiber River. A historic ghetto-era bakery survives on the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare. The pizza ebraica is a fruit cake studded with nuts, raisins, and candied fruits, while the ricotta and sour cherry tart remains a sought-after specialty alongside cinnamon-heavy amaretti and biscotti.
Mrgda
Via Prenestina has been a hub for Ethiopian and Eritrean community and cuisine in Rome for decades, and Mrgda stands out on this wide avenue at the edge of Pigneto. Diners partake in free-flowing tej, a honey-fermented wine, paired with spiced legumes, aromatic vegetables, braised chicken, and raw beef, scooped up with naturally leavened injera.
Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fà
Routinely named among the best places to drink in Europe, this long-established craft beer pub in Trastevere pours around a dozen draft beers from Italy, the U.S., Belgium, Germany, and the U.K., alongside bottled selections. Street-side tables offer a front-row seat to Trastevere’s lively nightlife.
L’Elementare
L’Elementare features multiple locations around Rome, with the Trastevere outpost standing out for its Roman pizza tonda: thin, crisp, and chewy at the edges. Starters include molten supplì ar telefono, fried bricks of lasagna, and fried parcels of tonnarelli cacio e pepe.
Trapizzino
Trapizzino is a small street food chain based on the concept invented by pizzaiolo Stefano Callegari in 2008, combining triangular tramezzino sandwiches with long-leavened pizza dough. Fillings include oxtail simmered with tomato and celery, chicken cacciatore, and tripe. The Trastevere branch offers table service and a full bar with Lazio wines.
Jerry Thomas Bar Room
The windowless inner sanctum at number 10 on Via del Moro in Trastevere evokes the Orient Express with wooden accents and overhead racks. The menu of bottled classic cocktails, Champagne, and non-alcoholic drinks provides an oasis of refinement in the heart of Rome’s nightlife district, requiring advance reservations.
Latteria Trastevere
Latteria Trastevere is a wine bar and bistro in Rome’s nightlife epicenter focused on natural vino, cheeses, and cured meats from tiny producers across Italy. Sardinian owner Antonio Cossu brings in island specialties like sa fregola with crab and bottles from Barbagia.
Sora Lella
Founded in 1959 by Elena Fabrizi, this trattoria in a medieval tower on the Tiber Island has long been a standard bearer for hearty cucina romana. Run by the third generation, Sora Lella executes traditional dishes with care, accompanied by a wine list highlighting local Lazio labels.
L’Antidoto
L’Antidoto sits on a cobbled Trastevere side street. What started as a natural wine bar in 2020 evolved into a notable dining experience with chef Mirko Pelosi, whose international training informs a menu focused on aged fish, fermented vegetables, and global spices.
Tempio di Iside
A short walk from the Colosseum, Tempio di Iside is an elegant fish restaurant known for crudi, fish carpaccio, sea urchin, langoustines, and oysters. Notable dishes include pasta with sweet red shrimp, cherry tomatoes, and fresh pecorino.
Menabò Vino e Cucina
Located in the Centocelle district, Menabò Vino e Cucina offers Italian regional comfort food, such as rigatoni with oniony braised beef and pasta with chickpeas and mussels, paired with naturally and traditionally made wines.
Forme Dispensa a Ripa
After a career working in Roman gourmet temples like Salumeria Roscioli, Pasquale Borriello opened his small shop in Trastevere in 2022. It features high-top tables to sip natural wine or craft beer alongside artisanal cheeses, cured meats, sandwiches, and obscure marinated vegetables.
Otaleg
Marco Radicioni churns artisanal gelato in Monteverde Vecchio, utilizing all-natural flavors and restrained sweetness. The location also serves specialty coffee and artisanal pastries.
Ruver Teglia Frazionata
A few minutes from the Circo Massimo, Alessandro Ruver runs a tiny laboratorio where pizza in teglia features long-fermented dough that bakes up light, crisp, and topped with ingredients from small farms in central Italy.
Santo Palato
Chef Sarah Cicolini’s neotrattoria in the Appio Latino district serves bold, updated takes on Roman cooking, including tender trippa, chicken gizzard frittata, and carbonara, prepared in a larger kitchen with visible windows into the dining room.
Beppe e I Suoi Formaggi
Cheesemaker Beppe Giovale relocated his shop from the Ghetto to San Giovanni, featuring a refrigerated counter with over 100 raw-milk cheeses, alongside a kitchen serving dishes like tajarin with alpine butter.
Piatto Romano
Located in Testaccio, Piatto Romano focuses on offal classics like rigatoni con la pajata and fettuccine con le rigaglie di pollo, alongside pescatarian options and exceptional vegetable sides.
Mercato Testaccio
The Testaccio neighborhood market offers seasonal produce, meat, fish, and baked goods. Visitors can find takeaway pizza at Da Artenio, offal sandwiches at Mordi e Vai, natural wines at Da Corrado, and pizza by weight at Casa Manco.
Taverna Cestia
Founded in 1967 by Gioacchino Salvi, Taverna Cestia sits across from the pyramid of Gaius Cestius. Run by sommelier Valerio Salvi, the trattoria serves Roman staples alongside seafood, seasonal vegetables, and wood-fired pizzas, paired with small-producer and natural wines.
Mostro
This kiosk at the nexus of the Aventino, Ostiense, and Testaccio districts features specialty coffee in the mornings and transitions into draft cocktails and natural wines in the evenings, offering a casual outdoor gathering space for locals.
Cesare al Casaletto
Leonardo Vignoli and Maria Pia Cicconi operate this straightforward trattoria featuring Roman classics with restrained twists, such as fried gnocchi on cacio e pepe sauce and pasta alla gricia, paired with affordable natural wines.
A Rota Pizzeria Romanesca
Pizzaiolo Sami El Sabawy attracts diners to Torpignattara with thin-crust, wood-fired personal pizzas. Using a low-hydration dough rolled out with a pin, the pizzas offer a shatteringly crisp base supporting traditional and creative toppings.
C’è Pasta e Pasta
Located near Stazione Trastevere, this establishment serves kosher meals to eat in or take away, including Roman Jewish classics like carciofi alla giudia, filetti di baccala, and concia.
Tavernaccia Da Bruno
Opened in 1968, this homey trattoria in southern Trastevere serves a mix of Umbrian and Roman dishes. Run by Persiani’s family, the kitchen offers wood-oven specialties like suckling pig and brisket, paired with organic and natural wines.
Trattoria Pennestri
Located away from central tourist hubs, Trattoria Pennestri grounds its menu in classic Roman cooking with thoughtful twists, such as rigatoni con la pajata brightened with anchovy elixir, complemented by an accessibly priced wine list.
Stecca
Stecca brings Abruzzese mountain flavors to Garbatella, featuring a constantly shifting menu of comforting dishes like rigatoni with meat roll sauce, roasted lamb chops, and chickpea soup, paired with a central Italy-leaning wine list.
Sinosteria
Chef Ge Jing Hua serves regional Chinese cuisines featuring Beijing-style tripe with chile oil and Shandong-inspired squid, complemented by a natural wine list and coffee menu managed by his son Jun.
Trecca – Cucina di Mercato
Brothers Manuel and Nicolò Trecastelli run this neo-trattoria in an informal setting, delivering rigorously seasonal comfort food, offal-forward dishes, carbonara, amatriciana, and a natural wine list.
Ristorante da Michele
Operating in the San Paolo district since 1991, the Pignotta family serves fresh catch from local fish markets in Fiumicino and Anzio, paired with mineral-driven white wines from across Europe.
Pizza Nader
Located in the Roma 70 neighborhood, Pizza Nader is an unassuming shop offering stone-milled flour pizzas, supplì, naturally leavened bread, and a legendary kebab favored by regulars.