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Checchino dal 1887
Via di Monte Testaccio 31
+39 6-57-46318
Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC, V
Price Range: $$$
Cuisine Type: Italian
Founded in 1887, this restaurant specializes in the poor people's food of a hundred years ago. Featuring the quinto quarto (fifth quarter) of the animals: tails and innards. It also serves delicious beef, lamb, and vegetables. Sample some of the meats that make up the essence of Roman cooking. For those queasy about innards, try coda alla vaccinara (stewed oxtail), a popular Roman dish that the owners claim was invented here, and alla cacciatora (braised milk-fed lamb).
Filetti di Baccala
Largo dei Librari 88
+39 6-68-64018
Credit Cards: AllMajor
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: Italian
Even if you never order anything else, you must get the filetti di baccala (fried cod fillets). The locals rave that it is superb.
Fratelli Paladini
Via del Governo Vecchio 28
+39 6-68-61237
Credit Cards: None
Price Range: $
Cuisine Type: Italian, Deli
The natives, who say it is the best one in town, relish this always-crowded sandwich shop. Sandwiches are prepared per order on focaccia just out of the oven (appena sfornata) and your choice of fillings. Try a combination of prosciutto, Brie cheese, and rughetta; or prosciutto and fresh figs. Fratelli Paladini is closed on weekends and in August.
Giardino del Melograno
Vicolo dei Chiodaroli 16/18
+39 6-68-803432
Credit Cards: AE, MC, V
Price Range: $
Cuisine Type: Chinese
This is a highly acclaimed Chinese restaurant in Rome. The extensive menu includes a fine dumpling appetizer; chicken with melon; or the pentola cinese, with shrimp, chicken, and vegetables.
Grappolo d'Oro
Piazza delle Cancelleria 80
+39 6-68-97080
Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC, V
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: Italian
For decades this has been an award-winning favorite with local and foreign residents, one of whom paid homage by writing it up in the New Yorker some years ago. One of the standouts is the pasta all'amatriciana and scallopini any way you can dream of. The alla pescatora (fisherman's spaghetti) and the agnello al forno con patate (roast lamb with potatoes) are also supreme.
Hostaria Nerone
96 Via Terme di Tito
+39 6 47 45207
Credit Cards: AllMajor
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: Italian
Set over the ruins of the Emperor Nero's Golden House, this lovely trattoria stands apart from many others. It consistently offers good home cooking, outdoor tables with a breathtaking view of the Colosseum and the Piranesiesque Baths of Trajan, as well as impeccable service. The larger room features a very delicious antipasto buffet. Tuesday and Friday are traditional fish days in Rome, so try the scampi, split open and grilled, and the swordfish steak. Typical and delicious winter vegetables include broccoli rabe and cabbage sauteed with garlic and hot pepper. Also try the pasta e fagiolo, which is polenta with sausages and spareribs.
Il Convivio
Via Dell'Orso 44
+39 6-68-69432
Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC, V
Price Range: $$$$
Cuisine Type: Italian
The dishes here are more cutting-edge than classic Italian, with some dishes even hinting at multicultural. The great chef, Angelo Troiani, creates both subtle and unusual combinations with superb results. Suggested dishes include rolle di agnello farcito con frittatine alle erbe (lamb roll stuffed with herb fritters) and souffle di crema di mandorle e prugne profumato di arancia (almond and prune souffle perfumed with orange). The wine cellar is considered one of the best in town.
Il Sanpietrino
Piazza Costaguti 15
+39 6-68-806471
Credit Cards: AllMajor
Price Range: $$$
Cuisine Type: Italian
Described as a charmer, this attractive new restaurant in a medieval building serves marvelous food and wine in two intimate dining rooms made merry with colored tiles. Try the following enthralling dishes: mixed fish antipasto and meat trio, pastry baked with cheese fondue and porcini mushrooms, and baked turbot for two in a crust of potatoes with porcini sauce. There are also desserts to weep over.
India House
Via di S. Cecilia 8
+39 6 58 18508
Credit Cards: AllMajor
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: Indian
This is an authentic Indian enclave. The menu includes meat, rice, potatoes, vegetables, bread, and dessert.
L'Eau Vive
Via Monterone 85, near Largo Argentina
+39 6 80 1095
Credit Cards: AllMajor
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: French
This is a very good affordable French restaurant in a lovely setting.
La Bottega del Vino di Anacleto Bleve
Via Santa Maria del Pianto
+39 6-78-80494
Credit Cards: AE, D, MC, V
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: Wine Shop, Deli
This cozy wine shop opens up for lunch. The latest cheeses from the farthest reaches of Italy are offered, as well as a wonderful selection of mixed salads, smoked fish, sliced meats, and soups. You can sample wines by the glass or choose from hundreds of bottles on the shelves.
La Pergola
Via Cadlolo 101
+39 6 35 091
Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC
Price Range: $$$$
Cuisine Type: Mediterranean
With the opulent setting of the Hotel Cavalieri Hilton and perhaps the best view in Rome, La Pergola serves extraordinary creations to dizzying effects. Highlights of Chef Heinz Beck's menu are the cold quail breast stuffed with foie gras; variations of tender pink lamb; and the exquisite roast duck with curly lettuce, mustard-seed sauce, and a scoop of sublime mashed potatoes. The terrine of sweet orange segments with a scoop of caramel gelato is exactly the right ending.
Orso 80
Via Dell'Orso 33
+39 6-68-64904
Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC, V
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: Italian
This lively trattoria is well known for its exceptional antipasto table. Try the homemade egg pasta or the bucatini all'amatriciana (pasta tubes with bacon, tomatoes, and onion, with grated Romano on top). There are also excellent seafood dishes to choose from. A must is the ricotta cake, a genuine Roman specialty.
Piedra del Sol
Vicolo Rosini 6
+39 6-68-73651
Credit Cards: AE, MC, V
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: Mexican
This authentic Mexican restaurant is in a tiny cul-de-sac that offers outdoor dining. Go for their specialty: chimichangas del sol. Margaritas are a must here.
Piperno
Monte dei Cenci 9
+39 6-65-42772
Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC, V
Price Range: $$$
Cuisine Type: Italian
This is an old favorite and the place to go for Rome's ravishing fried whole artichoke. There are three small wood-paneled dining rooms and a handful of tables outdoors. You must also order the fillet of cod and the soup of pasta tubes and chickpeas.
Pizzeria Baffetto
Via del Governo Vecchio 114
+39 6-68-61617
Credit Cards: None
Price Range: $
Cuisine Type: Italian, Pizza
On a cobblestone street not far from the Piazza, this is Rome's best-known pizzeria and a summer favorite for outside dining. It spills over with Romans of every political persuasion (this was once a haunt for 1960s radicals).
Pizzeria Ficini
Via Luca della Robbia 23
+39 6-57-43017
Credit Cards: None
Price Range: $
Cuisine Type: Italian, Pizza
This is a simple pizza place with inexpensive, delicious pizzas and calzones.
Ristorante da Giggetto
Via del Portico d'Ottavio 21-22
+39 6-68-61105
Credit Cards: AllMajor
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: Italian
This is a great value in the heart of the historic Jewish Ghetto. Bauletti alla Giggetto, their signature dish of veal rolls with ham and mushrooms, is deeply delicious. And if you dare, they also serve fried brain with mushrooms.
Sangallo
Vicolo della Vaccarella 11/a
+39 6-68-65549
Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC, V
Price Range: $$$
Cuisine Type: Italian, Seafood
This intimate restaurant, nearby the Pantheon, specializes in first-rate fish dishes such as e scaglie di pecorina (fresh pasta with cherry tomatoes, shrimp, and scales of pecorino cheese), and spigola in crosta di sale (sea bass baked in a salt crust), among others.
Surya Mahal
Piazza Trilussa 50
+39 6 58 4554
Credit Cards: AllMajor
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: Indian
Surya Mahal serves both vegetarian and meat specialties.
Trattoria da Bucantino
Via Luca della Robbia 84/86
+39 6-57-46886
Credit Cards: AllMajor
Price Range: $$
Cuisine Type: Italian
This cozy trattoria is a favorite among locals. The bucatini all'amatriciana (pasta tubes with bacon, tomatoes, and onion, with grated Romano on top) is second to none. The coda alla vaccinara (stewed oxtail) is excellent here also.
