Food in Rome

[rbiemer]

My sister and her husband are soon taking their annual "get the h#ll away from all you people" trip and this year they are going to Rome.
I wonder if any of the folks here can reccomend a good restaraunt? Preferably somewhere that the locals go. Certainly NOT McD's or the like.
One of their joys when they travel is getting away from the tourist spots and checking out the local scene. Mostly they have been going to South and Central America--its pretty inexpensive--but this year is my brother-in-law's 50th bday so they're off to explore his heritage a little.
I am fairly envious but would like to pass on a reccomendation anyway.
Any thoughts?
Thanks, Rob
PS: full credit will be given where due.

 

[Kin Lau]

Go to the section of town known as "Traste Verte" or something like that... I'll check the spelling after I get home. This is the _non_touristy part of town where they will not serve you pizza for lunch. Our tourbook mentioned that this is not a good part of town to look like a tourist, but it is still safe and lots of local colour. My friends from Florence said that they would go to that part of Rome when they'd visit, and considered the food there to be the best of Rome.

Don't pass up walking around old Rome. The section around the Collisium and Forum is closed to auto traffic on Sundays and it's great. My wife and I were walking around well past midnight, and it was fine. BTW, winter traffic is suppose to be horrible, so try to walk or take transit

 

[furcafe]

It's been quite a few years since I visited the Eternal City, but I recall enjoying Orso '80 (via dell'Orso, 33), although it's on the fancier side. I also liked the restaurants in the old Jewish quarter that serve "cucina ebraica," which many consider to be the most authentic Roman cuisine; Al Pompiere (via Santa Maria del Caderari, 38) was 1 I enjoyed. The most famous, but still good, pizza place is Da Baffeto (via del Governo Vecchio, 114) & there's always Giolitti (via Uffici del Vicario, 40) for gelato. IME, it was hard to get really bad food anywhere in Rome except in the super-touristy area near the Vatican. For a good food market experience, I liked checking out the morning market in Campo de' Fiori where my hotel was located.

BTW, I think Kin is referring to Travestevere.


Sigh, all this really makes want me to go back . . .

 

[Kin Lau]

Yes, Travestevere... just checked the album. We were there Aug/01. We want to go back too!

 

[rbiemer]

Thanks guys! Generally they eat one "fancy" mael and the rest of the time its markets and more working class kind of places so these ideas I will pass on.
Rob

 

[taffer]

Heh, thanks for this thread, I'm visiting the very same place in April, and I'm not exactly known for not liking good food 😀

 

[jaapv]

I would say there are about five hundred good restaurants in Rome. Go for the ones with rickety Formica tables, fluorescent lights and Grandma behind the stove !

 

[taffer]

I would say there are about five hundred good restaurants in Rome. Go for the ones with rickety Formica tables, fluorescent lights and Grandma behind the stove !

Thanks for the advice, this same one has never failed me in Spain ! 😀

 

[taffer]

Time for an update. In the end we mostly wandered around. Rome is incredible, and we really liked the fact that you can do almost all your tours (on the in-walls zone) just walking, there's simply so much to see that you always find interesting places on your errands, even if they are not 'so well known', you can end liking them more than the more famous points.

Their pasta, coffee, salads, bread and many more things are directly from another world. For a shocking experience I really recommend the 'Cacio e Pepe', as they say, simplest recipes can be by far the best ones. We found a very nice trattoria and ended going back a couple times, will check for the name since I found it great. Anyway since the budget was limited we went to a near market to prepare our own lunch, a good decision since in general their markets can provide you with almost all you need, and the rest you can get from the cute Salsamenterias (little food stores) around.

The Trastevere zone is really worth visiting, seems to be the most 'popular' and student zone area, a lot of movement there. But it's hard to select something, since every day seems to bring new surprises while you're there.

Arrivederci ! 🙂

Oscar