Where to eat in Rome
Twenty-nine places to eat in eight Rome neighborhoods, from trattorias you book a month ahead to counters where you point and pay. Each comes with the dish to order, how to get a table, the day it's shut, and the date we confirmed it was open.
The short answer
- First night, near the Pantheon
- Armando al Pantheon, booked online the day its 30-day window opens.
- The carbonara
- Roscioli, or Da Enzo al 29 if you'll queue.
- Cacio e pepe
- Felice a Testaccio, tossed at your table.
- Near the Vatican
- Romanè, open from noon to past midnight without a break, or a slice at Bonci Pizzarium.
- Fried artichokes
- Piperno in the Ghetto, when they're in season.
- Quick and cheap
- A trapizzino in Testaccio, or a supplì at Supplì Roma in Trastevere.
- Walk past
- Touts, photo menus and the terraces on the big piazzas. The signs, in full.
How we chose: we started from what Rome's food writers and the kitchens themselves say, kept the places that come up for the right reasons, and confirmed each one open in the first week of October 2026 against its own website, its booking page or a review from this year. No restaurant pays to be here. Only the food tours further down carry partner links.
Every place, at a glance
| Place | Area | What to order | Book | Price | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armando al Pantheon | Centro storico | The fettuccine with chicken giblets when it's on; otherwise the gricia | Online, 30 days out | €€€ | Saturday dinner, Sunday |
| Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina | Centro storico | The carbonara | Online | €€€ | Open every day |
| Hosteria Grappolo d'Oro | Centro storico | Tonnarelli cacio e pepe, or the four-course Roman menu at €36 | Online, 30 days out | €€ | Wednesday lunch |
| Cesare al Pellegrino | Centro storico | Teresa's meatballs, polpette fried in the pan | About 10 days out | €€€ | Wednesday |
| Forno Campo de' Fiori | Centro storico | Pizza bianca with mortadella | Walk in | € | Sunday |
| Piperno | Jewish Ghetto and the Tiber Island | Carciofo alla giudia, the whole fried artichoke, in season | Online or phone | €€€ | Monday; lunch only on Sunday, dinner only Tuesday to Friday |
| Nonna Betta | Jewish Ghetto and the Tiber Island | The concia, fried and marinated courgettes, and the fried starters | Online or phone | €€ | Tuesday |
| Trattoria Sora Lella | Jewish Ghetto and the Tiber Island | Coda alla vaccinara, the oxtail stew | Online or phone | €€€ | Sunday |
| Boccione | Jewish Ghetto and the Tiber Island | Torta di ricotta e visciole, the ricotta and sour-cherry tart | Walk in, early | € | Saturday; closes at 2:30pm on Friday and 5:30pm on Sunday |
| Trattoria Valentino | Monti | Grilled scamorza, in one of its many versions | Phone, or walk in | €€ | Sunday |
| Ai Tre Scalini | Monti | A glass of Lazio wine with the porchetta or the cannelloni | Walk in | €€ | Open every day, about 12:30pm to 1am |
| Trattoria Monti | Esquilino | Tortello al rosso d'uovo, a raviolo with a runny yolk inside | Phone | €€€ | Sunday, Monday |
| Trattoria Da Danilo | Esquilino | Tonnarelli cacio e pepe, finished in a wheel of pecorino at your table | About 10 days out | €€€ | Sunday, Monday lunch |
| Pasticceria Regoli | Esquilino | Maritozzo con la panna, the cream-filled bun | Walk in | € | Tuesday |
| Da Enzo al 29 | Trastevere | The carbonara, or the fried artichoke in season | No bookings: queue | €€ | Sunday |
| La Tavernaccia da Bruno | Trastevere | Maialino, suckling pig from the oven; the Sunday lasagna sells out | Phone or email | €€€ | Wednesday, Thursday |
| Supplì Roma | Trastevere | The classic supplì | Walk in | € | Sunday |
| Otaleg | Trastevere | Pistachio | Walk in | € | Open every day, noon to midnight |
| Felice a Testaccio | Testaccio and Ostiense | Tonnarelli cacio e pepe, tossed at your table | Online only | €€€ | Open every day |
| Piatto Romano | Testaccio and Ostiense | The vegetable side dishes, then rigatoni con la pajata | Online or phone | €€€ | Sunday |
| Trapizzino | Testaccio and Ostiense | A trapizzino of pollo alla cacciatora | Walk in | € | Open every day, about noon to midnight |
| Mordi e Vai | Testaccio and Ostiense | Allesso di scottona, simmered brisket, in a roll | Walk in, mornings | € | Sunday |
| Trattoria Pennestri | Testaccio and Ostiense | Rigatoni con la pajata, or the carbonara | Phone only | €€€ | Monday; dinner only Tuesday to Thursday |
| Romanè | Prati and the Vatican | The carbonara | Phone or online | €€ | Open every day, noon to 12:30am without a break |
| L'Arcangelo | Prati and the Vatican | Gnocchi all'amatriciana, with a supplì to start | Online | €€€ | Sunday; dinner only Monday to Saturday |
| Bonci Pizzarium | Prati and the Vatican | Potato and mozzarella, or tomato and oregano | Walk in, take a ticket | € | Open every day, 11:15am to 10pm |
| Sciascia Caffè 1919 | Prati and the Vatican | Caffè al cioccolato, espresso poured over melted dark chocolate | Walk in | € | Open every day, 7am to 9:30pm |
| Gelateria dei Gracchi | Prati and the Vatican | Whichever fruit flavor is in season | Walk in | € | Open every day, 11:30am to midnight |
| SantoPalato | San Giovanni | Rigatoni alla carbonara | Online | €€€ | Sunday evening |
Price levels are per person for a typical meal without much wine: € under €20, €€ €20 to €40, €€€ €40 to €70, €€€€ over €70. They're our reading of each menu, not a quote.
Where the places are
Centro storico: the Pantheon, Navona and Campo de' Fiori
The most famous tables in Rome, and the worst traps, often on the same street.
Book the trattorias here before you fly. Armando and Grappolo d'Oro release their tables 30 days ahead, and Roscioli works in fixed time slots with a card held. In between, eat standing up: the bakery on Campo de' Fiori sells pizza by weight. Walk past anything with a tout at the door or a photo menu on the piazzas themselves.
-
Armando al Pantheon
€€€Trattoria · Salita de' Crescenzi 31
OrderThe fettuccine with chicken giblets when it's on; otherwise the gricia
The Gargioli family's trattoria beside the Pantheon since 1961, and still a reliable classic if you can get a table.
- Book
- Online only, at armandoalpantheon.it. New dates open at midnight, 30 days ahead, with a card held and a €25 a head no-show fee.
- Closed
- Saturday dinner, Sunday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
-
Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina
€€€Deli and restaurant · Via dei Giubbonari 21
OrderThe carbonara
The Roscioli bakers' deli with tables: the cheeses, the cured meats and the four Roman pastas are the reason to go. Ask for a table upstairs or outside rather than the basement.
- Book
- Online at salumeriaroscioli.com, in fixed time slots with a card held. Cancel by email or pay €20 a head.
- Closed
- Open every day
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
-
Hosteria Grappolo d'Oro
€€Osteria · Piazza della Cancelleria 80
OrderTonnarelli cacio e pepe, or the four-course Roman menu at €36
A Michelin Bib Gourmand with warm service, and its set Roman menu is one of the best deals in the center.
- Book
- Online at hosteriagrappolodoro.it, up to 30 days ahead, for two-hour tables. The outdoor tables are walk-in only.
- Closed
- Wednesday lunch
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
-
Cesare al Pellegrino
€€€Trattoria · Via del Pellegrino 117
OrderTeresa's meatballs, polpette fried in the pan
The couple behind Cesare al Casaletto reopened the old Settimio in 2023, kept its tiles and its meatballs, and pour a cheap, good wine list.
- Book
- Online through its booking page, about ten days ahead, or call 06 6880 1978.
- Closed
- Wednesday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its booking page
-
Forno Campo de' Fiori
€Bakery, pizza by the slice · Campo de' Fiori 22
OrderPizza bianca with mortadella
Slabs of pizza sold by weight on the corner of the market; the mortadella version is one of the best cheap bites in the city.
- Book
- Walk in.
- Closed
- Sunday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
The Jewish Ghetto and the Tiber Island
Roman-Jewish cooking in a few short streets: fried artichokes, fried courgettes and a tart worth queueing for.
The Ghetto is the place for carciofi alla giudia, whole artichokes fried until they open like a flower, when they're in season. Book the sit-down places. The bakery has no sign and no seats, and sells out.
-
Piperno
€€€Restaurant, open since 1860 · Via di Monte de' Cenci 9
OrderCarciofo alla giudia, the whole fried artichoke, in season
The Ghetto's old-guard address for fried artichokes, run by the same two families since 1963.
- Book
- Online through its booking page, or call 06 6880 6629.
- Closed
- Monday; lunch only on Sunday, dinner only Tuesday to Friday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its booking page
-
Nonna Betta
€€Roman-Jewish trattoria · Via del Portico d'Ottavia 16
OrderThe concia, fried and marinated courgettes, and the fried starters
An easy way into Roman-Jewish cooking. Order the fried things; the rest is less consistent.
- Book
- Online through its booking page, or call 06 6880 6263.
- Closed
- Tuesday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its booking page
-
Trattoria Sora Lella
€€€Trattoria · Via di Ponte Quattro Capi 16, Tiber Island
OrderCoda alla vaccinara, the oxtail stew
Founded by the actress and cook Elena Fabrizi on the Tiber Island; the family's third generation has brought the cooking back to form.
- Book
- Online through its booking page, with a card held, or call 06 686 1601. For a sold-out night, call between 8 and 11:30am two days before.
- Closed
- Sunday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its booking page
-
Boccione
€Bakery, no sign · Via del Portico d'Ottavia 1
OrderTorta di ricotta e visciole, the ricotta and sour-cherry tart
A bakery from the ghetto era with no sign over the door; the tart and the pizza ebraica are what the queue is for.
- Book
- Walk in early: the tarts sell out.
- Closed
- Saturday; closes at 2:30pm on Friday and 5:30pm on Sunday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
Monti
An old wine bar and a chalkboard trattoria, ten minutes from the Forum.
Monti is where to eat after the Colosseum without paying for the view. Neither place here works like the famous trattorias: call Valentino, or just turn up at Ai Tre Scalini.
-
Trattoria Valentino
€€Trattoria, under an old Peroni sign · Via del Boschetto 37
OrderGrilled scamorza, in one of its many versions
An old-fashioned chalkboard trattoria known for grilled scamorza and fair prices.
- Book
- Call 06 488 0643, or walk in; waits are usually short.
- Closed
- Sunday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
-
Ai Tre Scalini
€€Wine bar since 1895, with a kitchen · Via Panisperna 251
OrderA glass of Lazio wine with the porchetta or the cannelloni
A vine-covered front and painted wood panels from the early 1900s, and a kitchen that keeps going late.
- Book
- No bookings, and groups over six will struggle.
- Closed
- Open every day, about 12:30pm to 1am
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
Esquilino, by Termini
The least glamorous part of the center, and some of its best-value cooking.
Close to Termini and Santa Maria Maggiore, which makes these useful on the night you arrive. Trattoria Monti and Da Danilo both need a booking; Regoli's maritozzi need only an early start.
-
Trattoria Monti
€€€Trattoria, cooking from the Marche · Via di San Vito 13/A
OrderTortello al rosso d'uovo, a raviolo with a runny yolk inside
The Camerucci family cook the food of the Marche a few minutes from Santa Maria Maggiore. Despite the name, it's in Esquilino.
- Book
- Call 06 446 6573.
- Closed
- Sunday, Monday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
-
Trattoria Da Danilo
€€€Trattoria · Via Petrarca 13
OrderTonnarelli cacio e pepe, finished in a wheel of pecorino at your table
The cacio e pepe is tossed in the cheese wheel in front of you, and the carbonara is well reviewed too. Service can be brisk.
- Book
- Online through its booking page, about ten days ahead, or call 06 7720 0111.
- Closed
- Sunday, Monday lunch
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its booking page
-
Pasticceria Regoli
€Pastry shop since 1916 · Via dello Statuto 60
OrderMaritozzo con la panna, the cream-filled bun
The family pastry shop Romans queue at for maritozzi.
- Book
- Walk in. There's table service at the café next door.
- Closed
- Tuesday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
Trastevere
Rome's busiest eating neighborhood, where the good places hide between the loud ones.
Most of Trastevere's restaurants live off passing crowds. These four don't: Da Enzo, where you queue because it takes no bookings; La Tavernaccia, a longer walk south near Porta Portese; and two counters for a supplì and a gelato on the way between them.
-
Da Enzo al 29
€€Trattoria · Via dei Vascellari 29
OrderThe carbonara, or the fried artichoke in season
A tiny trattoria the Di Felice family have run for about forty years, praised for sticking to tradition and buying well.
- Book
- No bookings. Queue, and at peak times expect it to take an hour or more.
- Closed
- Sunday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
-
La Tavernaccia da Bruno
€€€Trattoria with a wood oven · Via Giovanni da Castel Bolognese 63
OrderMaialino, suckling pig from the oven; the Sunday lasagna sells out
Open since 1968 at the far south end of Trastevere, near Porta Portese. The founder's daughters run it, and the service is unusually kind.
- Book
- Call 06 581 2792, or use the form on its website.
- Closed
- Wednesday, Thursday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
-
Supplì Roma
€Supplì and pizza counter since 1979 · Via di San Francesco a Ripa 137
OrderThe classic supplì
About €2 a supplì. Get those here, and get your pizza somewhere else.
- Book
- Walk in.
- Closed
- Sunday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
-
Otaleg
€Gelateria · Via di San Cosimato 14a
OrderPistachio
Marco Radicioni trained under the gelato maker Claudio Torcè, and his gelato is ranked among Italy's best.
- Book
- Walk in.
- Closed
- Open every day, noon to midnight
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
Testaccio and Ostiense
Where Roman cooking comes from, and where Romans still eat it.
Testaccio was the slaughterhouse district, which is why its trattorias are known for offal and braises. The covered market is lunch on its own. Book Felice and Piatto Romano for dinner, and Pennestri, a few minutes south in Ostiense, by phone.
-
Felice a Testaccio
€€€Trattoria since 1936 · Via Mastro Giorgio 29
OrderTonnarelli cacio e pepe, tossed at your table
Testaccio's best-known trattoria, famous enough now to have branches in Milan and Turin.
- Book
- Online only, through OctoTable. They won't change or cancel a booking by phone, email or social media.
- Closed
- Open every day
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its booking page
-
Piatto Romano
€€€Trattoria · Via Giovanni Battista Bodoni 62
OrderThe vegetable side dishes, then rigatoni con la pajata
Offal classics for the curious, though the vegetables are what people talk about.
- Book
- Online through its booking page, or call 06 6401 4447.
- Closed
- Sunday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
-
Trapizzino
€Street food, the original shop · Via Giovanni Branca 88
OrderA trapizzino of pollo alla cacciatora
Stefano Callegari invented the trapizzino here in 2009: a pocket of pizza dough filled with a Roman braise, for €5 or less.
- Book
- Walk in.
- Closed
- Open every day, about noon to midnight
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
-
Mordi e Vai
€Sandwich stall in the Testaccio market · Mercato di Testaccio, box 15, Via Beniamino Franklin 12/E
OrderAllesso di scottona, simmered brisket, in a roll
The Esposito family fill sandwiches with Roman braises and offal, including dishes that have nearly vanished elsewhere.
- Book
- Walk in. Mornings only, until about 2:30 or 3pm.
- Closed
- Sunday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
-
Trattoria Pennestri
€€€Trattoria in Ostiense · Via Giovanni da Empoli 5
OrderRigatoni con la pajata, or the carbonara
Roman classics with well-judged twists and a cheap list of small-producer wines, near the Gasometer. A Michelin Bib Gourmand.
- Book
- By phone only, on 06 574 2418. Book ahead, especially for weekends.
- Closed
- Monday; dinner only Tuesday to Thursday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
Prati and the Vatican
Proof you can eat well within a short walk of the Vatican Museums.
The streets right by the Vatican are lined with places selling to the museum queues. A few streets toward Cipro metro, or into Prati proper, and it changes: Bonci's slices, Romanè's kitchen that never closes in the afternoon, and L'Arcangelo for a proper dinner.
-
Romanè
€€Trattoria · Via Cipro 106
OrderThe carbonara
Stefano Callegari's generous, plain Lazio cooking by Cipro metro, a short walk from the Vatican Museums. A Michelin Bib Gourmand.
- Book
- Call +39 340 784 5281, or book on its website.
- Closed
- Open every day, noon to 12:30am without a break
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
-
L'Arcangelo
€€€Trattoria · Via Giuseppe Gioachino Belli 59
OrderGnocchi all'amatriciana, with a supplì to start
Arcangelo Dandini's trattoria in Prati, among Gambero Rosso's top-rated in Rome for 2026.
- Book
- Online through its website; for groups over six, call 06 321 0992.
- Closed
- Sunday; dinner only Monday to Saturday
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
-
Bonci Pizzarium
€Pizza by the slice · Via della Meloria 43
OrderPotato and mozzarella, or tomato and oregano
Gabriele Bonci's long-fermented dough made this counter near the Vatican Museums famous.
- Book
- Walk in and take a ticket from the machine; after 3pm is quieter.
- Closed
- Open every day, 11:15am to 10pm
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
-
Sciascia Caffè 1919
€Coffee bar · Via Fabio Massimo 80/A
OrderCaffè al cioccolato, espresso poured over melted dark chocolate
A wood-paneled bar from 1919, and Katie Parla's favorite of Rome's historic coffee bars.
- Book
- Walk in. Standing at the bar costs less than a table.
- Closed
- Open every day, 7am to 9:30pm
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
-
Gelateria dei Gracchi
€Gelateria · Via dei Gracchi 272
OrderWhichever fruit flavor is in season
Gelato built around seasonal fruit, and one of the shops Rome's food writers keep going back to.
- Book
- Walk in.
- Closed
- Open every day, 11:30am to midnight
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: Google Maps
Worth the trip: San Giovanni
One place outside the center that's worth the metro ride.
SantoPalato is the only place on this list outside the old center, south of San Giovanni. Sarah Cicolini's cooking is the reason to make the trip: book online, or try for the walk-in table by the door.
-
SantoPalato
€€€Trattoria · Via Gallia 28
OrderRigatoni alla carbonara
Sarah Cicolini's offal-forward Roman cooking, in bigger premises since 2025, and among Gambero Rosso's top-rated in Rome for 2026.
- Book
- Online through its booking page. A table by the door is kept for walk-ins.
- Closed
- Sunday evening
Confirmed open 4 Oct 2026: its website
What to order, and where
- CarbonaraAt a deli with its own cheese counter
- Cacio e pepeTossed at your table in Testaccio
- GriciaWhen the giblet fettuccine isn't on
- AmatricianaAs gnocchi, in Prati
- Carciofo alla giudiaThe Ghetto's fried artichoke, in season
- Coda alla vaccinaraOxtail stew on the Tiber Island
- SupplìAbout €2 each, from a Trastevere counter open since 1979
- Pizza by the slicePotato and mozzarella, near the Vatican Museums
- TrapizzinoChicken cacciatora in pizza dough, where it was invented
- Pizza bianca with mortadellaSold by weight on the corner of the market
- MaritozzoThe cream bun Romans queue for, near Termini
- Ricotta and sour-cherry tartFrom the Ghetto's unsigned bakery, before it sells out
- GelatoPistachio, in Trastevere
- Caffè al cioccolatoEspresso over melted chocolate, standing at the bar
Food tours and classes worth the money
- Food tour · Trastevere
Trastevere at sunset, with wine
Five stops and more than ten tastings across Trastevere as it fills up for the evening, with six drinks along the way. A good first night: you learn the dishes, then know what to order for the rest of the trip.
WalksDevour · 3.5 hours · 12 people at most · about US$90 to US$150 a person, by date
- Market tour · Testaccio
Taste of Testaccio
The tour that put Testaccio on visitors' maps, fifteen years on: the covered market, a pizza counter, a cheese shop and a trattoria, in the neighborhood where Roman cooking was born.
Eating Europe · 3.5 hours · 12 people at most · €104 a person
- Food tour · Ghetto and Campo de' Fiori
Eternal Rome: the Ghetto, Campo de' Fiori and Trastevere
Fried artichokes in the Jewish Ghetto, the market at Campo de' Fiori, then over the river for pasta. The one to choose if you want the old center's food history in one walk.
Eating Europe · 4 hours · 12 people at most · €109 a person
- Cooking class · Trastevere
Make the pasta yourself
Three hours in a Trastevere kitchen making fresh pasta and the sauces to go with it, then eating it. Rated 4.9 from more than three thousand reviews on the operator's own site.
Devour Tours · 3 hours · 14 people at most · from about US$78 a person
- Market tour · Prati
The Trionfale market, by the Vatican
Rome's biggest covered market, a few minutes from the Vatican Museums, with tastings in the stalls and the streets around them. The one that fits a Vatican morning.
The Roman Food Tour · 4 hours · 12 people at most · €99 a person
- Wine tasting · Campo de' Fiori
A tasting dinner at Rimessa Roscioli
Six wines and ten small plates from the Roscioli family's shop and bakery, then a pasta and dessert. Booked direct with them; there's no partner link and we earn nothing on it.
Rimessa Roscioli · about 2.5 hours · €70 at 5pm, €80 at 8pm
Prices are the operators' own, and change with the date. Once our Viator partnership is live, these cards will show Viator's price and booking link, checked within the hour.
The signs of a place to walk past
We don't name restaurants to avoid. The same few signs give a tourist trap away anywhere in the center.
- Someone at the door selling you a table
Touts work the approaches to Navona, the Pantheon, Trevi and the Colosseum. A good trattoria doesn't need to stop you in the street.
- A menu written for tourists
Photos, flag stickers, five languages, a fixed tourist menu, or dishes from every region of Italy at once.
- Food on display outside
Plates of pasta, pizza or ready-made cocktails set out front are bait, not a sample.
- A table on a famous square
You pay for the view. Coffee at a table can cost double what it costs standing at the bar, and more on the landmark piazzas.
- Anything without a price
Fish sold by weight with no agreed price, water you didn't order, a charge that wasn't on the menu. Agree the price before it's cooked.
- Cream in the carbonara
Or anything called Alfredo. Roman carbonara is egg yolk, pecorino, pepper and guanciale, nothing else.
- Gelato piled into mountains
Fluffy heaps and neon colors mean air and coloring. Good shops keep it flat or covered, and have to show you the ingredients if you ask.
- A famous name on the wrong door
On busy streets, check the name before you sit down. Look-alike neighbors trade on the famous places' names.
What to know before you sit down
Most of what trips visitors up in Rome is timing and the bill. None of it is hard once you know.
- Dinner starts at eightLunch runs from about 12:30 to 2:30, and dinner from about 8, later in summer. Most kitchens close from about 3 until 7. A table at 7 is easy to get; 9 is the busiest hour of the night.
- Book the famous ones, and Sunday lunchPopular trattorias fill a week or more ahead, and some take bookings only online. Sunday lunch is Rome's big family meal. Many neighborhood places close on Sunday evening or all of Monday, and a few for part of August, so check the day before you set out.
- Read the menu before you orderLazio, Rome's region, bans a cover charge, but plenty of places add one anyway, calling it bread or service. Any extra charge has to be on the menu before you order, so look for it there. If the bill says servizio incluso, don't tip.
- Tip small, if at allServers in Italy are paid wages, so a tip isn't expected. Round up, or leave a euro or two each, in cash.
- Water comes in bottlesAsk for naturale or frizzante; an April 2026 court ruling confirmed restaurants don't have to serve tap water. Outside, Rome's 2,500 street fountains run all day: block the spout and drink from the jet.
- Two courses is plentyThe full run is a starter, a pasta, a main with vegetables ordered on the side, dessert and coffee. Nobody expects all of it: a pasta and a side is a normal dinner. Cappuccino is for the morning; after a meal it's an espresso.
- Ask for the billIt won't come until you ask for il conto. Every restaurant has to take cards. At a bar, coffee standing at the counter costs less than at a table.
- Street food, and gelatoSupplì, fried rice with tomato and mozzarella inside, are sold at pizzerias and fry shops. Pizza al taglio is sold by weight: point to the width you want. For gelato, walk past the neon colors piled high above the tub. Real pistachio is a dull green-brown, and the good shops keep it in covered steel tubs.
- Don't picnic on the monumentsEating on the Spanish Steps or sitting down to lunch on a fountain can cost a fine of €160 to €400.
Questions people ask about eating in Rome
Do I need to book restaurants in Rome?
For the places people travel for, yes: a week or more ahead, and some take bookings only online. Sunday lunch books up too. Pizzerias and the places that don't take bookings work on a queue, so arrive early, around 7 or 7:30. Every place on this page says how it takes bookings.
What time do Romans eat dinner?
From about 8, later in summer, and 9 is the busiest hour. Lunch runs from about 12:30 to 2:30. Most kitchens close between about 3 and 7, so plan the afternoon around it.
Is there a cover charge in Rome?
Lazio, Rome's region, bans the coperto, the cover charge you'll meet elsewhere in Italy. Some places charge for bread or service instead. Whatever it's called, it has to be on the menu before you order, so check there first, and ask before you pay if something appears that wasn't.
How much should I tip in Rome?
Nothing is expected, because servers are paid wages. Rounding up, or a euro or two each for good service, is generous by Roman standards. If the bill already says servizio incluso, leave nothing.
Are restaurants in Rome open in August?
Most are now, though some close for a week or two around Ferragosto, 15 August, and many shut that day. Check the place's own site or social pages the day before.
Can I pay by card in Rome?
Yes. Every business in Italy has had to accept cards since 2022. Ask for the bill, il conto; it won't come until you do.
Where do locals eat in Rome?
Testaccio, for a start: it was the slaughterhouse district, and its trattorias and covered market still cook for Romans first. Prati, away from the Vatican queues, and the streets of Monti and Esquilino work the same way. Testaccio, on this page.
What should I order in Rome?
The four Roman pastas, carbonara, cacio e pepe, amatriciana and gricia; then supplì, artichokes when they're in season, and pizza, thin and crisp at a pizzeria or by the slice, al taglio. What to order, and where.