Best Restaurants in Rome, By Neighbourhood (2023)

By popular demand, here are our favourite restaurants in Rome! We’ve been to each several times, ordering widely across the menus. And we list them here in (more or less) increasing order of favouriteness. That said, we have heated debates about which is the very best; think of the last three as tied for first! All are in roughly the same price range, though whether they have a house wine or not will affect prices. We have heard people speaking English, successfully, in all of them. (See too our post on pizza in Rome for pizzerias.)

Trattoria Vecchia Roma

Located on the Esquiline: pizza and pasta in a cavernous but still somehow homey space. Always raucous, always friendly, this place manages to be simultaneously super-touristed and also authentically Italian. And if you are making reservations – which you should, except for weekday lunch – make sure you have the right place. (There are four with similar names; this is the one you want.) You can also queue; if you arrive right when they open for lunch or dinner you will eventually get a seat. Good prices on all dishes, and wine by the carafe. The menu is large. We especially like the pasta here, which is both traditional Roman dishes and a few with a twist (like carbonara with fried artichokes, shown below). Indoor and outdoor seating.

La Buca di Ripetta

We were delighted to find this place near Piazza del Popolo, not far from the Piazza di Spagna (a fairly touristy area). They serve excellent creative pastas and meats (pear and goat cheese ravioli, and seafood pasta, below). Great starters, and everything is beautifully plated. Our only not-favourite thing was a truffle risotto, which didn’t have enough truffles and was therefore a little bland. Adorable interior and well-shaded exterior. This one lands on the more expensive end of our favourite restaurants of Rome list, especially with wine (but they have an impressive wine list).

Da Felice

Testaccio is full of famous restaurants. This is one of the most famous, and our favourite of the lot. It’s very large, and immensely popular. If you are going to have yourself a big plate of traditional Roman pasta, you can’t go wrong having it here (the picture below is half of a serving). They mix the cacio e pepe in front of you, and it’s quite a spectacle! Other traditional dishes, like meatballs, eggplant rollatini, and lamb-that-burns-your-fingers are also winners. Nobody is doing anything wildly different here, but what they do, they do brilliantly.

La Barrique

This little enoteca is in Monti, with an owner who (we think) just barely tolerates us. We don’t mind, though – and we feel like given another decade we could definitely win his heart. In the meantime, we make sure to bring our noisiest friends here (including for a lovely, and rowdy, Easter dinner. The menu changes often, but is always full of interesting stuff, like anchovy pie. They have a nicer and wider selection of vegetables than most Italian restaurants we know, and the food is more or less all farm-to-table. Also a good selection of organ meats. Seating inside and out, and don’t worry about the grumpy.

Osteria del Pegno

We think this is one of the better places near Piazza Navona, a fairly restaurant-y bit of town. We love their pastas, polpette (in lemon sauce!!), fish, and meats. And they offer best bread basket we have found in Rome – so don’t even think about not ordering one! The inside is small, and so is the outside (we once sat at an outside table that had us worried we’d be hit by passing cars). Great, friendly service, and more welcoming to non-Italian speakers than you’d think from the traditional-looking interior and staff. Our favourite dish here might be the rabbit, but there are a lot of other contenders.

Ditta Trinchetti

This adorable little place is in Trastevere, and it’s owned by friends of friends. We’re always surprised (and grateful) not to find this one in guidebooks: it has a small menu that changes regularly, featuring the very freshest ingredients. We’ve been going here for years, and we love their commitment to fresh ingredients, especially vegetables. There’s plenty for meaty types though: great pork and lamb and beef dishes.

Pesci Fritti

Also near the Piazza Navona. And, despite the name, they serve much more than fried fish. (You can’t go wrong with their fried fish platter, though!). But really, only fish: there’s usually one vegetable side or a salad. (Plus desserts; we’re not animals here!.) Within the marine world they run the gamut from tuna to sea urchin and beyond. They have lovely daily specials and a solid main menu. We have eaten here at least once a week, and we bring all of our guests who like fish here. There are probably better fish restaurants in Rome, but we’re willing to bet none of them is as good for the price (on the pricy end of our listings, but worth every Euro.) And they have possibly the nicest, and hardest-working, waiter in Rome.

Trattoriola di Luca

This tiny place is in San Lorenzo, sort of near Sapienza, and not far from Termini. It is our local, and we adore it. It looks like your grandmother’s sitting room, if she was Italian and collected things. Like chatchkes and mismatched plates and glasses. More importantly, we love the food here! The menu seems fairly standard until you look more closely: it’s Italian classics with really interesting twists (like mozarella with guacamole, or salmon with an orange chutney). Fantastic fritti and pastas, but for us the real stars are the secondi, meats and fishes to die for! On the other hand, there’s a lasagna of the day. (Why don’t all restaurants have a lasagna of the day?) It’s hard to find a day when we don’t drool over that too. We are also extraordinarily partial to their desserts.

Ok; we’ve done a lot of eating (a LOT) to bring you our eight favourite restaurants in Rome. We hope you enjoy – let us know if you try any of them!