9 Places Where Locals Love to Eat in Rome

Wondering which places locals love to eat at in Rome? Rome’s culinary tradition is known for its strong and contrasting flavors. This hub of politics, religion, art, and culture has kept its down-to-earth roots when it comes to food. The dishes consist of hearty flavors and humble ingredients such as pork, offal, and Pecorino cheese.

These touchstones of Roman cuisine can be enjoyed in both historic eateries, where recipes are passed down through generations, and avant-garde restaurants where past meets future with organic ingredients on offer. In the trattorias, you can soak up the simple atmosphere of old working-class neighborhoods. Even the finer osterias reflect their humble origins in their menus. Here’s where to find Rome’s best local food.

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1. Osteria da Fortunata

Fine local cuisine at this trattoria

Good for: Couples, Families, Food

Pass Osteria da Fortunata and you’ll likely catch a glimpse of a lady making pasta by hand through the window. To most, it’s an irresistible invitation to enjoy a delicious plate of fettuccine. The trattoria near to Piazza Navona is an ideal spot for when you’re feeling peckish during your visit to the historic center.

Choose a combination of your favorite pasta and sauce once seated, whether it be twisted (strozzapreti), thin ribbons (tagliolini), gnocchi, thick ribbons (sciavatelli), or ravioli. For the sauce, there’s pork and tomato (amatriciana), oxtail (coda alla vaccinara), bacon, and pecorino. Also on the menu is Gricia pasta, a Roman specialty. It derives from a cheese-and-pepper recipe to which shepherds added lard and bacon.

Location: Via del Pellegrino, 11/12, 00186 Rome, Italy

Open: Daily from 11.30 am to 12.30 am

Phone: +39 06 6066 7391

2. Trecca - Roma

A simple eatery serving dishes using carefully selected ingredients

Good for: Food

Trecca - Roma is a local restaurant in the Ostiense district that presents dishes cooked seasonally using quality ingredients purchased directly from the producers. The suppliers are chosen based on their production methods, with small-scale breeders and farmers preferred. It’s a simple, informal eatery, with all the focus on the flavors and authenticity of the ingredients.

For example, there’s a butcher’s pan of chicken entrails and potato, pork belly, or cheek and salad. For dessert, the ricotta and sour cherry tart (crostata di ricotta e visciole) is especially good. Trecca is basically a go-to for authentic and understated Roman cuisine.

Location: Via Alessandro Severo, 220, 00145 Rome, Italy

Open: Monday–Friday from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm and 8 pm to 11 pm, Saturday from 1 pm to 3 pm and 8 pm to 11 pm (closed on Sundays)

Phone: +39 06 8865 0867

3. Ristorante Mamma Angelina

Succulent seafood in an old-Rome setting

Good for: Food, Nightlife

Mamma Angelina in Rome’s African quarter is the place to head to if you’re a seafood fan. At work in the kitchen is chef-owner Angelina herself. Everything is homemade, even the desserts, from the ricotta to the chocolate tarts. It’s an informal restaurant where the menu is spoken aloud and celebration dishes are presented on Sundays.

The wine list reveals a carefully chosen selection, and the staff will help you choose the best to pair with your meal. We especially recommend the cuttlefish and asparagus salad to start with, followed by saffron pasta with prawn and broccoli ragu, and then fresh fish, baked or broiled, for the main course.

Location: Viale Arrigo Boito, 65, 00199 Rome, Italy

Open: Thursday–Tuesday from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm and 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm (closed on Wednesdays)

Phone: +39 06 860 8928

4. Nuovo Mondo

Pizza in a bustling, rustic setting

Good for: Couples, Families, Food

Nuovo Mondo’s pizza is considered some of the best in Rome. The bases are thin and crispy, true to Italian tradition. The ingredients, like the sausage and Pachino tomatoes, are simple and authentic. And it’s all good value for money. All the pizzas are cooked in a wood-fired oven and Nuovo Mondo’s atmosphere is down-to-earth and unpretentious, just like its district and the locals.

If you prefer Roman specialties to pizza, start with the fried house specials (fritti della casa), like zucchini flowers with anchovies and mozzarella, then tube pasta with oxtail sauce (rigatoni al sugo di coda) or a delicious carbonara. Finish with ricotta, pear, or chocolate tart. All the desserts, including the profiteroles, are made onsite.

Location: Via Amerigo Vespucci, 9/12/15, 00153 Rome, Italy

Open: Tuesday–Sunday from 7 pm to 12.30 am (closed on Mondays)

Phone: +39 06 574 6004

5. Il Quagliaro

Tasty local dishes served since 1958

Good for: Food

Il Quagliaro is a restaurant in Rome’s Quarticciolo district that specializes in quail. The restaurant in the city’s eastern suburbs has a history that’s closely connected to quail. When it opened back in the 60s, customers would trade quails they’d hunted in the surrounding countryside for wine. Now the birds are marinated in white vinegar, baked, and served with olives, champignon mushrooms, and Roman bread (chiriola bruschetta).

You can choose your portion size depending on your appetite. If you prefer the classics, the menu includes various local specialties, from pork and tomato (amatriciana) to beans and pork rind (fagioli con le cotiche). The supplis, homemade and freshly fried in extra virgin olive oil for authenticity, make great appetizers.

Location: Largo Mola di Bari, 17, 00171 Rome, Italy

Open: Tuesday–Thursday from 11.30 am to 2.30 pm and 6.30 pm to 11.30 pm, Friday–Saturday 11.30 am to 2.30 pm and 6.30 pm to midnight, Sunday 11.30 am to 3.30 pm, Monday 6.30 pm to 11.30 pm

Phone: +39 06 2521 0875

6. Da Bucatino

Simplicity and tradition in Testaccio

Good for: Couples, Families, Food

Da Bucatino is a simply furnished restaurant, with walls covered in photos depicting the bygone times. The varied menu features classic Roman dishes, as you’d expect in the heart of Testaccio. For your first course, options include pasta and chickpea soup or creamy prawn risotto.

Second courses involve roasted meat, like pork or veal, with potatoes, or pan-fried dishes with stewed rabbit or Roman-style chicken (pollo alla romana). The broiled options include fillet of beef or spring lamb chops. Seafood dishes are also available. The brill, seabream, broiled salted cod, or spicy cod are highly recommended.

Location: Via Luca della Robbia, 84, 00153 Rome, Italy

Open: Tuesday–Sunday from noon to 3 pm and 7 pm to 11.55 pm (closed on Mondays)

Phone: +39 06 574 6886

7. Osteria Fratelli Mori

Lazio cuisine and Roman poetry

Good for: Food

Osteria Fratelli Mori offers good food combined with the owners’ great love of Roman poetry. The restaurant is in Testaccio, a district that’s kept its working-class spirit, whose streets take you back in time to old Rome. The restaurant’s white walls are engraved and annotated with the unpublished compositions of a group of street poets.

Classic dishes include carbonara and boiled meatballs (polpette di bollito), but there’s also pizza, with dough that’s naturally leavened over 48 hours and cooked in a wood-fired oven. Save room for dessert: cakes and tarts are made in-house by mamma Giuliana, while we have papa Ambrogio to thank for his ricotta with candied orange and caramelized pistachio.

Location: Via dei Conciatori, 10, 00154 Rome, Italy

Open: Daily from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm and 7.30 pm to 11 pm

Phone: +39 331 323 4399

8. Matricianella

A Roman restaurant serving local dishes since 1957

Good for: Couples, Food, History

Matricianella is a restaurant located in one of Rome’s most beautiful neighborhoods, between Piazza di Spagna, Ara Pacis, and Montecitorio. The name is a nod to Rome’s timeless culinary classics. There’s a certain dish for every day of the week: salted cod (baccala) on Tuesday and Friday, and tripe on Saturday. To enjoy gnocchi, it’s best to go on a Thursday.

If you like to accompany your dish with a wine that brings out the flavor, Matricianella’s cellar holds almost 1,000 labels. Too many to choose from? Ask one of the restaurant’s sommeliers; they’ll know what to recommend. There are many wines from Lazio on the list, as well as excellent choices from other regions.

Location: Via del Leone, 4, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

Open: Monday–Saturday from 12.30 pm to 3 pm and 7.30 pm to 11 pm (closed on Sundays)

Phone: +39 06 683 2100

9. Flavio al Velavevodetto

The place to go in Rome for carbonara

Good for: Couples, Food, Luxury

At Flavio al Velavevodetto you can choose where to enjoy your meal, whether it’s lunch outside or an atmospheric dinner under the barrel vault ceiling and stone arches. The menu includes Roman classics, like stewed oxtail with vegetables and tomato sauce.

For the first course, remember the restaurant’s chef bears the title of “Carbonara King”, although the other choices are equally tempting, such as gnocchi with sauce and roulades, or fettucine with broad beans, peas, artichokes, bacon, lettuce, and pecorino. You’re also spoilt for choice for dessert: the tiramisu in a glass, wine doughnuts, chocolate fondant, or tart (crostata) are to die for.

Location: Via di Monte Testaccio, 97, 00153 Rome, Italy

Open: Daily from 12.30 pm to 3 pm and 7.30 pm to 11 pm

Phone: +39 06 574 4194

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