Restaurants

Rome remains one of the world's great capitals for dining, with more diversity today than ever. Although most of the trattorie haven't changed their menus in a quarter of a century (except to raise prices), there's an increasing number of chic, upscale spots with chefs willing to experiment, as well as a growing handful of ethnic spots for those days when you just can't face another plate of pasta. The great thing about Rome is that you don't have to spend a fortune to eat really well.

Most Italian restaurants are either called a trattoria or a ristorante. In theory, there's a difference, but in reality, it's difficult to discern. Traditionally, trattorie are smaller and less formal, but sometimes, in a kind of reverse snobbism, the management will call an elegant place a trattoria. A ristorante is supposed to be more substantial, but often the opposite is true.

It's difficult to compile a list of the best restaurants in a city such as Rome. Everybody -- locals, expatriates, even those who have chalked up only one visit -- has personal favorites and finds. What follows is not a comprehensive list of all the best restaurants of Rome, but simply a running commentary on a number of our favorites. For the most part, we've chosen not to review every deluxe spot known to all big spenders. We've chosen a handful of splurge restaurants where you'll really get what you pay for, and then we've reviewed a large selection of moderately priced and affordable restaurants that will give you a wonderful meal, authentic cuisine, and a lovely experience without breaking the bank.

Roman meals customarily include at least three separate courses: pasta, a main course (usually a meat dish with vegetables or salad), and dessert. Meats, though tasty, are definitely secondary to the pasta dishes, which are generous and filling. The wine is so excellent (especially the white Frascati wine from the nearby Castelli Romani) and affordable that you might want to do as the Romans do and have it with both lunch and dinner.

Practical Tips

For a quick bite, go to a bar. Although bars in Italy do serve alcohol, they function mainly as cafes. Prices have a split personality: Al banco is standing at the bar, while à tavola means sitting at a table, where you'll be waited on and charged two to four times as much. In bars you can find panini sandwiches on various rolls and tramezzini (giant triangles of white-bread sandwiches with the crusts cut off). These run 1.50€ to 3.10€ ($1.80-$3.70) and are traditionally put in a kind of tiny press to flatten and toast them so the crust is crispy and the filling is hot and gooey; unfortunately, microwaves have invaded and are everywhere, turning panini into something resembling a hot, soggy tissue.

Pizza a taglio or pizza rustica indicates a place where you can order pizza by the slice. Pizzerie are casual sit-down restaurants that cook large, round pizzas with very thin crusts in wood-burning ovens. A tavola calda (literally "hot table") serves ready-made hot foods that you can take away or eat at one of the few small tables often available. The food is usually very good. A rosticceria is the same type of place, and you'll see chickens roasting on a spit in the window.

A full-fledged restaurant will go by the name osteria, trattoria, or ristorante. Once upon a time, these terms meant something -- osterie were basic places where you could get a plate of spaghetti and a glass of wine; trattorie were casual places serving full meals of filling peasant fare; and ristoranti were fancier places, with waiters in bow ties, printed menus, wine lists, and hefty prices. Nowadays, fancy restaurants often go by the name of trattoria to cash in on the associated charm factor; trendy spots use osteria to show they're hip; and simple, inexpensive places sometimes tack on ristorante to ennoble themselves.

The pane e coperto (bread and cover) is a 1€ to 5.50€ ($1.20-$6.60) cover charge that you must pay at most restaurants for the mere privilege of sitting at the table. Most Italians eat a leisurely full meal -- appetizer and first and second courses -- at lunch and dinner and will expect you to do the same, or at least a first and second course. To request the bill, ask "Il conto, per favore" (eel con-toh, pehr fah-vohr-ay). A tip of 15% is usually included in the bill these days, but if you're unsure, ask "È incluso il servizio?" (ay een-cloo-soh eel sair-vee-tsoh?).

You'll find at many restaurants, especially larger ones and in cities, a menu turistico (tourist's menu), sometimes called menu del giorno (menu of the day). This set-price menu usually covers all meal incidentals -- including table wine, cover charge, and 15% service charge -- along with a first course (primo) and second course (secondo), but it almost always offers an abbreviated selection of pretty bland dishes: spaghetti in tomato sauce and slices of pork. Sometimes a better choice is a menu à prezzo fisso (fixed-price menu). It usually doesn't include wine, but it sometimes covers the service and coperto, and often offers a wider selection of better dishes, occasionally house specialties, and local foods. Ordering a la carte, however, offers you the best chance for a memorable meal. Even better, forego the menu entirely and put yourself in the hands of your waiter.

The enoteca wine bar is a growing, popular marriage of a wine bar and an osteria, where you can sit and order from a host of local and regional wines by the glass (usually 1.55€-4.50€/$1.85-$5.40) while snacking on finger foods (and usually a number of simple first-course possibilities) that reflect the region's fare. Relaxed and full of ambience and good wine, these are great spots for light and inexpensive lunches -- perfect to educate your palate and recharge your batteries.

Restaurants generally serve lunch between 1 and 3pm, and dinner between about 8 and 10:30pm; at all other times, restaurants are closed. Dinner is taken late in Rome, so although a restaurant might open at 7:30pm, even if you get there at 8pm, you'll often be the only one in the place. A heavier meal is typically eaten at midday, and a lighter one is eaten in the evening. We recommend that you leave a few hours free for dinner and go to a restaurant in a different part of town each night. It's a great way to get a real taste of Rome. Romans think of meals as leisurely affairs, so allow enough time to relax -- do as the Romans do.

The Breakfast of Champions, Then and Now -- Breakfast doesn't have to break your vacation budget, especially if you follow Arthur Frommer's advice, still savvy after 50 years: "Never go to a restaurant for breakfast in Europe. You'll find the same small continental breakfast available elsewhere (bars and cafés) at one-fifth the price.On my own trips to Italy, I usually take the continental breakfast in a bar or café, then stroll over to a market place for fruit and cheese."

Roman Cuisine

Many visitors from North America erroneously think of Italian cuisine as one-dimensional. Of course, everybody's heard of minestrone, spaghetti, chicken cacciatore, and spumoni ice cream. But chefs hardly confine themselves to such a limited repertoire.

Rome's cooking isn't subtle, but its kitchens rival anything that the chefs of Florence or Venice can turn out. The city's chefs borrow -- and sometimes improve on -- the cuisine of other regions. Throughout your Roman holiday you'll encounter such savory treats as zuppa di pesce (a soup or stew of various fish, cooked in white wine and herbs), cannelloni (tube-shape pasta baked with any number of stuffings), riso col gamberi (rice with shrimp, peas, and mushrooms, flavored with white wine and garlic), scampi alla griglia (grilled prawns, one of the best-tasting and most expensive dishes in the city), quaglie con risotto e tartufi (quail with rice and truffles), lepre alla cacciatore (hare flavored with tomato sauce and herbs), zabaglione (a cream made with sugar, egg yolks, and Marsala), gnocchi alla romana (potato-flour dumplings with a sauce made with meat and covered with grated cheese), stracciatella (chicken broth with eggs and grated cheese), abbacchio (baby spring lamb, often roasted over an open fire), saltimbocca alla romana (literally "jump-in-your-mouth" -- thin slices of veal with cheese, ham, and sage), fritta alla romana (a mixed fry that's likely to include everything from brains to artichokes), carciofi alla romana (tender artichokes cooked with mint and garlic, and flavored with white wine), fettuccine all'uovo (egg noodles served with butter and cheese), zuppa di cozze o vongole (a hearty bowl of mussels or clams cooked in broth), fritta di scampi e calamaretti (baby squid and prawns fast-fried), fragoline (wild strawberries, in this case from the Alban Hills), and finocchio (or fennel, a celery-like raw vegetable, the flavor of anisette, often eaten as a dessert and in salads).

Incidentally, except in the south, Italians don't use as much garlic in their food as most visitors seem to believe. Most northern Italian dishes are butter based. Virgin olive oil is preferred in the south. Spaghetti and meatballs is not an Italian dish, although certain restaurants throughout the country have taken to serving it for homesick Americans.

Wines & Other Drinks

Italy is the largest wine-producing country in the world; as far back as 800 B.C., the Etruscans were vintners. It's said that more soil is used in Italy for the cultivation of grapes than for growing food. Many Italian farmers produce wine just for their own consumption or for their relatives. It wasn't until 1965, however, that laws were enacted to guarantee regular consistency in wine making. Wines regulated by the government are labeled DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata). If you see DOCG on a label (the G means garantita), it means even better quality control.

Lazio (Rome's region) is a major wine-producing region of Italy. Many of the local wines come from the Castelli Romani, the hill towns around Rome. Horace and Juvenal sang the praises of Latium wines even in imperial times. These wines, experts agree, are best drunk when they are young, and they are most often white, mellow, and dry (or else demi-sec). There are seven different types, including Falerno (yellowish straw in color) and Cecubo (often served with roast meat). Try also Colli Albani (straw-yellow with amber tints and served with both fish and meat). The golden-yellow wines of Frascati are famous, produced in both a demi-sec and a sweet variety, the latter served with dessert.

Romans drink other libations as well. Their most famous drink is Campari, bright red in color and herb flavored, with a quinine-like bitterness to it. It's customary to serve it with ice cubes and soda.

Beer is also made in Italy and, in general, is lighter than German beer. If you order beer in a Roman bar or restaurant, chances are good that it will be imported unless you specify otherwise, and you'll be charged accordingly. Some famous names in European beer-making now operate plants in Italy, where the brew has been "adjusted" to Italian taste.

High-proof grappa is made from the leftovers after the grapes have been pressed. Many Romans drink this before or after dinner (some put it into their coffee). To an untrained foreign palate, it often seems rough and harsh; some say it's an acquired taste.

Other popular drinks include several liqueurs. Try herb-flavored Strega, or perhaps an almond-flavored Amaretto. One of the best known is Maraschino, taking its name from a type of cherry used in its preparation. Galliano is also herb flavored, and Sambuca (anisette) is made of aniseed and is often served with a "fly" (coffee bean) in it. On a hot day, the true Roman orders a vermouth, Cinzano, with a twist of lemon, ice cubes, and a squirt of soda water.

Inexpensive

Near Campo de'Fiori & The Jewish Ghetto -- Vegetarians looking for monstrous salads (or anyone who just wants a break from heavy meats and starches) can find great food at the neighborhood branch of Insalata Ricca, Largo dei Chiavari 85 (tel. 06-39730387).

Near the Vatican -- The no. 6 branch of Insalata Ricca, the popular chain of salad-and-light-meals restaurants, is across from the Vatican walls at Piazza del Risorgimento 5 (tel. 06-39730387).

A Romantic Picnic in the Borghese Gardens

Our favorite place for a picnic in all of Rome is in the Borghese Gardens, followed by a reserved visit to the Galleria Borghese. Gina, 7A Via San Sebastianello (tel. 06-6780251), has come up with a marvelous idea. This deli will provide you with a hamper complete with thermos, glasses, and linen for a picnic to be enjoyed in the fabled gardens. For 35€ ($42), two persons can enjoy panini (tomato, eggplant, and mozzarella on focaccia) along with a fresh fruit salad, dessert, and coffee.