Rome is a city that made its way into my heart (and stomach) many years ago. It is also a city that I envision returning to repeatedly for the rest of my life. We designed this visit to be a little more food oriented since it was our honeymoon and we weren’t focused on squeezing in as many sites as possible. I’m really happy we took this approach and I still think about some of the meals we shared to this day. Here are some of our favorites:
*Click on the restaurant name to be directed to their Yelp page
We stumbled upon this place when the original restaurant we intended to eat at was closed that day. The space wasn’t big and there was quite a long wait outside. We weren’t in a rush so we decided to take a chance and join the line. We waited about 45 minutes, however, I feel the wait might’ve been even longer had it not been raining that day. Once we were seated, we weren’t rushed at all. I believe this place is worth the stop if you don’t have an agenda and want to enjoy some excellent sandwiches and wine.
We visited this restaurant the most even though we were staying clear across town in the Testaccio neighborhood of Rome. We found out about this restaurant on Anthony Bourdain’s show, “The Layover”. As a matter of fact, the following three places were mentioned on that same episode. Cacio e pepe closes in the middle of the day so make sure to look up their hours before visiting. Trust me, it’s worth the “trouble”. During one of our dinners there, it started to rain and patrons sitting outside simply took their food with them under an awning and continued to eat while the storm passed over. I make no apologies for ordering the same two dishes each time I ate there; carbonara and the restaurant’s namesake, cacio e pepe. I’d like to think I’d be going to Rome much more often if I lived on the east coast of the United States just to eat here!
My husband is the meat lover between the two of us so he was very eager to have a meal at I Porchettoni a San Lorenzo. We had to navigate our way through the city on the bus but we were determined to find it. The staff was incredibly nice and accommodating once we arrived. We didn’t realize they were about to close before the dinner rush but they served us anyway and allowed us to enjoy our meal which was incredibly nice of them! I’m a self proclaimed bread lover but even I thought the meat here was exceptionally delicious.
This particular day Brad and I decided to enjoy a picnic on our patio. We walked to a small deli around the corner from our Airbnb where the butcher was very friendly and helped us pick out fresh meats, cheeses and olive oil. It was a much needed evening away from sightseeing. Coming across this spot turned out to be a happy accident as Bourdain fans. We had forgotten Volpetti was also featured on Rome episode of The Layover but we didn’t realize it until we returned home and rewatched the episode!
This was another featured spot on The Layover that Brad and I wanted to visit. Since we didn’t have an itinerary to follow that morning, we were more than ok to explore a spot away from the tourist areas.
This pizza place was recommended to us by our Airbnb hosts which happened to be next door to us! We were told to order our food in the early evening before the local dinner rush. It was perfect for a lazy night in!
We didn’t eat out for every meal. We did quite a bit of grocery shopping and made our own breakfast almost every day during our time in Rome. Unfortunately, we did lose track of all the different places we snacked and ate gelato but trust me, we had it at least twice a day everyday! I’m already looking forward to my next meal in the eternal city. Hopefully much sooner than later!
The East L.A. Traveler 