Jewish Roman Cuisine is a thing…read more The largest concentration of Jewish Roman restaurants is near the Main Synagogue in the former Jewish Ghetto. Via del Portico d'Ottavia has a whole string of such restaurants with Nonna Betta being the most famous. Frankly, I would rather take my chances with one of its competitors. BUT ... The codfish and chickpea soup is a destination dish. So there is good stuff to be had if you are careful in making your selection. * * * Jewish restaurants come in two versions - milk and meat. Kosher laws prevent both foods from being served at the same meal or cooked in the same utensils. Managing both in one restaurant is possible - but concentrating on milk or meat is vastly easier for the kitchen. Nonna Betta is a meat establishment. There are dairy restaurants on Via del Portico d'Ottavio as well. The two distinctive Roman Jewish dishes are Jewish artichokes (which are parve - neither milk nor meat - and can appear in either kind of restaurant) and fried organ meats. The liver and tripe and brains are meat (no duh). * * * Jewish artichokes are deep fried whole artichokes without the top halves of the leaves but with the stalk attached at the bottom. They are one of the best fried vegetable dishes you can get. Lots and lots of Roman restaurants serve Jewish artichokes - not just Jewish restaurants. Jewish artichokes are never bad. But Nonna Betta's version is nothing special. If you want Jewish artichokes to die for, Go to Piccolo Abruzzo, a Roman-Abruzzese restaurant in the Ludovisi neighborhood. Those have all that wonderful fried goodness - but they taste overwhelmingly like artichoke. Nonna Betta's version just tastes like fried batter. * * * Nonna Betta's fried organ meats are especially weak. Western Europeans generally blanch organ meats to give them a milder taste. (Caucasus cooks just take the organs as they are, grill them up and enjoy life.) Nonna Betta's blanches and blanches and blanches and blanches until there is practically no organ meat taste left. Like the artichokes, you get the taste of batter but nothing else. My brains might have just as well been tofu. Or white bread. * * * Move away from the fryer and Nonna Betta's stock goes way up. In particular, I have to give a major major shout out for their codfish and chickpea soup. The codfish is STRONG (unlike nearly every other ingredient we ordered.) It pairs with the chickpeas magnificently. We had had that soup a few times in other Roman restaurants. Nonna Betta's version is the one you want. I was going to be grumpy and leave a three star rating. But it would have been morally offensive to a) the God of the Old Testament, b) the God of Gastronomy and c) the God of Yelp who strikes down all sinners who leave unfair reviews, If I had not given a blue ribbon and a gold cup to Nonna Betta's For one really remarkable soup. Hats off to the kitchen for that one. * * * If you are filling out a meal beyond soup, You are taking your chances. Still, a lot of the menu is Roman-Roman, rather than Roman-Jewish. Some of those dishes might be pretty good.

Nonna betta was absolutely amazing. We sat outside and it was quite nice. In the Jewish ghetto and…read morekosher, easily the best food I had there. Service was great and quick enough. The pasta though was supreme!! Amazing flavors and textures. 10/10 wouldn't change a thing.

It has been a long day for me, Ricky Sausage, and my sister, Sally Sausage. We have scoured the…read moreVatican looking for clues to where the Declaration of Independence is hidden. We both believe the film "National Treasure" is a prophecy but all of the clues actually reside in the Vatican. Do you believe that too? After collecting sufficient evidence and finding the next clue for the location of the artifact, we were hungry! What better place to eat than 433? We arrived around 9 and the outside patio was packed. An amplified violin player wandered the tables. We didn't mind sitting inside, so we were seated immediately. Less immediate was actually getting service, which took around 15 minutes. Which is fine! Lest we be the Americans in a Rush. As we waited, our eyes scanned the restaurant for additional clues to the whereabouts of historic artifacts. Sally scanned the walls in a trance. Among the art, she appreciates "...the naked butt and Walter White and the queer table. From far away, it looks like the logo says 'a**'." Our waiter takes our order and returns with our drinks, lickety split. Sally remarks on her Prosecco, "tastes like 'a**'. I can't say I know what that tastes like, but I can 'a**'-ume. The bubbles are full of 'a**'." I ordered the Negroni. It was standard fare. The only unique element was that it came with a lot of ice. I enjoyed it! The food comes out equally quick. We begin with the Caesar salad. Sally munches and crunches and says, "Dare I say the best I've ever had..? A lady finger crouton tastes like a lady. The finger! In circle form..." The dressing on the salad is a delight, light and flavorful. Next up is the beef fillet. Sally chews and says, "Blood in my mouth... So good, so blood... Feels like I'm eating red 'a**'." I agree! Finally, we have the Tonnarelli Con Pomodorini, Basilico E Scaglie Di Parmigiano. Sally notes, "Very thick hot noodles... Tastes fresh like the pope on a Tuesday - red-hot like pizza supper! The noodles are thicc but it matches the theme of the restaurant. Feels like I'm eating 'a**'!" We round out our meal by enjoying a glass of the house red. "Tastes like swirly 'a**'. I thought it was blood from the steak... TURNS OUT, It was from a grape. And you know what kind of grape? The 'a**' grape..... Grape from an 'a**'..... Which is? A grape." We were stuffed to the gills with delicious food and drink. Our bloodhound-like noses were re-energized for clues and now we have a fresh scent for 'a**.' Who knows where that scent will lead us! Thank you, 433333!

Walking through the streets of Rome towards the end of our two-week vacation, soaking up the…read moreculture, history, sounds, smells and sights, and my husband tells me he's hungry. I wasn't ready for lunch at that point, but he needed food, so we went searching for a spot open and ready to serve (as Americans, we eat earlier than the locals, so that's always a consideration). Ristorante 433 was situated next to another restaurant, both looked to be doing good business and had intriguing menus. This place won out, though, because the staff was friendly and accommodating, without being too "salesman" and trying to usher us inside. We chose a table on the patio under an open umbrella. We had just settled in and were contemplating the menu when one of the waitresses came by and told us that the sun would be shifting soon, meaning we'd lose the umbrella's protection if we didn't move. She offered us another table under the canopy, which we accepted. To start, we ordered the Pinsetta con la Concia (a flatbread with marinated zucchini) for €14. For my main, and because I wasn't all that hungry, I ordered the Caprese salad (€10). My husband went with the Diavolo pizza (€13). The zucchini flatbread was surprisingly delicious. The bread was crunchy and chewy, and the flavor of the zucchini - not my husband's first choice of vegetable - was savory and herby. And I will say that the Caprese salad was exactly what I needed in that moment. Not just the fresh green vegetables, but something lighter than the carb-heavy pastas and breads I'd been living on the entirety of our trip. My husband really enjoyed his pizza, mostly because of the meat and mozzarella. I know he could have polished off one more of the pizzas and been a happy camper, but he left satiated. Glad we ended up at this restaurant for our mid-day meal. The staff, the patio, the food and the location were all very good.

An invigorating culinary experience in Rome. Delightful establishment provided window seating to…read moreallow a good view of the area. It is off the main road and is not heavily populated with tourists. The rigatoni was fabulous with a robust sauce. The blue crab ravioli provided a punch of spice and a full crab, no filler flavor. The meatballs served as the main course consisted of three pieces. They were bursting with flavor. A heavy hint of vegetables and their distinctive "crunch" could be felt bursting through the texture - fantastic. Accompanied by a basket of sourdough bread. With 3 glasses of wine, only 80 euro. A bargain. Our young server was friendly. The only negative was the manager, was clearly callous toward Americans. When asked for recommendations, he would not provide any other than to refer to the menu, he was correct though, everything was outstanding.

We loved it! Both Shoku and Luca offered amazing service to the great food and the service was…read moreexcellent as was this beautiful restaurant!

We had a lovely dinner here. We sat inside because even though they have many tables on the…read moresidewalk, they were all full. It ended up being fine, though, because it was kind of a chilly evening. Our server was nice, but very busy so he didn't check back often. But he did get the job done, which is all that counts. We ordered the house wine, white for me and read for hubby. We started with the tomato bruschetta. It's amazing how just perfectly ripened tomatoes a little olive oil and a little garlic on bread can taste so good. Hubby got the seafood pasta and I got fettuccine Bolognese. Mine was good - I had no complaints, but my husband's was amazing. I wished I had ordered what he did, which I almost did. If you're in the area, this is a good choice. Everything was good, but to be honest, so many of these restaurants have good food.

Nice outside seating. Wait staff was very friendly…read more We had gnocchi, a pizza and 3 beers and the total was 33€. Great deal for great tasting food

We went here for dinner while we were in Rome and had an amazing dinner! We had artichoke for a…read morestarter and it was great! The pesto gnocchi and the pizza were had were delicious as well! The service was amazing and everyone there was so nice! We really enjoyed the outdoor seating as well. We would highly recommend this restaurant to everyone visiting Rome.

Nestled in Little Jerusalem you wont find a better spot to sit down and enjoy a wonderful meal,…read moreglass of wine or Aperol spritz. The staff are super attentive and make sure your experience is excellent feom start to finish. Our First visit was at lunch my wife ordred the Grilled Beed Steak medium with potatoes, I ordred the Tonnarelli Cheese & Pepper with Artichoke... All I can say "Hevean on our Plates" both our dishes were beyond flavor profiles the food was so good i made sure my last meal in Rome was the Tonnarelli Cheese & Pepper with Artichoke I did add for a starter the Artichoke Carpachio which sent my last meal to God Status!!! The wife ordered a pizza that had the crispy thin crust and she was to engulfed in her own flavor adventure. Both the waiters were awesome and the owners better keep them happy because they were definitely a large reason why we came back... There recommendations are the reason why this went from a lunch stop to a return visit leaving a mark on my life that was truly a wonderful food experience!!! Make this a stop while in Rome you wont regret it!!!!

I can only rate their famous "Carciofi alla Giudia" (Jewish-style artichokes) because I was passing…read morethrough and wanted to try this so got an order to go. Unbelievable. Best artichoke I've ever had. So good. Highly recommend.

Renato al Ghetto was a wonderful break from typical Italian foods. They specialize in Roman-Jewish…read morefood so I would definitely recommend trying those specialties. Our absolute favorites were the Jewish Artichokes (Carciofo alla Giudia). We liked it so much that we ordered extra! It's super crispy and flavorful. I thought the other dishes were all good too, but the Agnolotti all'arrabbiata was the second stand out. The agnolotti are stuffed with meat and the sauce really complements them. My mom thought the meat was too pink so if you have any picky family members beware! I would definitely come back next time I'm in the Jewish Ghetto.

Amazing meal here. Portions are ample, maybe too much so. The apps all looked great, we were only…read moretwo people so couldn't order everything we wanted. But we did well - we stuck to the house specials and weren't disappointed.

It was so good we went back the next night! Best dish was macaroni (had an Italian name I don't…read morerecall). Cream sauce was to die for. The pizza was good and pretty large. The penne was decent. Service was pretty good both nights.

Our family visited on a recent trip to Rome, based on the great video from Rick Steves that…read morehighlighted this restaurant as an example of the type of dining that Romans love. We had a great experience. We had our hotel book reservations for us at 7PM (when they open). The restaurant is cozy and inviting. The staff and service were excellent. The food was a real experience. We enjoyed the fresh local fish (which they prepare for you, and divide into serving plates). They have a great wine selection. We also enjoyed our pastas and deserts. All-in-all, it was just a very nice experience.

This little downstairs restaurant is super cool. The art on the walls is great, the service was…read moreimpeccable and the food is unbelievable. I had the truffle steak with roasted potatoes and mixed vegetables. Was divine. Highly recommend!!