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    La Cicala e La Formica

    4.3 (63 reviews)
    ModerateMediterranean, Italian
    Closed 12:00 pm - 3:30 PM, 6:30 PM - 10:30 PM

    La Cicala e La Formica Photos

    LA CICALA E LA FORMICA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Intimate
    Romantic

    Recommended Reviews - La Cicala e La Formica

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    Clara T.

    We came two times and the owner is really nice and sweet, really not pushy and eager for new clients. The food is excellente and the drinks are always cold. The staff is nice!

    Primi della tradizione amatriciana
    Brian K.

    Nice, cozy, restaurant to enjoy an evening meal. Staff was good, with an older gentleman as our waiter, who was super friendly and a little funny. They understood our English way better than our rubbish attempt at speaking Italian. Food was great! Both of us had a pasta dish, shared a salad and an appetizer. House wine (by the glass) was pretty good too. Very relaxed atmosphere inside; street side dining could be a bit loud day or night with the amount of traffic through the area.

    Amatriciana
    Danielle S.

    This place was recommended by a friend living in Italy. My husband and I are both Itlaian but from a different area. The food was excellent and the host great. He recommended a taste of a Amatriciana and a pasta with butter and Alici. Both were great. The Amatriciana among the best we've eaten, with a delicate but defined taste of guanciale, cooked a bit on the crunchy side as I like it. We also tried a gateu and a Parmigiana. Gaetano explained all the dishes and the local.ingredients he sources and that he was so proud of.

    Entrance to the restaurant

    We were staying at the Grand Hotel Palatino on a tour, and left on our own for dinner one night we checked out nearby restaurants. This place is only one block behind the hotel. The ambiance was fantastic. Don't know if they do it every night, but tonight they played jazz from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, etc. Interesting artwork and wine displays on the walls. We had the Caprese salad, Bruschetta with anchovies, Spinach Ravioli, and Rigatoni Carbonara. Each was very good, the Carbonara especially stood out since it was so much better than a penne Carbonara we'd had the night before at a restaurant close to the Colosseum. For dessert, we had a tiramisu and a pistachio ice cream. Both were outstanding. Service was good, we had no problems communicating even though we speak only English. If we had any more time in Rome we would definitely eat here again. If we can ever return I'd be delighted to visit it again.

    Best risotto I've ever had - zucchini and blue cheese. Wow!
    Dolores S.

    This was a wonderful find! We had an excellent dinner here with the best bread in Italy! The service was warm and gracious and it felt very homey inside the restaurant. Enjoyed the food a lot. Amongst other delicious dishes, I had a zucchini and blue cheese risotto which was amazing, one of the best dishes I had on this trip, and I am now in a delicious carb coma. The tomato and mozzarella bruschetta was very tasty too. We shared the bucatini, the sauce was flavorful and delicious, the pasta was silky and tasty. Wine was great and reasonably priced and we used the Yelp coupon with no problem at all. Great dinner right next to the hotel, just what we needed after a long day of sight seeing.

    May not look like much from the outside, but trust me, the staff care about your dining experience and the food is wonderful. First, FORGET your American expectation for service ...... there is ONE chef in the kitchen and EVERYTHING is cooked to order; AKA, made fresh. I know this because I took advantage of a pasta making class (which is AWESOME). The DOWN TIME is meant for YOU to connect with one another. If you are in a rush/hurry, it might help if you simply inform the wait staff ASAP. This place is usually very busy, therefore, staff may be a bit overwhelmed. I've been eating here since 2006 and make a serious effort on EVERY Rome trip to eat here multiple times. GREAT value for the money. (I'm the female in the solid black top on the back row)

    Mary Anne G.

    I had dinner at this restaurant on my first night in Rome. A month and a half later, I ordered the same meal (pork steak with potato chips). Be sure to get the red house wine! It's the best red wine I've ever had!

    This is what we got....
    Karen J.

    Ok... I'm gonna just post some pictures so that you can see what the review photos looked like and what we actually got.... now... we did ask for veggies instead but that wasn't the problem...

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    9 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    10 years ago

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    14 years ago

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    10 years ago

    Friendly enough with tasty food! Nice atmosphere with the fairy lights and outside seating.

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    8 years ago

    If you go to Rome and you don't eat here YOU ARE INSANE. Amazing food, could not recommend it more. Wow. WOW.

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    12 years ago

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    8 years ago

    great food ! casian atmosphere .. good price..... great people ..good prices ....casual food

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    9 years ago

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    10 years ago

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    10 years ago

    It's a very cosy restaurant. The food is delicious and the owners are very kind and easy-going. The tiramisù is amazing. A presto!

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    La Cicala e La Formica Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - La Cicala e La Formica

    Our breakfast consisted of a pastry (one of the best we had in Rome), eggs, orange juice, and coffee.

    Mentioned in 13 reviews

    Read more highlights

    Sofia - Simple, fresh, and delicious.

    Sofia

    4.4(169 reviews)
    1.2 kmCentro Storico
    €€€

    Great staff and food! Small plates with very interesting and fresh flavors. Combination of unique…read moreand creative dishes alongside classics. Would definitely recommend ordering lots of options and sharing! Restaurant is also gluten free friendly, offering both pasta and bread options.

    Today was a long and grueling day of walking on pavement, cobblestones, and whatever else the…read moreRomans used 2,000 years ago. As a Southern American trying to navigate Rome, I'm still completely confused. I cannot for the life of me figure out north vs. south or east vs. west in this city. Every street somehow looks historic, beautiful, and exactly the same. By 9 PM, after walking more than 10 miles today and standing in countless lines -- one for over an hour -- I was exhausted. I was close to my hotel and started looking for somewhere to eat. I had already passed Sofia earlier and really didn't want to backtrack even a few blocks. But after going the wrong direction again and somehow ending up right back near it, I figured that was a sign. So, Sofia it was. My ordering skills in Italy are still not exactly professional level. I really need a local Italian to help me. Yeah, I'm slow... remember, I'm from the South. I ordered the Mezza Maniche Carbonara. I mean, you can't really go wrong with noodles, cheese, and pork, right? A few minutes after ordering, they brought out this little appetizer-looking thing that I'm still confused about. It was this tiny little ball about the size of my thumb. I took one bite and it was absolutely delicious. Honestly, I'm not even sure I want to know what was in it, but at that point I was hungry enough not to ask questions. Then the pasta arrived. Drumroll... First bite? Absolutely divine. Rich, creamy, cheesy pasta with perfectly cooked pork mixed throughout. Fantastic. I devoured the entire plate, chased it down with a Coke, grabbed my glass bottle of water, and walked down the street carrying it like a Roman wino. Great food, great atmosphere, and a perfect little outdoor dining setup on one of Rome's tiny city streets

    Photos
    Sofia - Seating inside

    Seating inside

    Sofia - Umami Broth with Raw Seafood, samphire and Aromatic Shiso Notes

    Umami Broth with Raw Seafood, samphire and Aromatic Shiso Notes

    Sofia - Braised Beef Tortello, Buffalo Infusion and Tomato Cream

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    Braised Beef Tortello, Buffalo Infusion and Tomato Cream

    La Cicala e La Formica - mediterranean - Updated June 2026

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