Creative and well prepared food. Worth a special trip…read more Order the squash blossoms if they are in season. They are the best I've ever eaten, anywhere. Best to make a reservation in the evening.

This place was just a few steps away from the Airbnb I was staying at. Saw the good reviews and…read moredecided to check it out for dinner one night. The restaurant had a comfortable and warm ambiance and the tables were comfortably spaced out from one another. We didn't know it was preferable to make a reservation ahead of time, so even though there were a few open tables, we were given a small table that usually sits 2 when we were a party of 3. We started off our meal with a steak tartare, which was pretty good and well seasoned. My favorite was the fish we had, and we were disappointed by the steak. The steak seemed to lack any kind of flavor, and the presentation is a bit odd with the steak sitting under the pile of fries.

tl;dr excellent traditional Roman cuisine meets exceptional service, so you are sure to feel right…read moreat home in this family-run trattoria The Roman pasta scene is dominated by four quintessential pasta dishes -- Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe, Amatriciana, and Gricia -- and each is served at any of the countless trattorias around Rome. While plenty of these places are unabashed tourist traps, others are true diamonds in the rough. Finding the gems can be challenging -- so I was relieved that our host in Rome invited us to one of his favorite family-run spots: La Pace del Palato. Just blocks from the Piazza Navona, La Pace makes its home on a slightly sleepy side street. Inside, cool bright colors pop out directly from the walls. Plaster meets exposed brick in a wavy pattern across the walls, themselves only decorated with shelves of wine. Metal stars hang down from the high ceilings. Muted jet-black chairs are pressed up to the lightwood tables, each decorated with a dumbbell-shaped lamp. Just days in advance, I secured a reservation for weekend dinner. The proprietor Renato didn't speak any English, but he was fluent in hospitality. As soon as we arrived, we were made to feel at home, and the staff joked with us like family throughout the meal. Our meal kicked off with two complimentary antipasti: a flavor-packed, Aperol spritz-inspired amuse bouche and a smoky roasted eggplant salad. After that, our group gravitated toward the "Roman Tradition" selection of the menu: classic Roman pastas. My favorite was the excellent Mezzemaniche alla Carbonara. Despite the deep yellow sauce, the flavor was rich and peppery rather than egg-dominated. I also loved the Rigatoni alla Amatriciana for its particularly tomato-forward sauce and plentiful pork. But don't sleep on the generously-sauced Ravioli (prosciutto, ricotta, and thinly-sliced proscitto) or the melt-in-your-mouth Stringozzi alla Gricia (cacio e pepe enhanced by guanciale). Across all of the pastas, my only criticism was that the pork could have been more consistently crispy; otherwise, the textures and flavors were excellent. We completed our meal with a tiramisu -- it is a testament to La Pace that we downed the dessert despite our already-full bellies. Our bill worked out to just over $100 -- on par with some of our least memorable meals in Paris. La Pace del Palato literally translates to "the peace of the palate", and the name couldn't be more apt. This was our final restaurant on a whirlwind trip through Italy, and everything about this meal satisfied. For Roman classics done right, look no further than Renato's humble cucina.

This is my number 1 fav restaurant in Rome. If you wanna have the best food experience you have to…read morego here. Everything it's exquisite from food , to wine ,to ambiance, to staff . It's a mix between the Italian old cuisine to the new one. The variety of wine that they serve it's in a perfect symphony with the variety of the food. Renato the owner and his family they gonna make you feel so special that you would like to have dinner always there. The ambiance it's intimate and typically Italian style. You're welcome.

Everyone on Yelp gives this place five stars…read more My landlady made this her top recommendation for eating in the neighborhood. I am giving this place five stars. Do you see a trend here? * * * Most of our first-rate eating in Rome has been in cheap or midrange places. We have been surprisingly burnt on a number of upscale expeditions. But Cesarina is the clear magnificent exception. This was a truly truly grand meal. I would love to eat here a few more times before I go. If you are bringing your wallet with you to your dinner, This is a place you want to bring your wallet to. * * * Talking about individual dishes actually does not make a lot of sense for three reasons. 1) I have no doubt that everything on the menu is good. 2) The menu is very traditional. There is absolutely nothing on the menu that you won't recognize or you have not heard of before. 3) The menu is also modest in size. Tons of downscale tourist places next to the famous attractions offer menus that are much larger. The return to doing the same dishes over and over and over again is that they have polished their execution to a very high level. They know how to make these dishes and the dishes are first rate. * * * A basic overview of what you are likely to get. Roman cuisine is classic in the sense of classic versus baroque. Elaborateness is shunned in favor of simple elegant preparations. Go north or go south and the cooking becomes fancy again. In many ways, Roman cuisine resembles British cooking at its best. Superlative ingredients prepared with the minimum of distractions to draw your palate away from those ingredients. Spaghetti with just tomatoes and basil is the quintessential Roman dish. Things will usually not be unadorned as an American steak house steak. But if you get a fine beef dish, there will be only one or two ingredients to provide the flavor contrast. The menu at Cesarina is heavy on fine meats of all kinds. There are a small number of fish dishes. One appetizer we had was simple fried vegetables. This could have been tempura at a Japanese restaurant, Only this was Italian rather than Japanese frying. Each vegetable was magnificent. Another starter was a plain bouillon with diced celery and carrots as the only filler. My wife adored it. Pasta dishes were very lightly sauced so that you could taste the naked pasta. But oh my god, those drops of sauce were to die for. I think you get the basic idea. * * * My normal taste in haute cuisine is baroque rather than classical. I recently reviewed (and went nuts over) an omikase restaurant in Texas where each of the 22 dishes had no fewer than five components. That is the way I usually roll. But Cesarina offers refined eating along simple lines. Haydn and Mozart demonstrated the emotional potential of composing music in the simplest possible way. What holds for composers of the classical era holds for great Roman food. Cesarina is elegant bliss on a level with Haydn piano sonatas.

Alessio was my wonderful waiter! All the food was favoloso!!…read more Appetizers was prosciutto. Risotto with porcini mushrooms! Veal was amazing!!

This is a restaurant recommended by the hotel staff. We walked about 5 minutes to check out this…read morecute restaurant. There is plenty of outdoor seatings but we chose to sit inside enjoying the AC. The menu has a variety of choices. The owner recommended the special pasta, seafood pasta with squid ink. My daughter ordered the chicken and pepper fettuccine. To start, the chef offered the complimentary cheese ball with pesto sauce. It was yummy. My pasta was so amazingly done. The spaghetti was cooked al dente. The squid ink sauce blended well with the shrimps, clams and mussels. My daughter's fettuccine was also well prepared. The sauce and the minced chicken blended very nicely with the sauce. For dessert, we tried the pistachio semifreddo. It's my first time trying this Italian dessert. It's like a pistachio ice cream/cake texture. The dessert was so heavenly and the pistachio sauce was both crunchy and rich. If you look for a solid good Italian restaurant, Culinaria is highly recommended.

Every part of this experience was fantastic. Bernardo and Cassandra, who own Culinaria, were so…read morewarm and welcoming. Even though we showed up at 10:20pm before their kitchen closed at 11pm, they were ready to serve. We'd found Culinaria because on Google they've got over 1,000 great reviews--and the food lived up to the hype! I loved my Amatriciana with rigatoni. The guanciale was perfectly crispy, the pasta was just al dente enough, and the sauce was incredibly flavorful. I'm gonna be thinking about this meal when I get back to the US. Also, don't miss the deconstructed Tiramisu! It was exactly what I was looking for and I'm glad we stopped in.

Found this restaurant in a quiet alleyway after our Colosseum tour- the staff was super attentive…read more(nice air conditioning!!) and the food was fantastic! I got the standard Roman meal, Amertriciana - the pasta was fresh, and the sauce was delicious! My daughter is picky but ordered the truffle pasta dish and loved it! Would definitely come back! And it comes with dessert!

La Cabana is a restaurant in the touristy area of Rome, Italy. When we first arrived in the city,…read morewe were super hungry and had checked in to our hotel (Corso 281). Our hotel recommended that we go to La Cabana and tell them that we were sent there from "Corso 281" specifically. The restaurant is a bit hidden in an alley, and when we walked in, it was extremely busy. They said they didn't have a table, but as soon as I said our hotel sent us, we were seated instantly! [PASTA] +Cacio e Pepe for €16 - 4/5 +Off the menu item (linguini, tomato, and seafood) for €16 - 4/5 Overall, everything was good at La Cabana. If you're hungry for a quick bite and are in the area, this place is a safe bet.

We broke our usual tradition when in Rome of just wandering into a restaurant and decided to do a…read morelittle research before dinner. Trattoria della Stampa dal 1956 had outstanding Yelp reviews, and they absolutely lived up to the hype. We started with the buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes, which were incredibly fresh and simple in the best way. I had the Mezze Maniche all'Amatriciana, and it was outstanding. The sauce was rich and flavorful, and the guanciale was cooked perfectly. My wife ordered the Tagliatelle al Pesto, and she loved it as well. The food was excellent, the service was warm and welcoming, and the atmosphere felt like the kind of authentic neighborhood trattoria we were hoping to find. One thing to know before you go: this place is very small. We watched several people get turned away because there simply weren't any tables available. If this restaurant is on your list, make a reservation, or you may not get in. If you're exploring the Pantheon area, don't miss this place. We'd happily return the next time we're in Rome.

One of my absolute favorite spots in Rome. This place has…read moresuch a warm, welcoming feel from the moment you walk in. The staff is incredibly friendly, the food is great, and the prices are very reasonable. Unlike a lot of the more touristy restaurants nearby, this one still has that authentic charm and real Italian feel. Not huge inside and it's always packed (for good reason), so I'd definitely recommend making a reservation ahead of time to avoid waiting at the door. The carbonara was one of my favorites I had in Rome. Really rich with a strong egg yolk flavor, which I loved. The meatballs were also so good and definitely worth ordering. You really can't go wrong with any of the food here.

Amazing service. Rose, carbonara, tiramisu all on point. This place is seriously a 10/10read more

Food was delicious, and dessert was just as good! I ordered the white truffle pasta and the apple…read morepie, and let me tell you they were exquisite. Everything was full of flavor and beautifully prepared. My server, Maximo, was wonderful and made the experience even better. Definitely recommend!

We had one of the worst dining experiences of our entire trip to Italy at this restaurant. The…read moreservice felt discriminatory and incredibly unwelcoming from the moment we arrived. Our family of four was waiting to be seated when a local family of four arrived after us and was seated immediately. We were eventually seated right next to them, and they were served bread while we were ignored and received none. We ordered wine that was never brought to the table, and at one point a waiter who was not even serving us removed our wine glasses after we had already ordered the wine. The service throughout the meal was chaotic and rude. The artichoke dish was extremely bland -- no seasoning and no flavor at all. Most of the food was greasy and disappointing. To make matters worse, we were seated directly next to the kitchen where the cooks and waiters were loudly arguing throughout our meal. We understand that service in Italy is often slower and more relaxed, and we have enjoyed wonderful hospitality everywhere else during our trip. However, this was by far the worst service we experienced anywhere in Italy. We were even asked if we wanted the bill before we had finished eating, while the local family next to us remained seated comfortably long after finishing their meal. We left feeling unwelcome and discriminated against. Unfortunately, this restaurant seemed interested only in serving locals well. If you are not Italian, do yourself a favor and dine elsewhere. We absolutely do not recommend this place.

I wanted to enjoy Il Ragno d'Oro. Filled with animated locals at dinner during the first week of…read moreFebruary, we only heard Italian being spoken. The menu had all the Roman classics, and we ordered Pasta Carbonara, Casio e Pepe with Guanciale, Roman style artichokes, and Zucchini Flowers. After a few minutes, I was transported to the Jersey Shore. As the food arrived, that Jersey Shore analogy grew into reality. I have tasted this food before. Il Ragno d'Oro became a mediocre Italian restaurant in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey. However, I was in Rome, Italy and expected more. My Pasta Carbonara was heavy, stuck together, and thought al dente was a bodega in Newark. The Cacio e Pepe had coagulated into a sticky mess. The artichoke and zucchini dishes were greasy and standard fare for an Italian restaurant anywhere in the world. But I was in Rome! Roma-the home of Pasta Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe, and Artichoke preparations. Yes, everyone was perfectly nice, the prices were reasonable, and the people around me were all having a grand time. My wife, who is of Italian heritage, couldn't eat her pasta. She said her Italian grandmother would have gone into the kitchen to show them how to cook pasta. I too, usually a human garbage disposal, left most of my pasta on the table. We walked back to our apartment in Prati disappointed. This was our worst dinner in Rome. Sorry, but it's true. Maybe the cooks had a bad night, but the dishes were subpar at best.