Our private driver chose Osteria for our lunch stop during our Vatican private tour in October 2024 And this was an exceptional choice. Our appetizers, anti-pasta platter, charcuterie, entrees, dessert and coffee were exceptional. We made the wise choice to allow our host to choose all our courses, each one was delicious, authentic, all fresh tasty ingredients. The house wine was superb, and we were provided complimentary Lemoncello shots, I'd gladly stop here again if in the Vatican area, and without any doubts recommend Osteria for lunch or dinner. I just wish I could remember our hosts name in order to thank him. I do have a table photo though of our host and my beautiful other half! read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - Table photo with our wonderful host. - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

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Private guide, Nicola, recommended this restaurant and it was excellent. Had antipasti, a walnut cream ravioli and much more. Ambiance was very nice and quiet. read more

First restaurant I ever went to in Italy, I could write about Osteria Dei Pontefici until the end of time, the pasta was otherworldly, the tiramisu, unspeakable but in all seriousness, this has a place in my heart. Beyond professional service and they treated us amazingly. I'll never forget the inside, plenty of tables and glasses and wines and people laughing and eating and to think we found this place simply by walking past. Lovely lights and pictures were all throughout and it was a nice tough. Phenomenal food here! Soft Italian music played in the background as well, couldn't ask for more. read more

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We had a lovely dinner here while staying at a rental nearby. We sat outside and at first were worried we made a poor choice as it quickly became clear the outdoor seating area was the smoking section, bit the smokers left soon after we were settled in, and the other new arrivals didn't smoke, We had the house wine which was a nice light red, and started with the mixed antipasto, which included eggplant, carrots, bruschetta, mozzarella, prosciutto and salami. It was delicious and perfect for the three of us to share. I had the papalina rigatoni which was delicious with fresh pasta and a flavorful, bacon and tomato sauce. For dessert I had the charlotte which was a light sponge cake with cream and chocolate; delicious and not too sweet or heavy. Service was good and staff were patient with our limited Italian ability. Definitely a good spot if you're in the St. Peter's area. read more

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AMAZING!!! My hotel is right down the street and we were hungry after our flight so we decided to do it. No regrets! Classic Italian food - fresh - friendly - efficient - classy - and just an overall good place! Our waiter (Johnny) was the best!!!! read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

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Amazing amazing amazing!! Stopped by for a late lunch and we ended up having a feast. The restaurant is only a few minutes from the apartment we are staying in. The service from Gianni was above and beyond. All of his recommendations were amazing. The decor and the ambiance of this location was beautiful. We sat for about 2 hours no rush even when tje restaurant was getting busy. A must visit when your in Rome. read more

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We returned here after our first visit 5 years sgo. The food and service is wonderful. The owners are present and welcoming to all visitors. Grazie grazie per la tua ospitalità! read more

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Had a group of 23 people. They were able to see us and service quickly. My group loved the food. It worked well for a large group.

We dine out all the time. We've never had an experience like this one before. The owner Leo, his daughter, his brother, and the entire staff, showered us with nothing but love the minute we stepped in the door. We were like family. The food was delicious, but the experience was unbelievable. Thank you to Leo, Julia, Johnny the waiter, and the entire staff. read more

Went in for dessert. Tiramisu was okay, service wasn't good, slow and miscommunication. I was charged for 2 tiramisu when only ordered & received 1, I realized after I left the restaurant. read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - Tiramisu - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

We were looking for last minute reservations for 12 and the owner assured me we could get reservations. We arrived at our reservation time and sure enough they had our table ready. The wine selection was wonderful and we had a few bottles of wine with our food. We had an appetizer of bread and meats with selection of cheese and veggies. Once again we ordered pizza and pasta. No one had a bad thing to say about the food. In fact if we had another few days we would eat there again. The owner was on site and was above and beyond gracious host. read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

Walked a few blocks after visiting the Vatican & had an excellent lunch! The price was a good value & the portions were very good sized. I couldn't eat all my pasta (see photo) although it was delicious! Highly recommend! read more

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The food was good , more then we could eat , and the service was great. It was lunch in Oct. so they were not too busy. read more

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If you want authentic Italian, this is your place! Close proximity to our AirBNB and a short walk from the Vatican. It is only open for dinner. The host welcomed us in and from there the service fell off. Each time we wanted to order another course, we had to find a server (not our original one because he was no one to be found). Their bruschetta is some of the absolute very best that Ive eaten in my life. For entrees, we ordered their spaghetti, roasted potatoes and chicken parmesan. Their entrees were just okay. However, their house red wine is delicious! One of the aspects that I liked about this restaurant was that it seems to be a hangout for locals. On the evening of our visit, there was a large table on the other side of the restaurant and the patrons sitting at those tables were singing old timey songs, some in different languages other than Italian and English. Their singing set such a happy mood for the entire restaurant. We liked it so much that we ordered another bottle of wine and bruschetta! They have inside and outside seating available. read more

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Had such a great meal and a good time! We came late and the service was amazing! The staff there is fun! Hope to go back!

Great place to eat in Italy i came in and had a best food and great Ambience with even greater service which is hard to find in Roma. I recommend it to all friend and family read more

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One of the best pizzas I've ever eaten. Pizza in Rome is done two ways. The rectangular, thicker crust, Grandma-style pie that's cut into square slices, or the classic, Florentine-style, round pie with a very thin crust, often wood-fired. I prefer the latter, and this place has it perfected. For lunch, I had a hot sopressata and bufala mozzarella pizza (€17 for a 14" pie, see pic). Yes, I ate the whooole thing. read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - Hot soppressata pizza 14", €17 - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

Had lunch and then back for dinner. Excellent meals and service. Servers were multilingual.

Tl;dr - food was not great and service was awful. I mean, our waiter made us so mad with his unfriendliness that we left hungry and didn't order more food because we no longer wanted to be there with those bad vibes. This review is pretty detailed btw. - - Waiter was rude right off the bat when my uncle stepped into the restaurant. He stepped in, not knowing that we should have told the waiter outside that we were hoping to eat there. (Literally he stepped in and then got attitude). And then continued to be rude throughout the meal, giving us attitude at any opportunity. Also, we clearly we are tourists as we only spoke English to him. Therefore, we asked some clarifying questions and he was clearly not happy to answer. But here's the funny thing, he was visibly friendly to every other table surrounding us. We felt very ostracized. Next are the examples of how our night continued to grow sour. 1) he seated our party outside and basically slapped our menus on the table. Sure maybe he was in a rush, but he seemed to take his time and gently provide menus and conversation with other tables. 2) we ordered squid pasta in which he immediately replied "no." We were confused, so we asked for clarification, where he replied with "finished" and just kept repeating it. It took us a second for us to register that he probably was indicating that they were out of that item for the night. Again, maybe he was not great at speaking English? But doesn't explain why he spoke to other tables just fine and we even heard him explaining his personal recommendations to other tables. 3) with the squid pasta unavailable, we had to take a second to recalibrate and order a replacement. He definitely showed his impatience with a sigh and rolled his eyes. I'm serious!!! We took maybe 5 seconds to pick another dish, too. 4) we ordered three plates and asked if we could start there and order more later. He said nothing back and took all of our menus from us. By this point we were sooo over it 5) he then brought out our food without speaking to us, then handed the table behind us the same appetizer and told them "this is on the house!" and smiled. For the rest of the meal, he never came to check up on us, which would have been fine if that were the standard for this establishment. But clearly it wasn't, as we noticed that he stopped by every other table, checking if they wanted more wine, and seeing how their food was. Food wasn't even good honestly, or maybe his attitude made it taste worse. We ordered pizza, pasta, and bruschetta. The bruschetta was fine, but the pasta and pizza were pretty below average. Didn't come close to making up for a pretty awful night. I've been racking brain trying to figure out why he hated us do much LOL. What it comes down to is that we really didn't deserve that kind of service. read more

The people eating here who say it's good are delusional. The best thing I had was the tap water. The soup was a close second. The veal Scallopini had no flavor. The bread was believed to be from the petrified forest of Endor it was so hard. My date didn't finish her steak which I have never seen happen before. It came out completely raw since they didn't ask how she wanted it. I should send the cleaning bill to these people since it evinced an arterial bleed on her shirt when she cut it. When we got the bill it should have been labeled stupid American since they charged for wine which we did not have. My date used the bathroom and found a roll of toilet paper where the hand dryer should have been working. She dried her hands on the community towel that was apparently used by all the kitchen staff. I wouldn't even let her touch me till she got back to the hotel and washed thoroughly. read more

The food is good, the confusion that the waiter experiences is even greater. Good food to be had here. I really enjoyed the food that I ordered, the wife enjoyed the food that she ordered. But having to pay €4 for the bread that we didn't order and that we though was complimentary kinda sucked. Don't add things to the bill that people have no choice in ordering. So advice to you all. If bread is placed on your table politely refuse it. I ordered both a gelato and an espresso for dessert. The waiter asked black or white. I said espresso is always served black. Black, white or nutty he asked again. Both the wife and I thought he had lost his mind by now. Black & the gelato mysto please I replied. He went away only to come back with two gelatos. This is Black he said whilst showing me a chocolate gelato and this is white showing me a supposedly vanilla gelato. Oh nutty then I replied.... he forgot my espresso. I didn't find him dude, just confused. His English is far better than my Italian, but confusion will still occur. Happy to eat there again. But I'd refuse the bread. read more

We were taken here for lunch on our tour with RomeInLimo. It is inexpensive and very very tasty. We had the tapaslike starter and 2 different pasta dishes each (Yummy). Unfortunately it is located a bit off track but if you don't mind the extra walk (and don't have the luxury of having LimoInRome to take you here) - it is definitely worth it, compared to the more touristic restaurants around the city center. You get a feeling of rustic homecooked Italian food. read more

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Great place to eat. We were staying closed by and got pizza from this placed and it was just great. Flavor was excellent. Pizza was a good size as well. We order 3 pizzas and it was enough for 4 adults and one child. Language was not a problem they did a great job explaining the best way possible. read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

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Having not eaten since an early start from Heathrow, I was feeling rather peckish, so I asked Alessia at Roma Dreaming for a recommendation of a nearby eaterie. She suggested two possibilities - one in the centre and one literally down the road and around the corner, so I made my way to Osteria dei Pontefici and settled down to a table. It was immediately clear that this was an efficient restaurant that mostly served locals, as it's a little way away from any tourist landmarks. As the name suggests, along with its proximity to St Peter's, the guiding aesthetic is very papal, with pictures of all the recent Pontiffs on the wall. I was well looked after by a speedy waiter who brought me wine, water and bread before taking my order for a fettuccine ragu dish. The bruschetta was small, but perfectly formed - that took the edge off my appetite, which was the very much sated by the well-stocked plate of pasta that followed. Tasty, hearty fare, enhanced by unlimited Parmesan (left on the table) and a good red wine. All that for just 14 euros. Good value too. read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - The menu - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

Delicious authentic Italian food with great service. Try the artichoke, and anchovy pasta. Worth a stop for lunch or dinner before/after the Vatican. read more

I do agree with one of the fellow yelpers that the dishes where very salty. We were taken here for lunch on our tour with RomeInLimo. Next time we'll be a little more insistent to take us to "non tourist trap" restaurant. We purchased an expensive "special" where multiple dishes are brought out to our group. It's was about 70/30 on weigher we'd eat there again. (70% in favor of not) Our time was limited, I would not suggest this restaurant. read more

Delicious authentic Italian food. Very friendly owner and staff. Love this restorante! Highly recommend Osteria dei Pontefici restaurant to my friends and to everyone! Molte grazie! read more

3 min walk from hotel, and just stumbled upon this restaurant as I walked by. Leo the owner is amazing & for the duration of our stay we went about 5 times for lunch & even celebrated Easter there which was heaps of fun because it got loud & everyone was laughing & service was impeccable! They never stop serving you...sweet Jesus! Best presecco & coffee americano ever : ) read more

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The food was good. Service was slow. In follow up to the review posted recently about the 4 euro charge, we asked the waiter what was the charge for and he said "cover charge". When we asked cover for what he touched the table cloth cover. He also would not give us the table cloth after paying for it. read more

My parents had been here before and wanted to take our 3 generation family. We were starving and practically ran in when they opened at 7. They were very pleasant and accomodating of our large party. All of the dishes were excellent (veal marasala, melazane parmigiana, bucatino, beef, etc)...but my first course of pastina en brodo rocketed me back to my childhood. It tasted exactly like my grandmother used to make. Slurped down every last drop. The waiter was funny and friendly...even surprising me with an apertif on the house when the one I requested wasn't in stock. By the time we left at 930, the place was packed with locals...always a good sign! read more

Excellent classic Italian dinner. Ate two dinners, just had to come back. Cannanoli and gnocchi were both excellent. Grilled fish also good. Appetizer on the house first night marinated carrots. And the second night roasted fennel. Again excellent. Service by seasoned men, efficient and helpful. They managed tables of 10 as gracefully as 2. read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - Cannelloni excellent. - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

Horrific. The food was the quality of a bad Italian restaurant back in the USA. The waiter was so rude it was practically hostile, at one point he threw my napkin onto my lap because it was in the way of where he wanted to put my plate! Twice we tried to flag him down (once to ask a question, once to get more water to wash down our slightly burnt, overly salted food) and both times he made eye contact, sneered, and walked away. read more

Great Italian pizza. It was much better what I had in the U.S. It felt much lighter and everything was made fresh. read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

Great place to visit I'm from Florida I came to Rome to enjoy some real Italian food and this place has it. Prices are a little high . But remember your in Rome most things are price high . read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - Great food for lunch a private setting - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

Enjoyed the experience tremendously. One thing for sure what made the visit remarkable was the staff who took care of us and recommended dishes etc. I do not understand restaurant owners who do not put the utmost care into the quality of their staff. A multitude of sins are covered by staff like in this place. The food was good but again the entire experience delightful so they for sure deserve 5 stars as you walk away satisfied, happy, and wanting to head back there again. It is the whole package and not just individual items which make eating out a delight or a disaster. read more

This restaurant was recommended by our hotel - across the street from The Vatican. We ended up eating there 5 times - it was amazing! Every meal was delicious and they were so accommodating for our loud American family. They even gave my sister-in-law one of their plates because she loved it so much. A great place to go after seeing St. Peter's. They open at 7 .. so don't go too early. read more

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Great food and amazing service. We ate outside and it was a great experience. The lasagna and veal Marsala were incredible. It's not to far from the Vatican and worth the stop by all means. read more

This place was just great. My two favorite dishes we're at the rigatoni and the lasagna. The interesting thing about the lasagna is that it had green peas in it. This is the first time anywhere that I have seen green peas in the Sonia, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely something I will try when I make lasagna on my own again. The rigatoni was very tasty also, and the service overall was fantastic. If you were looking for a place to eat near the Vatican, this is it. read more

The pizza was not that great, maybe because the chef was celebrating New Years, but there's no excuse for half an egg on a pizza. Margherita, Verdure and Capricciosa, all so and so, my friends agreed. There's lots of good pizza joints in the center of Rome! read more

Osteria dei Pontefici - Ho fatto i capricci dopo aver visto questa capricciosa.. - Italian Near Me - Rome, RM

The food was good but not what we ordered, 3 times. For example I ordered a liter of wine and got a half, ordered basil pasta and got simple spaghetti, ordered fried mozzarella and got eggplant parm. It wasn't bad just wasn't what we intended. A definite language barrier and our server didn't know or refused to attempt any English. I don't expect that in an Italian restaurant but a warming for those who don't know the language! read more