Rome International offers its own ranking of restaurants where you can find typical Roman dishes, from pasta dishes to other specialities.
Roman cuisine is made up of many traditional first courses, from carbonara to amatriciana, from cacio e pepe to rigatoni co’ la pajata and many other specialities. A strong and tasty cuisine that mostly consists of what butchers call the fifth quarter, often considered as waste, but which the people living on the banks of the Tiber instead consider as essential and tasty.
3 proposals for eating a real Roman carbonara
- Il Girasole: is a trattoria in the Garbatella area where carbonara is the star dish on the menu: 80 per cent of customers order it. What characterises Il Girasole’s carbonara is the crispy guanciale (pork cheek) and the local, quality ingredients. Having to sum up their carbonara in three words Massimo and Emanuela say: ‘Our carbonara is eggs, guanciale and love’ (Via Rosa Raimondi Garibaldi)
- Santo Palato: Included in the top 50 Italy guide, in the best carbonara 2023 – Ferrarelle Award, we are talking here about a reference in the San Giovanni district and in Rome in general. (Piazza Tarquinia, 4 a/b)
- Cesare al Casaletto: not far from the terminus of the 8, on Via del Casaletto, this historic trattoria offers many Roman specialities and a delicious carbonara. (Via del Casaletto, 45)
3 amatriciane dishes to taste in Rome
- Trattoria Vecchia Roma: in the heart of the Exquilino district, this trattoria stands out for its remarkable amatriciana, which is turned directly inside parmesan cheese wheels (Via Ferruccio 12/b)
- Flavio Velavevodetto: a historic osteria in Testaccio, where Roman dishes rule. Excellent first courses among which the amatriciana stands out. (Via di Monte Testaccio)
- Da Enzo: now a name in Trastevere, Enzo remains a typical Roman trattoria where you can sample many Capitoline specialities (Via dei Vascellari 29)
3 cacio e pepe da provare almeno una volta nella vita
- Salumeria Roscioli: nel centro storico di Roma Roscioli propone dei tonnarelli fatti in casa, selezione della casa per il mix di pepi e una miscela di tre tipologie di pecorino: romano DOP, pecorino di fossa di Sogliano al Rubicone e cacio di Moliterno. Profondamente aromatica e dal sapore deciso (Via dei Giubbonari 21)
- Felice a Testaccio: storica e conosciutissima osteria romana che si è fatta un nome da tempo, offre una molteplicità di ottimi piatti e una cacio e pepe da leccarsi i baffi (via Mastro Giorgio 29)
- LO’Steria: a pochi passi da Ponte Milvio questa trattoria propone dei tonnarelli all’uovo fatti in casa, Pecorino romano Dop e pepe di Sarawak macinato al momento di condire. Un piatto Cremoso e coinvolgente (Via dei prati della Farnesina, 61)
An extra proposal for the other traditional first courses (rigatoni co’ la pajata, pasta and broccoli and arzilla broth and Coda alla vaccinara)
Checchino dal 1887: Rigatoni co’ la pajata, it must be said in advance that there is no section of this list in which Checchino does not have a say, since it is perhaps the only restaurant in Rome to have an entire menu dedicated to the fifth quarter.
La Solfa: if you order tail he will give you the obligatory bib, because, they claim, if there is one unequivocal rule it is that tail is eaten with the hands. (Via Germano Sommelier, 19)
Giggi: near Vatican this Trattoria Vaticano Giggi offers the ancient recipe for pasta and broccoli in brodo d’arzilla, a dish not easy to find but worth trying if you want to savour ancient Rome and its historic recipes (Via Catone, 10)