I dropped by here after getting a recommendation! We started with a few glasses of wine and their cheese plate. I believe the cheese plate is technically for dessert but, sounded so perfect. This might be the best thing I had during my trip. The waiter explained where each cheese was from (all local) and what to pair it with. For lunch, I had the artichoke risotto. The risotto was cooked perfectly but, lacked a bit of flavor that I was expecting. Still a great dish but, I might order something different next time. Absolutely worth the trip out of the way! I loved the ambiance, menu and service. read more

Al Ceppo - Artichoke risotto - Roman Near Me - Rome, RM

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A great place to dine where the locals do - no tourist trapping here. We went for lunch on a Sunday, and were the only non-Italians. The food and wine here are truly exceptional - a cut above. Hands down the best carbonara that I had in Rome, the Tagliolini alla carbonara with 'biancetto' truffle is an exceptional spin on a classic, elevated with truffle and asparagus. We also tried an exceptional sampling of local cheeses to begin. I will most certainly be coming back! read more

Al Ceppo - Tagliolini alla carbonara with 'biancetto' truffle - Roman Near Me - Rome, RM

Al Ceppo was highly recommended and we can see why. Located in the quiet Parioli section of Rome away from the touristy attractions, you enter the beautifully appointed dining room and are greeted warmly. We were able to choose from three dining areas an intimate table for two. The cuisine is sublime. All pastries, bread and pasta are handmade by the chef. There's a wood fire for roasting the meat. We enjoyed the Rack of Lamb and the Grilled Duck breast. Delicious! The pasta first courses were divine as well. Plus a lovely wine list to accompany your dining experience. If you ever visit Rome do treat yourself to a fine dinner at Al Ceppo. You can thank me later. Bella cucina! Grazie mille! read more

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Great food! Great service! Outstanding ambiance! Couldn't recommend more! Can't wait to come back.

We had a pretty good dinner at Al Ceppo. Obviously, Trip Advisor must be working very well for them, as nearly every table at the restaurant were English speaking tourists. Not that there's anything wrong with that - as an English speaking tourist myself, but the "locals only" description in many of the other reviews didn't match our experience. We had our hotel make reservations for us, and we took a taxi to the restaurant. We arrived just before 8pm and were the first customers seated. The dining area is very nice with plenty of space between tables. Between the two of us, we had the "rags" pasta with goose confit, grilled octopus, grilled veal sweetbreads, and spaghetti with mussels. Everything was very good. For dessert we had their "Magnum" ice cream bar and sour cherry soup. This was a very nice relaxed, almost elegant meal. I would have rated the meal 4-5 stars, however, our waiter verbally asked us for a tip when we paid the bill. After being in Europe for 2 weeks, this was first and only time we were hit up for tip. I'm pretty sure that service was supposed to be included in bill, as this was a very nice restaurant. Since a tip seemed to be expected, I did tip an extra 10%, but based on my research afterwards, our waiter's request was inappropriate. At home in the US, I would have tipped 18-20%, but this is not supposed to be the norm in Italy, except for waiters accustomed to serving North American tourists. read more

On our recent stay in Rome, our hotel's concierge urged us to eat here, saying that it was one of Rome's best restaurants. She was right. The elegant decor, superb service, and savory cuisine exceeded even our high expectations. As us so often the case in Italy, we found ourselves conversing with local patrons, enhancing the experience. I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough! read more

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Al Ceppo is a Roman gem. Located far from the tourist traps that dot this ancient city, Al Ceppo made me feel like I was transported to a different era. The grill is really the central driving force of this restaurant. I got the grilled veal with porcini mushrooms and I started out with the tuna tartare. This restaurant came at the end of a 2 week Italian trip and I was carbed out, so I can't speak to the pasta here. The service kind of runs the gamut between incredibly helpful and friendly to snobby. Sometimes when you travel, you just run with the punches. We will definitely be back and hopefully by then my Italian will be in better shape ;) read more

We booked this restaurant as one of our three dinners in Rome after doing a ton of research before leaving for our anniversary trip. The reservation was easy to make and we notified them we were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, this turned out to be one of the most disappointing meals we have had in some time. Atmosphere itself was fairly formal, plenty of men in blazers/suit jackets. Nice decor. We had seen some reviews where Americans were sat in the center room and ignored. That turned out to be our experience. We arrived for our 9 pm reservation five minute early. We were seated immediately at 8:55 given bread and menus (no wine list) and then completely ignored for 35 minutes. No water. No wine list. Nothing. The owner came over approximately 20 minutes in and apologized but still no service, while tables in the two other rooms filled with what appeared to be locals were served. This did not appear directed specifically at us, as our entire room seemed to be being ignored. We flagged someone down for some water about 25 minutes in. We decided after 35 minutes that we would walk out since we had not even received a welcome at our table and were absolutely starving. The only reason we did not leave earlier was because we could not just walk out, but needed a cab to be called as we took a long cab ride to get to the restaurant from our hotel near the Pantheon. Just as we were about to leave, our waiter came over. As we were starving, we decided to stay. We ordered a bottle of Greco di Tufo and were finally brought wine 45 minutes after we arrived. Unfortunately the food did not make up for the poor service. The food was decent to good save one dish, but certainly nothing special. An amberjack tartare to start was good, as was a pasta with porcini mushrooms which they split for us into two portions. The mains were a duck breast and sauteed amberjack. The fish was fine, but very plain. The duck was inedible due to gristle. I cook duck breast at home all the time and never experienced tough duck like the duck served here. Nobody asked how the food was, though that was pretty typical in Italy. We had intended to get a cheese course as it looked great on our way in but were so dissatisfied with our meal we skipped it. When given the bill the waiter asked for an additional tip. Only restaurant this happened to us in Italy. I explained that I did not want to leave an additional tip as the service was poor and we were ignored for more than a half hour after we arrived. The waiter said something about it being busy. On the way out the owner asked how everything was and we told them not good and they felt really bad. Said they got slammed by a big party not wanting to order off set menu. Unfortunately that is not really an excuse to let people sit for 35 minutes without any service at all. As I mentioned, they felt bad and gave us a bottle of wine when we left but the experience was ruined because of the poor service. I could have overlooked the food otherwise. Maybe this was just a one off bad night but for a place of this caliber it was really disappointing. I very rarely put negative reviews on yelp but this was just a colossal disappointment that I felt compelled to write a review. read more

On the advice of my doctor, who had attended medical school in Rome, my family and friends went to Al Ceppo for dinner one evening. He had said that it was a neighborhood restaurant, not generally frequented by tourists, and the fact that the menu was all in Italian proved just that. Luckily, we had someone in our party who spoke fluent Spanish and who was able to translate those skills into a very decent Italian. With her communicating with the very attentive server, we ended up having probably the best and most memorable meal I have ever had the fortune to enjoy. I can't quite tell you everything that we had, as the meal took place a few years back, but I can tell you that we were given what was basically a tasting menu of some of the most delicious offerings. I remember a plate that held a giant, succulent fresh fig with prosciutto, and another with fresh, raw shrimp that was the most sweet and delicate thing I have ever tasted, so much so, that the memory of its flavor still remains with me to this day. It wasn't an inexpensive meal, to be sure, adding up to perhaps around $110 a person (we had six people, including two children), but considering the fact that all I can think about is getting back to Rome and specifically to Al Ceppo, I'd say it was so very, very worth it. Go there, and I promise you that you will never forget it either. read more

Transcendent octopus and pasta experience (had truffle pasta and ravioli made with beef cheek and Foie). Secondi (amberjack and the tagliata) was good but hard to match what came before. Wines by the glass were fantastic but the wine list was deep and extravagant (Richebourgs and all the rest) if you can agree on a bottle. Ignore all of the reviews on the Internet saying they won't accommodate English speakers, but look and act the part. read more

great atmosphere with classy oil paintings hanging on the walls and antique goods all over. I recommend lentil soup and dark chocolate tart for dessert read more