Enter American tourist. Pizza ala mode. Or at least just pizza, Roma style…read more
I spotted this Pizza joint by chance while on my way to my bed and breakfast digs on Via Costa. It just so happened that this particular pizza place was about a block away and near by the Red di Roma Metro train station anyway. I caught on fast that Roma was filled with pizza places and your fair stare of brasseries, as well as small mom and pop restaurants. It's a mix of the old and new, keeping with tradition with commerce at your fingertips. I am glad that I stopped here, as the dude at the counter understood some rudimentary English to help me with my lunch. "This one and that one" I would point to the pizza in the display case, maneuvering my very limited Italian to just my broken English phrases. The use of "credit" was very useful, as this place only takes cash. This Pizza joint is primarily a take away place. There are some seating areas inside the restaurant, but not much. Not much at all really.
Best bet would be to do take away and have these pizza slices at your own leisure. One slice, which was cut into two smaller chunks fetched about €4.00, which I thought was reasonable. The area is a fast paced and high traffic area, any parking you may have had is gone. The guy at the counter was somewhat understanding, as he noticed my English wasn't terribly bad, but knew I wasn't a local Italian either. The exchange was mutually beneficial and it provided me a glimpse of how local Roma people lived, played and worked on a daily basis. I even went to the neighborhood park across the street from the pizza place to relax and wait for the bed and breakfast owner to arrive, while eating my pizza for late lunch / early dinner on day one of my Roma visit. People watching, relaxing, and just being in the moment gives a fresh perspective on life.
The pizza was quite different than what we have in the states. For starters, they cut the pizza in rectangles. We Americans do it primarily in triangles and the entire pizza is shaped in a circle. Quite interesting to be in the birthplace of the pizza and the original shape was a rectangle! While this experience at this Pizza place was rather short, it was good and the pizza was delicious, although it seemed to borderline good and average. Maybe I was just hungry after a morning of flying and traveling, but it was good to have dug into those slices of pizza when I did. Made me feel grateful to have something rather than nothing, while on vacation. I guess the dude at the counter took pity on me, as he looked me up and down.
Sure, whatever works, I guess!
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