Visited here on my first trip to Rome a number of years ago and upon a second trip to the city, this was still one of the best spots for lunch.
Came after the busy lunch rush, so there weren't too many lines and the guys behind the counter were able to help me out. Being from the States, I don't know my metric as well as I should, so when I asked for enough for two after selecting a few meats and cheeses they cut up just the right amount. With a couple of small pieces of bread we had two really nice sandwiches.
They also have a huge case of prepared foods, so we tried a smoked salmon pasta dish with tasty mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. I thought it was divine.
The one small problem we had was with the cheese. It was a really delicious pecorino from the area, but it didn't pair as well as a creamier cheese would have with the sandwiches. I think on its own, or as part of a charcuterie plate it would have been fantastic, but with culatello it overwhelmed the delicate flavor and with the other cured meat they just didn't blend as well as I'd hoped.
Was perfect to get it to go and sit on the colonnade at St. Peter's before heading into the Vatican.
When I head back to Rome, I'll definitely make my way back to Franchi for another fantastic lunch! read more