Hosteria Grappolo d'Oro is both a Michelin Bib Gourmand pick and an Eater Rome favorite. I made a…read moredinner reservation online a few days ahead of our trip and was lucky to get a 9:00 table. We're middle-aged American parents so that's very late for us, but it was the earliest time slot available. The restaurant was lovely, charming and homey, the kind of place you want to eat at when in Rome, or anywhere else, really. Service was excellent. We had a young, friendly waiter who spoke fluent English and projected hyper-competence. We ordered the wine he suggested, a bottle of 2024 Colle Ticchio Cesanese del Piglio, and it was both tasty and reasonably priced. The food was downright cheap, with a €36 prix fixe that included appetizers, pasta, main course, and dessert. It was mostly good, too, beginning with a bread basket and the trio of traditional starters, which all came with the prix fixe. There was a panzanella spread made with bread, tomato, extra virgin olive oil, and garlic; baccalà mantecato con peperone crusco, a cod fish mousse with sliced crischi pepper; and polpetta di bollito con salsa verde, or boiled beef meatball, which was more appetizing than it sounds. We had a choice of three typical Roman pastas for our next course, and I went with the spaghetti alla carbonara. It was delicious, the definite high point of my dinner, the spaghetti cooked a pleasing al dente, with egg sauce, bacon guanciale, and pecorino cheese. My husband's rigatoni all'Amatriciana was deeply satisfying, too, with tomato sauce, guanciale, and pecorino. To my surprise, the entrées were both flops. I got the baccalà alla Romana, cod fish in tomato sauce with raisins, olives, and pine nuts. It was actively bad, rubbery and hard to eat. My husband's agnello alla Romana was slightly better, a dish of oven-roasted lamb served with potatoes. I still didn't like it, though. It looked and tasted like something that might have been eaten 500 years ago, gamey and rustic. Maybe too traditionally Roman for my palate. The dessert was terrific, homemade ricotta cheese mousse finished with candied orange zest and a syrupy wine reduction. Light and not too sweet. We had a great time at Grappolo d'Oro. It felt, for the most part, like a 5-star restaurant, and I'd recommend it despite the 2-star entrées. The €36 prix fixe is a tempting deal, but I think the move here is to skip the secondi and fill up with pasta and wine.

This was the most expensive meal in Rome and also the most disappointing. We opted for the tasting…read moremenu, which was 36 euro per person, and also a glass of wine. The tasting menu includes an appetizer, pasta, main, and dessert. Service was friendly and quick, however, the food was nothing to write home about. The meal started off good, I enjoyed the trio of traditional starters: panzanella, beef meatball, and baccala. Each of the starters were tasty and I enjoyed trying the local Italian delicacy. The glass of wine was also enjoyable as well. Next were the pasta, we went with the carbonara and rigatoni. I somewhat enjoyed the pastas, but I thought the flavors were a bit lacking and the pasta a bit too undercooked. Compared to the previous night's pasta dishes, it just didn't compare. The main dishes, however, were the most disappointing part of the whole meal. We got the oven roasted lamb and beef cheek. The lamb was a bit too grimy and I just didn't like the taste of it. The beef cheek was mid and the spinach was flavorless. The dessert was nothing special, I didn't finish it. Overall, there are other restaurants in Rome with better food. Although the portions were big, the quality was lacking. If you must go here, forgo the tasting menu and go for the traditional starters and the pastas.

I was recommended Renato e Luisa by a friend who visited Rome many years ago and after sharing that…read morewe had a wonderful dinner here, she was very happy to hear that their quality and service is just as good now as it was back when she visited. I made a reservation 2 weeks prior and selected the earliest timeslot of 7:30PM (also when the restaurant opens for dinner). We were promptly seated and the restaurant was at full capacity from reservations alone. We were presented with the specials of the day and quickly served a bread basket with a variety of different bread types. We ordered the sliced beef, carbonara, and their seafood pasta of the day which was a lobster gnocchi. Everything was so good, flavorful, and cooked perfectly, especially the sliced beef. While we had one of our better dinners here, we did notice lots of tourists dining here and not many locals. Fortunately, this didn't indicate that the food and service would also be catered to tourists as we had, what we felt, a very authentic dining experience at Renato e Luisa. We look forward to coming back next time we are in Rome.

Amazing Food. Excellent Service, Atmosphere incredible Even…read morethe Liquer was very Tasty. Instead of Grand Marnier, Our Cameriere set us up with French Cognac called Francois Perot pear. Try Carbonara Al Tarufo

YES! YES! YES! As a tourist in Rome I realize his easy it is…read moreto get lured into mediocre places to eat. Find those out of the way places and you'll be rewarded, we're told! But how? The woman at out hotel mentioned this place and man! It doesn't disappoint! If you can get an outside table, do so. We were not able to because we didn't have a reservation and they were busy. Inside it is a bit cramped but it's still worth it!. The pace is brisk. However they're more than happy to help you with their authentic Roman cuisine! Delicious! Prices are reasonable too. Highly recommend!

Loved the food! The…read moreservice was amazing! Almost perfect. When we got the bill, we were informed the service was not included. Then we were asked how much service we wanted to give. NOWHERE ELSE IN ITALY WERE WE ASKED TO PAY FOR SERVICE. IT WAS ALWAYS INCLUDED.

Very disappointed after reading so many excellent reviews. We arrived and ordered bread,…read moreappetizers, mains, and champagne. After 45 minutes, we had finished our champagne and were still waiting on everything else. After checking in on food, we finally received our bread. The people next to us (who arrived after us) had received their food and almost finished by the time we received our bread. After an hour of waiting, it was just too much. We decided to leave, and it was discovered our order was never even placed. Server made no attempt to fix the situation, so we decided to go elsewhere.

The perfect Italian restaurant. The hosts were wonderful. The location is easy to get to. The…read morerestaurant was cute and quaint and well decorated. And the food....oh the food. It was just delectable!! We had the zucchini flowers, the eggplant parmigiana, the risotto, the salmon,..... everything was simply delicious!! I couldn't recommend this place more. It was perfect!

The food was good. I had a Roman style artichoke, lamb sweet breads, and carbonara. They all were…read moregreat quality and tasted good. I would recommend eating here. Our server was super nice, patient with my poor Italian and hilarious with my dining partners who speak Italian much better than I do. The ambience is okay. Nothing memorable.

Our hotel was directly across the street from this wonderful restaurant. I love both tripe and…read moreoxtails and they have both. Many locals go there not many tourists. Food and service is outstanding and Yes it's old school in the best way. Very clean with simple decor and a nice outdoor seating area.

Came here for lunch as part of a food tour of Rome. I was able to try three different classic Roman…read morepastas for the first time- Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe and and All'Amatriciana. It was nice to be able to try three different dishes. I think my favorite was the carbonara because bacon is life, but you really cannot go wrong with any of them! So delicious. Another thing about this place is it's location. It actually inside a hill of terra-cotta pots which you can see on some of the walls. Fun fact: Testaccio used to be the cities garbage dump for old Roman pottery and you can still see the stacks on Monte Testaccio today.

Testaccio may be a bit off the beaten path for tourists but if you are looking for some of the best…read morerestaurants in Rome you must come here. You can expect to discover the staples of Roman cuisine in these places so you can better understand the city which you are visiting. Flavio al Velavevodetto is one such restaurant where you can do this. They focus strictly on Roman food so don't come here for spaghetti and meatballs and lasagna. Do come here for a proper carbonara or some classic cacio e pepe. When we showed up for lunch the restaurant was packed and a lot of the diners seemed to be locals which was a promising sign that this restaurant wouldn't be a tourist trap. The space is quite large but at lunch it fills up quickly so a reservation would be a good idea. It is very simple and unassuming inside. As I said they only serve staples of Roman cuisine. We started with zucchini alla scapece which are fried zucchini seasoned with mint and served cold. I found it very enjoyable and the mint made it very refreshing. That was followed by rigatoni con la pajata which is a sauce made with veal intestine. I had never tried it before so I had no idea what to expect. The rigatoni were cooked al dente while the sauce was very dense and flavourful. What I really enjoyed about the whole experience was that everything was so fresh. Prices were slightly better than what you would pay in central Rome because Testaccio is less of a touristy area. The portions were large and the food was of superior quality so I felt that they were reasonable. I was keen for some real Roman food and this restaurant offered me that exact experience. It is definitely worth the visit if you are in Rome!

Located near Piazza Navona, we got one of the little outdoor tables for a wonderful first dinner in…read moreRome. The Spaghetto alla Carbonara Con Guanciale Amatriciano E Pecorino DOP was perfectly creamy with pecorino cheese, Amatriciano bacon, eggs, and al dente noodles - delicious. The limoncello spritz was nice. For the tiramisu, you could taste the espresso flavor. Our waitress spoke great English.

Had an amazing dinner here on one of our first nights in Rome and it set the bar pretty high for…read morethe remainder of the trip. The food tasted great, well priced, and came out quick! The staff were also very nice and friendly. Overall, the cute lighting and heating in the winter made it a perfect choice.

we got the bruscheta and the penne all'arrabbiata. bruscheta definitely not worth getting. bread…read morewith tomatoes on top. the pasta noodles were definitely one tier below all the other pasta we've had so far. sauce was decent. nothing special.

Trattoria Lilli is right off Piazza Navona and what a find! Arriving I found what looked like any…read moreother restaurant in Rome but was surprised in the end with a fantastic dinner. I started with the spaghetti cacio e pepe which was over the top delicious. Delicate in presentation but bold in flavor. My dinner companion had the carbonara and as a secondi had the meatballs. All were very delicious. I would recommend a reservation as Rome was very quiet with many locals away for the weekend but the restaurant filled quickly by 8pm. They were sadly turning people away who did not have a reservation. When in Rome Trattoria Lilli is a must.