Came upon this place following a day tour of Southern Ireland. Tour was great thank you very much. Maybe I'll get around to writing a review on Finn McCools Tours (no I am not kidding. Who could make up a name like that?) Anyhow, we were tired, hungry and surprisingly a lot of restaurants in that part of Dublin had closed-down for the night, as to food. You could still get served alcohol but alas, not much choice for actual grindage. Happened upon Romano's Italian Ristorante and it was a legit homerun. I ordered chicken Marsala with a side of penne pasta and veggies and it was incredible. My wife ordered Alfredo pasta and let me taste and it too was out-of-the-park. This seems like a good time to make a totally disconnected and unnecessary comment about the Irish game of hurling. Hurling is pure Irish and comes from ancient Gaelic Irish origin. As I understand it, hurling is only played in Ireland and appears to pull the best elements from hockey, rugby, soccer, water-polo and, perhaps baseball or cricket. You play 6 to a side plus a keeper. The object of the game is to outscore your opponent by whacking the smallish sized-ball (sliotar) (smaller and lighter than a tennis ball, but stiff with raised seams a bit like a baseball) into a soccer-sized goal; thus scoring a goal, or by hitting the sliotar through rugby-ish uprights for a point. I don't know how these fellows don't have all bones in their hands broken because apparently it is perfectly legal for one player to "challenge" an opponent attempting to play the sliotar by whacking said opponent with his stick (called the Hurley). Helmets became mandatory recently due to many traumatic injuries and deaths. Game is seriously nuts but fun and exciting to watch. Made me feel like I do watching a good boxing match or luge. But I digress. Romano's Ristorante on Capel Street is seriously so good. Went back the next night too. BTW you'll know you're in the right place when you notice there is not a single worker of Italian descent in the place. read more

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Family of four with two picky eaters. We all loved this place. Got the lasagna, Alfredo, a pizza and just spaghetti with butter. The pasta was really good and the pizza a perfect not too thin not thick consistency. Also reasonably priced. Would recommend! read more

Oh how ironic that I checked in here. My body was in the restaurant I assure you and I had every intention of eating here but it just didn't work out for us... Spurned on by a workout from hell from a trainer from hell. I craved big fat carbs to put on my big belly. I craved a huge bowl of pasta. "Hmmm," I pondered aloud to myself, "I could eat a zoo". I know I will use my Yelp app that is on my I-phone to locate a place to get great pasta near were my tired arse is sitting. "What's this?! Three 5 star reviews and it's just a skip away! Hurrah!" I opened the door but it would not open. The sign said "open" annoyingly. The staff in the empty restaurant looked at me try to open the door in a rather scared manner. I was not dishevelled, actually I was looking pretty good cause I just showered and brushed my hair. Timidly the lady unlocked the door. "Are you open?" "Yes." "OK cause your door was locked." No response. No apology. No banter. Again a very wary server approached me, call me ethnically astute but there was no Italian in the house. "Hi can I've a table for one?" I eyed the table with newspapers and magazines and reached over to take one to read with my meal. "You sit over there." I was a bit taken a back by her abrasiveness but I reasoned, English is not her first language and if I tried to say the same thing in a foreign language I would probably say. "You sit over there or I will kill you." I smiled at her request and went to take a paper to read. "NO!" "Excuse me?" "No. They are for the manager." "I just want to read something with my dinner!" "No. Not yours!" Again I checked in with my Yelp app but alas I did not get to eat because I walked straight out and left a wake of five members of staff staring at me in confusion and apprehension. Am I being unreasonable?! Seriously! You lock a restaurant. You treat me like a leper. You ban me from reading the mini library that the manager has, I mean is this manager a strange creature with multiple eyes that he can read all that paraphernalia at once? I gave you two stars because I still have to eat your food and apparently it's great and I will eat it - trust me, I will. Just unlock your feckin door! read more

I've always walked by this place when it's been dead and thought, poor things I must give them some business. I needn't have worried, when I came back this lunchtime it was completely packed out. At €9.50 for 2 courses that's probably why. Decor wise your nan would love this place. Had the pasta which looked nice on it's plate but was rubbery. According to other reviews here though the dinner is better so I'll be back again to test. I might even have to make a reservation if the lunchtime crowd is anything to go by! read more

Romano's Restaurant - Pasta All'Olia - Italian Near Me - Dublin, D

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Shame on me for walking past this restaurant regularly, thinking it looks a bit rubbish. What I have been missing out on for the last couple of years are gorgeous hand-made pizza bases and pasta, lovingly cooked by the friendly Filipino restaurant team. Every crumb and morsel was demolished by our group of six and washed down with €10 carafes of very quaffable house wine. Yes €10! That's not all - the 3 course early bird menu cost €15... It's no wonder I witnessed several regulars being greeted by name upon arrival during my 2 hour meal there. Definitely pay this place a visit, I know we will be back many times over! read more

I wanted to write this review after reading some of the weird negative ones. Me and the misses have been eating here for many years now and yes it is a bit odd, you come in to a place that looks like someone's living room with the door locked. One of the reasons its locked is in the Capel street area you do have a number of seedy characters . Secondly the staff is definitely not the friendliest however they do appreciate loyal customers and the owner who is Italian is definitely making up in friendliness. Finally the food is very good at dinner time, i'm not a fan of the lunch menu although it is good value for money but the dinner is excellent. Home made pasta, great salmon dish and the mussels in white wine sauce or all great. This place has been around well before yelp reviewers and is thriving of the food lovers that know the place and don't care about the extra special decor, or extra nice service. PS: the reviewer (Annie L.) who is going to a restaurant to read someone elses papers and then complaints about it on a review site.. wow that's pretty sad don't you think? If you would go to a public library and something like this would happen I can understand but come on this is a restaurant. read more

Easily my favourite spaghetti bolognaise in Dublin, a city sadly packed to the rafters with poor Italian food. Romano's have a great lunch deal, one delicious main course for 7.95 or 9.50 for a two course plus tea/coffee. The starters aren't necessarily worth the extra 1.55 or whatever, but a cup of tea or coffee will cost you that anyway so I would recommend the full lunch special if you like an after-lunch shot of caffeine. The service is good once you actually sit down but I get annoyed at the way we often get pushed to sit in the less desirable front part of the restaurant. Actually, I'm not sure if it's less desirable, I just feel the back is more cosy and they always seem to resent it when I ask for a table in the back instead even when the place is empty so I'm assuming they think the back part is nicer too. Great pizza, simple pastas, oh so tasty. One of the best value meals in the city centre. If going for lunch, arrive before 1pm because it's heaving with hungry punters by this time. Seriously, have the spag bol. And maybe save some for me. read more

I first found this restaurant about 10 years ago when a group of us were on a night out and found that Temple Bar was booked out and so we crossed the river to give Romano's a try. I have been going there ever since. It also used to be one of the only non-smoking restaurants in Dublin. The food is typical Italian mostly pasta and pizza the most inventive thing they cook is whatever is the soup of the day. I dont think the menu has changed in 10 years. This doesn't matter as the food is delicious, best pizzas I have had in Dublin and the cost is reasonable. The decor is bit off with too much pink used in the colour scheme. The lunch menu is really great value a selection of two courses and a coffee for €10 which means it can get very crowed. I try to avoid the busy times so I can get a table. read more

A peculiar 'Italian' restaurant. The interior looks a bit like the lounge area of a cheap motel, and it's decorated wall to wall with cycling memorabilia. No music plays, just a news or sports broadcast, and the staff are all Filipino, which is not a problem of course, but is to me an unusual detail. One might expect to see an Italian restaurant staffed by at least one Italian person, no? However, the food is decent, and at lunch time, is very good value. You can get a nice bowl of salad/garlic bread, with a 12" pizza, or bowl of pasta for €9.50. The service is swift and pleasant. If you need a cheap, cheerful lunch time meal, this is a good option. I stress lunch time, because in the evening the prices increase by about €4, which makes me less inclined to forgive the bizarre decor and relative cheapness of the food being served. read more

Hmmm, I wouldn't go so far to say the service was lukewarm. There was no explanation on the menu of what the 'lunch special' for €7.97/9.50 is exactly, when I asked the waitress I was told "Pizza". Some of the toppings on the pizza were no longer available but remain on the menu - adding to the confusion. Beware that the pasta is cooked in the morning and just reheated with hot water throughout the day (was informed by the staff of this), making the texture is slightly mushy. I'd avoid the pasta dishes altogether. The pizza was tasty enough and reasonable value at €7.95, but with the cold service, I wouldn't be in a hurry to return. Grand if you're looking for something cheap and cheerful on Capel St. read more

Three course meal and two glasses of wine for €20 euro a head, can't argue with that! I have passed this place buy for years, always just dismissing it. I'm so glad a friend suggested a group of us grab dinner here. The three course menu comes in at just under €15 euro, the food is such good quality for the price. You won't be getting high-end Italian, but, you will get a tasty feed. I got the spaghetti carbonara for mains, it was so creamy and tasty I gobbled it up in no time. A few of the others got pizza, it looked good and there were no complaints. I would recommend the house red, at €10 a carafe (50cl) it is very reasonable. The restaurant itself is pretty ordinary, you wouldn't come here for a romantic meal. But, the food is tasty, staff are friendly and the price is right ;-) read more

We picked this as somewhere cheap and cheerful for a Monday night dinner - with an early bird 3 course meal for 15 euro you can hardly get cheaper than that. I'm giving it four stars because the food was fine for the price - it didn't rock my world or anything. I had bruschetta, the spag bol and the ice-cream dessert. it was all perfectly adequate... although the ice-cream really could have done without the weird jammy sauce... but it was all as cheap as chips, so I can't complain! read more

The service is still warm and I have fond memories of cheerful meals there, but it's not the best pizza and pasta in Dublin. Jury's still out on that, but Paulies, Base and Dave's have pizza that tempts me even more. read more

Romano's do that thing with the pizza dough where they twirl it round in the air with their hands, which you just never see anymore, do you? Well, it's probably not strictly necessary but I like it. The pizzas here are relatively cheap - about a tenner for a 12" with lots of toppings. They taste kind of drab though, but maybe that's my own fault for getting the vegetarian option. What?! It promised asparagus! (There wasn't any). The restaurant is run by a genuine large Italian family, with great Italian-Dub accents. read more

Deliciously home made Italian pasta and finest of freshly prepared creamy coffee!!! 3 course lunch special €9.50 Excellent value. A slice of Italy's finest food in the heart of Dublin... read more

What a wonderful little Italian restaurant tucked away among the hustle and bustle of a busy city center street. Surrounded by various shops this is an ideal place to pop in for a spot of lunch. The lunch menu has something for everyone and is very reasonable in regard to price. The service is very professional, pleasant and prompt. I couldn't recommend this restaurant highly enough read more

It is a combination of everything in Romanos that makes it one of the best places to go for a reasonable meal in Dublin. The pink tableclothes , the bright lighting, the carpet ,the bell to get in and the abandoned weighing scales by the bathroom work to make this one of my favourites. The pasta is homemade and the pizza simple like it should be. The owner is an fanatical cyclist and needs little encouragement to talk about his favourite subject. Quirky and relaxed. read more

Pizza is my wife's choice of food when we go away for a break, i on the other hand am not such a keen pizza eater! Being a great husband, i always go with my wife's choice, normally not always great, but on this occassion, Beth was right! The Romano's Pizza, was beautiful, with attentive staff and good family atmosphere,... read more

Myself and a mate decided to take a chance on this place as the lunch special caught My eye on passing. The waitress who took our order was really rude and when I queried items on the menu she barked her reply at us. I ordered the main "salmon&salad" I knew it was all down hill when less then 2minutes later my "main" arrived 3 tiny folds of salmon with a scabby bit of rocket.(no way was I paying 8e for that) I thought the waitress made a mistake but the other original rude waitress barked once again from behind the counter that it was. My mate got her (what seemed like a)microwavable pasta dish in jig time also. Which was nothing to write home about. To sum up "The lunch time special" was a mislead. The food was an absolute joke. The service was Brutal. Although the name suggests different there was nothing Italian about this restraunt. I've had better food and service in a Deli. We left and opted for a great little place across the road. read more

First time eating here last Friday. Food was surprisingly gorgeous! I do say surprising however, as the decor left a lot to the imagination. lino-esque table cloths that went out with the 80s and only one dirty toilet with 2 cigarette butts on the floor. back to the good stuff the pizza was the best I have ever had and the brushetta starter was fab too:) read more

Food is okay, but the menu is VERY ambiguous, on the board outside it says lunch 3 course for 9.50 , lunch special for 7.50. Okay it is cheap, but after had 2 course which is starter and main course, they charged me 9.50, since I had starter and if I don't want coffee or tea, well still 9.50. I think they do this on purpose, since there is no where tell you what is included in the lunch special, and the owner think it is the customer who need to clarify this with him. Conning people out 2 euro, is a bit pathetic.................... read more

I was in Dublin for a week, exhausted from two days of steady tours, tired of the pub setting, and longing for a casual place with good food. I stumped into this place and left so surprised. From the first sip of minestrone to the last bite of ice cream, the food was awesome. And everything for less than 20€, including a glass of house wine. Definitely a great change and exactly what I needed! read more

I used to think this was the best Italian in Dublin, It is still my fav pasta and theres nothing like it. Its is the best pasta salmone I have ever had but the service is bad the deserts are horrible and price is just not worth it. The same meal costs half the price in other Italian Cafe/Restaurants on George Street. read more