It's really hard to know how many stars to give this place--for food, it is 5-stars easily. For service, 1-star is pushing it.
This is definitely a restaurant for locals, not tourists, despite its being just before the entrance to Hadrian's Villa. The menu is all in Italian with no translations available, and the staff's English is extremely limited--they will not be able to translate the menu for you, even if they understand that that's what you are asking for. But the restaurant was packed when we went--it is clearly a popular place with the locals.
After we were seated, however, the service was dreadful. It took 15 minutes to get menus, and a further 20 minutes before the waiter returned to offer us water and take our orders. When the food arrived, the waiter apparently missed my wife's appetizer order--he argued that she hadn't ordered one (she had--the Italian guy at the next table even told us he heard her order it). So, truly dreadful service.
The food, however, was some of the best we've had this trip. My wife's beef with chicory was a wonderful blend of flavors, my pasta and my pistachio-encrusted fish were both perfect. And portions are large enough that my wife just ate our side dish of grilled vegetables as her second course and she said that she had plenty of food and was actually glad not to have had an extra dish.
So, would I recommend the place? Yes, but give yourselves plenty of time. read more