Eating in Rome

Rome is the kind of city where lunch turns into the whole afternoon.

Rome doesn't try hard and doesn't need to. The best meals were at family-run trattorias where someone's grandmother basically wrote the menu fifty years ago and everyone's been doing it the same way since. A bowl of cacio e pepe, a carafe of house wine, two hours gone before you notice. The whole city eats like this.

This Rome food guide highlights trattorias, pasta spots, wine bars, casual lunches, and special meals that feel worth your time in the city.

Use this page as the starting point for the full Rome section. Three guides: the Michelin tasting menus worth booking weeks ahead, the trattorias I kept walking back to, and the €5 pinsa counters that hold their own against fancier pizzas anywhere.

Last updated: June 2026