Best Budget Friendly Eats
in Rome

My take: Covered market in Testaccio where the stalls have been run by the same families for generations. Show up hungry and do a lap to see what looks good. Mordi e Vai for the stewed beef panino, Casa Manco for pizza, Da Corrado for natural wine and pasta. Closed Sundays, best around midday. After lunch, walk the neighborhood for the street art, Roa's giant She-Wolf mural is the standout.

My take: Went here on a Tuesday night and it was already packed. Marble tables, thin crispy Roman pizza, and a room that has clearly been doing the same thing for decades. Get the pizza alla diavola and start with the suppli. Closed Wednesdays, no reservations. Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere is right there, the central piazza with the basilica lit up at night.

My take: Small counter spot on Via Flavia near Piazza della Repubblica. Pinsa is oval shaped with a crust that's crispy on the outside and airy inside, different from regular pizza in Rome. The mortadella and pistachio is what you should get. Staff will walk you through what's on that day. Eat it there while it's hot. Piazza della Repubblica is right there, with Santa Maria degli Angeli, a Michelangelo church built into the ruins of the ancient Baths of Diocletian.

My take: Out in Torpignattara, well past the tourist circuit. The menu is on a chalkboard in Italian, barely a tourist in sight, and some of the best carbonara and coda alla vaccinara in Rome. Order the fried zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovy before anything else. Torpignattara's murals are the move for after, the largest in Rome is here at 32 meters tall.

My take: Classic Roman trattoria near Termini with stone walls. Fills up fast. The house special is the bucatini amatriciana flambé, finished in a pecorino wheel tableside. Get it. The carbonara and saltimbocca are also classics here. Santa Maria Maggiore is a few minutes away, one of Rome's four major basilicas with 5th century mosaics inside.

My take: Walked in after the Colosseum with no plan and stayed two hours. Loud, packed, fun, singing staff, outdoor tables with the Colosseum in the background. Get the pizza diavola and the cacio e pepe, the house wine is almost free. San Pietro in Vincoli is a few minutes away, the church with Michelangelo's Moses statue inside, free to enter.