Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Fave Rome restaurants for view or historic interior?

There's a restaurant near the Campo de'Fiori called the Grotte del Teatro di Pompeo, which is built over the ruins of the ancient Roman Theatre of Pompey. If the owner is there, and if he's not busy running the restaurant, and if he's in the mood, he may take you down to see the remains of the area under the stage of the theatre. Don't ask the waiters to do it; they're not allowed to bring customers down there, and the owner probably isn't supposed to either. The food is fine, but not out of the ordinary, and the prices are reasonable.

Another historic restaurant is Romolo, in Trastevere, which is in the building where Raphael supposedly whiled away the hours with the baker's daughter when he was supposed to be painting the frescoes at the nearby Villa Farnesina. His painting, La Fornerina, is supposed to represent the lovely young woman; you can see it in the Barberini Gallery. I never ate at Romolo; it seemed rather overpriced. However, I can recommend the nearby restaurant, Da Gildo.

Another legend recounts that Michelangelo went to the Villa Farnesina one day to see how Raphael's work was coming along. He didn't find Raphael, who was probably down the street with the Fornerina. So he picked up some charcoal and drew a head in one of the lunettes. Apparently, Raphael realized who had drawn this head and left it as it was. You can visit the Villa Farnesina (which I highly recommend) and see the drawing in the midst of the frescoes. I'm not sure scholars buy this story, but it is a very well-drawn head, and the frescoes are also magnificent.