We love good food and will be in Rome in December. Do you have any recommendations for restaurants near the Pantheon, the area of our hotel. We will spend $$$ on great food,but love the really lovely Mom and Pop kinds of places that work so hard to please their customers. All help will be greatfully appreciated.Thanks

We had an unbelievable and very reasonably priced dinner at ORSO 80. The restaurant is very close to Piazza Navona, so not that far from your hotel at all. I will try to find the exact address.

ORSO 80 is a real mom and pop place- I think all the waiters etc are one large family! We had a wonderful time there, and really thought the food was sensational- especially the antipasta dishes which were out of this world.

Another vote for L'Orso 80, address is Via dell'Orso 33. And the antipasto is a must--enough to feed a small army.

I don't remember the name of the restaurant nor the street but I'll try to give instructions. Very easy.

With your back to the front of the Pantheon walk across the square with a slight veer to the right (not a right turn but a slight angle to the right a bit).

As soon as you exit the square onto that street walk no more than 30-40 yards. It's on the right side of the very small street.

This restaurant was recommended by several on this board and was very good. It was full of locals when we were there. Many appeared as if they had come directly from work and were dressed in suits.

I remember the food was very good and not overly expensive.

Any help on the name or the name of the street?

Trattoria da Armando al Pantheon, Salita de Crescenzi 31 -- near the Pantheon, 58E with a bottle of wine in March 2005, everything was great. Dave

We were in Rome just a month ago and enjoyed our dinner at the Armando al Pantheon also. I wrote about it in my report. Only thing is that it didn't seem to have AC and it was hot in Rome while we were there - you won't have to worry about it in December though!

Have a great trip!

I second the Trattoria di Armando

We were just in Rome in June and went to a great little restaurant a block away from the Pantheon. It's a little more upscale than a mom and pop place but the food was great. It's in a small piazza with a gorgeous church and that night the trattoria next door was playing the USA vs. Italy World Cup semi finals on their TV. There was a lot of cheering and wine drinking on a beautiful summer night. It's called Clemente Alla Maddalena and their website is:

http://www.clementeallamaddalena.it/

Have fun!

That restaurant looks lovely, italy2006! I'm putting it on my list for the next visit.

L'Orso 80

that place is great, just dont get the antipasto for each person its a huge portion. They also treat kids great. That was my favorite place to eat in Rome.

Great coffee place right across from pantheon hotel.

Oh I do love you people!!

Another vote for Armando!

Thank you all very much. 4 great recommendations and 4 nights to do it in. Can hardly wait.

Armando has been added to my Rome restaurant list for my next trip. Thanks.

I suspect Myer's recommendation is Da Fortunato, and the name of the street is - surprise! - Via Pantheon.

Most of the people there do wear suits, because very many of them are Italian politicians. They also have pictures of foreign politicians on the walls; a fairly recent one is of Condoleezza Rice.

The food is good but not better than at other places nearby; the service is either oversolicitous or somewhat arrogant; the prices are higher than elsewhere.

I vote for Armando's! We were customers of the night & walked out with complimentary bottles of wine...I'm chilling them now

We will be staying in Pantheon area in early October and appreciate the restaurant recommendations. I'm saving this thread. Thanks!

In case you missed my L'Orso 80 story, here it is:

We visted there in late May with our kids ages 15, 13 and 10. Before we had ordered, the waiter came over to our table and said something about spinach ravioli, mostly in Italian. My husband thought he was describing the special of the day. Soon (we were still looking at our menus), the waiter brought each of us a full sized portion of spinach ravioli. It was very good, but of course, that was more than enough to fill up the girls. I felt sort of "taken care of" until I got the check - 10 euro each for the spinach raviolis - 50 euro! We would have never ordered 5 adult sized portions of an appetizer, given how little the younger two kids eat!

I have never understood why they singled us out for the "spinach ravioli
treatment." Everyone around us was ordering the house antipasti (as recommended on this board); yet, they brought us 50 euro worth of ravioli!

As for treating kids great, they paid no attention to our kids.

As we were leaving, I also observed them dumping unused portions of the house antipasti back into the serving bowl.

Eloise,
Now that you mention the name (Da Fortunato) it sound very familiar. Probably the right one.

We were there in 2002. Maybe things have changed.

I thought it was pretty good and not very expensive.

Those in suits looked more like people on their way from work rather than politians, but how can you tell the difference.

I'm staying near the Pantheon in February. Great suggestions!