Good restaurants near Aberdeen Hotel in Rome
 

Any good restaurants anyone can recommend near the Aberdeen Hotel in Rome?

I'll try again. I know some of you Fodorites have stayed in this hotel after reading post here. When we arrive in the evening after a day of sightseeing would like to know good restaurants in this area without having to travel too far out again by transportation.
Also any thought about the hotel. I have read good things about it on Fodors.

Not sure whether this is near enough for what you want, but we stayed at the Aberdeen and took a short taxi ride to San Teodoro, a terrific (medium/med. high priced) restaurant near the Forum. Very seasonal menu. Perhaps walkable from the Aberdeen, but we had just arrived in Rome & hadn't got our bearings yet.

If you are looking for something within a block or so, I'd ask the hotel staff. We found them friendly and happy to help.

We loved the Aberdeen when we were there last month. One very good place we ate that was only a few blocks away was Da Tullio, on via S. Nicola da Tolentino, near Piazza Barberini. It wasn't cheap, but not horribly expensive either. Our total bill for 2 with 2 courses, wine, and coffee was 87 euro. It's Tuscan-style food, and seems very popular. We didn't have a reservation and were able to be seated soon after it opened, but within just a few minutes the place was full with people waiting.

One place NOT to go is the Target Pizzeria, which is near the Aberdeen, and looks nice -- but the food was overpriced and mediocre.

There is a pizza place on Via Nazionale near the Aberdeen, which I don't recall the name of, but it got a good writeup somewhere. We didn't go there, but wished we had chosen it rather than Target, for a casual meal.

You can walk pretty easily from the Aberdeen over to the Piazza Navona area, where there are tons of good restaurants. We did that most evenings -- maybe a 20 minute walk.

I also would suggest asking at the desk -- the staff at the Aberdeen is very friendly and helpful. Someone else staying there said they got a very good recommendation for a place nearby, but unfortunately I didn't get the name of it.

Here are a few other tips on the neighborhood around the Aberdeen --

There is a good bookstore (Mel's) just around the corner to the left on Via Nazionale. It has a pretty good selection of English-language books, as well as maps and guidebooks, and many nice calendars that make good souvenirs or inexpensive gifts.

A couple of blocks the other way on Via delle Quattro Fontane is a bar / food shop called Castroni. They have a good selection of candy there, some of which you can buy in bulk, that again makes nice inexpensive gifts or something to bring back to the office. Also, they have many gourmet items, wine, etc.

Finally, we found a good cheap supermarket a couple of blocks the other side of Via Nazionale. I can't remember the name of it, but I wrote down the address -- Via del Viminale, 35. For example, we bought a six-pack of bottled water there for only 1.50, which was what the street vendor was charging for a single bottle. That is a good place to look if you want snacks for your room.

On a different note, there are quite a few really interesting churches in the neighborhood of the Aberdeen. You probably have a guidebook with that kind of information, but if you want a list, let me know. The one absolutely not to miss is S. Maria degli Angeli, up on the Piazza Repubblica.

I enjoyed my stay at the Aberdeen. I usually stay in B&B's but got a good deal and would definitely stay there again. The staff is very friendly. I didn't eat at any restaurants near the Aberdeen, just usually stopped at a pizza place or restaurant wherever I happened to be. The staff should be able to help you find some good places to eat.

I would like so much to know about the churches in the area of the Aberdeen. That is a particular interest of mine and want to visit as many as possible in our 8 days in Rome. Other things of interest nearby such as museums,etc. that would be of interest in the area. Is this a very busy area with traffic?

No, via Firenze, where the hotel is located, is not a very busy street, comparatively speaking. It is between two heavily trafficked streets - via XX Settembre, and via Nazionale, where you can get buses to almost anywhere. So it's a good location from that standpoint.

Churches nearby - S. Maria degli Angeli, which I mentioned, on Pizza della Repubblica - interior by Michelangelo, built out of part of the Baths of Diocletian, and one of the most amazing spaces you'll ever experience. There is also a Museum of the Bath in the same locale, although we didn't get to that.

Santa Maria della Vittoria, via XX Settembre 17 - houses Bernini's ecstatic S. Teresa.

Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, via del Quirinale 29, by Bernini, with swirling marble and statues climbing out of the ceiling. Take a virtual tour here:
http://www.williams.edu/art/architec...eaAlQuirinale/

Right near there is Borromini's San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, which also has an online virtual tour, at:
http://www.williams.edu/art/architec...uattroFontane/

Not in the immediate neighborhood, but easily accessible via Metro (from Repubblica to Cavour) is a church absolutely not to be missed: San Clemente, with three layers of history, going all the way down to an ancient Roman temple of Mithras.

Not far from there is San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains), with the majestic statue of Moses by Michelangelo.

Two churches not too far from the Aberdeen, which we didn't manage to get to (maybe next time) are Santa Prassede and Santa Maria Maggiore, both supposedly with wonderful mosaics.

A good guidebook is the Eyewitness Top 10 Guide to Rome, as it gives you a quick overview of where to find churches, as well as their opening hours, and other points of interest in each neighborhood. It's a nice compact pocket size book.

Also not far away from the Aberdeen is the Quirinale Palace. Try to catch the Changing of the Guard there in the afternoon. We saw it on a Sunday between 3 and 4. I'm not sure if it happens every day or not. I know the palace itself is only open on Sunday (we didn't go inside).

One thing we never found near the Aberdeen was a good gelato place. The closest one I know of is San Crispino, which is over near the Trevi Fountain, a 10 - 15 minute walk.

Thank you so much for all this info. This is exactly the kind of help I wanted. Now I can't wait to start looking more closely at some of these places. Anyone else more info will be much appreciated.

Someone on the SlowTalk message board was just asking about restaurants in this area, too, and got this response:

"If you walk down Via Settembre to Via Castelfidardo, you will find the restaurant Da Vincenzo, family run where you can find nice antipasto, great bucatini all'amatriciana as well as fish dishes.. closed on Sundays. to reserve call 06 484596 . Via Castelfidardo 4-6."

The Aberdeen is within easy walking distance of the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. I also walked to the Vatican as well as the Villa Borghese but both of those are much farther away. Nonnafelice is exactly right about the traffic on Via Firenze - it is much quieter then the two main streets. You will remember the traffic in Rome. Intense. Rome is an amazing city - I plan on more visits.