Question about Dar Pallaro in Rome
 

Does anyone know what the hours are for this restaurant -- are they open for lunch?

According to Yahoo Travel:

Open Hours
Lunch and dinner, Tuesday-Sunday

We ate there for lunch last June on a Sunday. Wonderful meal and the owners are such gracious hosts. Enjoy!

Thanks for the help -- could anyone describe how I would get there from the Termini train station

Take Bus 64 to the stop after Torre Argentina. But, are you going specifically to eat there, or are you going to something else in the area as well? Their food is good, but not spectacular enough to go way out of the way to eat lunch there if you're not going to be in the area anyway. Just a thought.

It might be easier to find if you take the bus one more stop past Largo Argentina to the Corso Rinascimento stop which is directly across from the church of San Andrea del Valle. Take the narrow street that is directly on the right of the church as you face it. This is Via Chiavari and Largo di Pallaro and the restaurant will be on your right in about one block.

Well, I did say to take the bus one exit past Torre Argentina, so I meant just what Grinisa said. Her description was more clear, though!

Good point SusanP ---- no we will NOT be in that area -- can someone make a suggestion --- we only have 1 day because we are on a Cruise.

It really appealed to us that you DON'T have to order and the price was very good ($21per) or so it seemed .

Would certainly be open to any other moderate priced restaurant - for lunch and the directions - please !

Thanks again for all the help -

Sorry SusanP, was reading too fast and didn't see that about one stop after. So, crp3 where will you be at lunchtime? I love Dar Pallaro and it is very centrally located so it's not going to be that far from any of the usual tourist destinations unless you are going to be at the catacombs. But if you aren't planning on being in the Campo di Fiore/Navona neighborhood either before or after lunch, let us know where you will be so we can better recommend something.

My guess is that we will be in the area of the Vatican around lunch time.

Any suggestions ?

Dino and Tony's Hosteria on Via Leone IV. No menu. Dino and Tony just bring you food in enormous quantities. Go hungry. For the four of us the bill was 90 Euro and we could barely move.

Grinisa - thank you for the suggestion-
do you think they are open for lunch?
And can you give me a landmark that will help me find them ?

Thanks again !

We followed recommendations here and went to Dino and Tony's last summer for lunch. It was the worst meal I've ever had in years of going to Italy. There must have been something weird going on that day because even a group of four locals who were obviously regulars got in a fight with the server about the food -- they wouldn't eat it, sent it back, he brought something else and still they didn't eat it. Finally they told them to leave and didn't charge them anything. We didn't get to choose -- they brought us pasta -- supposedly rigatoni Amatriciana -- I found a speck of bacon in the bottom of a bowl of very bland tomato sauce on overcooked pasta. Next they brought us another pasta -- spaghetti with exactly the same tasteless sauce but no speck of bacon. They offered us steak after that, but I had walked through the restaurant and watched people struggling to cut thin tough pieces of meat and leaving it on their plates, so we said no. The final insult was a cappucino that came presweetened -- too syrupy sweet to drink. I don't do sugar in my coffee.
The only good thing I can say about the place was at least it was cheap so we weren't out much.

thank you for the review --- I guess we are back to square 1 again !

As I said, something must have been wrong that day as a lot of people rave about the place. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever seen a review that simply said the food is really great or anything like that. Mainly it always says "a lot of food for the money", "they really fill you up", "you won't need dinner", etc. So if that's what you're looking for then fine, but filling up on mediocre, bland, tasteless pasta is not my idea of a good meal in Rome -- even if it's free. By the way, we did see people eating pizza, including a whole bunch of high school kids, one of whom must have been related to the restaurant somehow. The pizza looked great. I wished we had done that.

We thought the food we had was very good and we are fairly demanding foodies. I know many people who have eaten at Dino and Tony's and none have had a bad experience. But if one bad review is enough to make you avoid it there are certainly other choices. I recommended it because you seemed to like the idea of no menu. Near the Vatican it gets a little more difficult to find good food that is inexpensive. I do like (and these are moderate to fairly expensive places): Dante Taberna Gracchi; Matriciano; da Roberto and Dino's Hosteria which is different from Dino and Tony's. All have extensive menus except Dino's which usually posts the menu on a chalkboard or the waiter will give you a little spiral notebook that has the day's offerings. If you are going to another neighborhood after lunch, you could go to Dar Pallaro on the way.

Dino and Tony's is quite a bit better than Dar Pallaro,but I like Dar Pallaro as well.
By the way, Dar Pallaro is not far from the Vatican. A quick cab or bus ride and you are there. I've walked from the Vatican to that area many times.
Another advice in the Vatican area (received from a priest stationed there) is to look where the priests are eating. This is especially easy with nice weather and outdoor seating.
The priests that work at the Vatican generally know the best valued restaurants.

Once - again thank you all for the help!

Okay, we made our decision:
Dino and Tony's for lunch --- then later much later ---- Dar Pallaro for
supper - at the same time we will keep our eye's open for PRIESTS who appear HUNGRY --- and then follow them!
I think we have great plan!!!!

Grinisa --- can you give us some directions to Dino and Tony's ?
And do you think they are open for lunch? Please give us a landmark to start from -- and between that an a map
should be able to find it----

Thanks-yet sgsin to everyone !

Good decision! OK, Dino and Tony's on at Via Leone IV 60. If you are at the entrance to the Vatican Museums, Via Leone IV is the big, north/south street on your right as you face away from the Museum. Go north (away from the Vatican) on Via Leone IV till you get to the restaurant which is on the left side of the street. It is open for lunch.

BOY oh BOY - will we gain wait on the day we go to both places -

I think - this will be my last question --- How do I find bus 64 ---
is there only 1 bus 64 and can I get it at any bus stop ?