Rome: 7 lunches and 8 dinners
 

Realized this is how I am looking at my trip!! (somewhat in jest!!) Family of four, two teen sons 16 and 18. Love good food, don't mind dives, don't need stars! We are staying near the Pantheon. Don't want to bring coat and tie.

Anything you 'wouldn't miss' on a week in Rome?? And, yes, I know this has been asked many times, just hoping something pops out to you, as a must do!! Or, with only 15 meals...a "skip it"!!

Lunches: have room for 3 more

Pizzarium
Perilli (Sunday lunch)
Cesare al Casaletto
L'Asino d'Oro

Dinners: have room for 3 more

Armando al Pantheon
Roscioli
Sora Margherita
L'osteria Monte Verde
L'Arcangelo

FYI, Trattoria Monti is closed while we are there.

Urbana 47, Taverna dei Fiori Imperial, Al Moro, DRenato e Luisa, Cul de Sac, 00100, Flavio al Velavevodetto, Osteria Fernando, Costanza, Chiostro di Bramante...these are all weighing heavy on my list!!

You have a good looking list (IMHO). If you are interested in exploring the Prati neighborhood I dined at 2 restaurants in that area during my October trip. Sorpasso (dinner) and Romeo (lunch), which I thought were excellent. If you click on my screen name an pull up my trip reports it's the most recent one. The information I listed about those restaurants are towards the end of the report.

Hi!

Are you going to L'Arcengelo based on my gnocchi quest? It was really good.

I second Romeo and I've heard really good things about 00100 pizza.

I was in Rome last month and visited a few of these places. We had a disappointing experience at Urbana 47. The room was hip and bustling on a Saturday night, but it left us cold. I wouldn't recommend it based on our experience, but maybe it just wasn't our night.

We rebounded with Sunday lunch at Flavio, and it was probably our favorite meal of the trip. I loved their carbonara, and the main of meatballs we shared was perfect. There were a lot of families, which made for a fun and convivial atmosphere, and we had a relaxing and tasty lunch. Taverna dei Fori Imperiali offered a similar menu and atmosphere, and we enjoyed our dinner here quite a bit. I think both would be hits with your sons. Food is good and neither is stuffy.

Also in Prati, we had a nice light lunch at Passaguai Vin Cafe (which I believe is run by the same people as Sorpasso). The room was small and cozy, service sweet, and my fennel and orange salad was light, crisp and perfect with a glass of wine and a cheese plate.

How about a pizzeria dinner? I forget where you're staying, but we had two enjoyable dinners at Pizzeria Le Carette in Monti (right across from Taverna dei Fori Imperiali, actually). The pizza was good and it was another cozy place with good service and a nice ambiance (one night we had lovely weather and sat in their cute courtyard). I wouldn't make a big trek for it (there's prob many similar places; we had an equally fun dinner at Pizzeria Ivo in Trastevere), but if you're nearby, I think it would be a winner.

jmct714, one vote is enough to scratch something off the list, boom! Glad to hear that about Flavio, want to go in that area, know it is a 'fifth quarter' place but sounds like you ate some other stuff. Will make a note of the Prati spot. Don't have much up that way but sounds like such a nice part of town. Your Monti suggestions are helpful...we have our big forum/coliseum tour on the NY eve, ending around 3, and would like to eat in that area, but things get complicated with NY eve menus and such...don't need an 'experience' for the dinner, just good. maybe some will be open. thanks mucho!!

flygirl, could be, gnocchi is a magic word for me, not sure where the mention came from, but I have followed your report a good bit!! Was Romeo a bit dressy? We will be casual. Not sweatsuit and tennies and fanny pack casual, but no coats and ties. Have scratched a few (Glass, M...) off my list for that reason, and somehow put Romeo in that bunch.

Geez, it is getting close. Honestly, I have worked more on food than sites...am a bit uneasy with that arrangement, altho with tours of Vatican and Forum area, I think the rest is pretty self explanatory. Keep reading about 'don't miss' off the beaten trail stuff...but must console myself that Rome wasn't built in a day, and can't be seen in nine!! Agreed??

I have to agree, I have the same problem. For our first trip, we'll probably stick to regular, tourist-y stuff and places. What can we do, we are all tourists... And I love your "eats" list, I'll have to check it (twice, or maybe more than that).
Have a great trip!

We ate at Cesare al Casaletto a few days ago and would recommend it but I wouldn't chase out there for lunch. It's a fairly easy 20 minute tram ride on the number 8 from Largo Argentina (which is near where you're staying) but it will break up your day so I'd be inclined to go for dinner.

WE've eaten at a few of the places you've mentioned and we didn't find them dressy (given your description) so no need to worry about ties etc, though during the week we did see quite a lot of men in ties but this seems to be factor of them coming directly from work.

Have you considered doing a food tour. We did one with eating Italy in Testaccio and it might be something you'd enjoy and it would take you out of the immediate historic center. They will take you to the market plus a couple of the places on your list. Even if you don't go on the tour Testaccio is fun to visit.
http://www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com

I can also recommend Renato and Luisa which would also be close to you which would be good after a long day of touring. They are very pleasant people and when we went last week we made another reservation for tomorrow night which is high praise!

Fyi I don't know if Sora Margherita does dinner every night, we enjoyed our lunch ( a mix of locals and tourists) though it is very cramped. I think dinner is only a few days a week, so make sure you are aiming for the right days. I presume you'll be making reservations for the dinners?

I understand the desire to plan everything but you need to pick places that make some sense vis a vis what you're doing for the day so you're no chasing all over town from one meal to the next. Personally I'd also put in some more casual meals which can be fun too, panini made from Pizza bianca from Forno in the Campo die Fiori is one of my favorite options, you can get them just across from the main bakery. Also jet lag may compromise your dinners depending on where you are traveling from you may be very tired fairly early….
Hope this helps :)

Just returned from my recent trip to Rome. Have been there often and had some great meals this time.

We had a great dinner at Al Moro, that was recommended to me by a well-know NYC restauranteur. He was certainly right!

Also, Clemente Alla Maddalena (fabulous lamb chops and calamari with tomatoes), and Taverna Trilussa in Trastevere (carcioffi arrostiti, buccatini amatriciana, gnocchi with pomodori e basilico).

We tried to have lunch at Felice a Testaccio. Foolishly, I forgot that often lunch requires a reservation more than a dinner. So we couldn't get in - next time.

I look forward to seeing where you finally end up and how they were. Have a wonderful trip!

marking for myself - thanks for starting the thread