We will be in Rome in less than two week for five days. I have been reading and researching for a long time and as I read more,my choices are getting smaller and smaller!! (like Il Bacaro due to a negative review).We are staying near Policlinico station and I know there is not much in that area and that is Ok.We like to eat a big lunch and just snacks for dinner,since we like to eat dinner early, and most restaurants start dinner around 8:00. So far I am considering the following:

Pierluigi-I read their lobster salad and shrimp dishes are good. What else is good?
Ristorante Asinocotto
Historia del moro
Da luigi
La pazzetta
Babette
L’Acino Brillo
Pizza Re or Bafetto
Obika for snack
Il forno and voleptti
Any other ideas? I appreciate any help.
Thank you

The Policlinico stop isn't too far from the San Lorenzo/University neighborhood which has two wonderful restaurants, Tram Tram and Dito di Luna. Both are good for lunch and I believe Tram Tram starts serving dinner at 7 if you want dinner there. As for the restaurants on your list, both Pizza Re and Baffetto are good but I prefer Baffetto. Il forno (I assume the bakery in the Ghetto) and Volpetti are great for a snack but rather far from your hotel/apt. if you are looking for a dinner snack.

Da Luigi is an airline crew fav for eating in Rome. Their grilled calamari and sauteed spinach is to die for along with some great pastas.Prices are reasonable!

Some of your names are a bit off...

Historia del Moro - I assume you mean Hosteria del Moro in Trastevere.

Da Luigi - If this is the one on piazza Sforza Cesarini, I haven't eaten there but at Trattoria Polese on the same square.

It's La Piazzetta, and it's in the Monti district.

L'Acino Brillo. Where on earth did you find this one? It's out in Garbatella, a working-class suburb of Rome!

Baffetto has two locations, both in the historic center, one on via del Governo Vecchio and one off Campo de Fiori. Not all the reports that I have seen have been positive...

Obika for a snack may be nice - if you like fresh mozzarella and want to pay a fairly high price for it.

Il Forno - which one? There are at least three that I know of. If you mean the most famous one, Forno di Campo de Fiori, it's a bakery rather than a restaurant; they will make a sandwich for you of pizza bianca (without tomato sauce).

Volpetti, in Testaccio, is a gourmet shop, not a restaurant. They will also make sandwiches for you. They own Volpetti Piu, which is around the corner and serves light meals.

Hi-

I'm also looking for feedback on Da Luigi and Trattoria Polese because we're staying in an apartment on that piazza. Anything?

I return to Da Luigi every time I visit Rome. Reasonably priced, attentively served, good food.

Thank you all.
Grinisa-Thank you for your recommendations. I have heard of Tram Tram and will check it out.
Zelrina-sorry for the spell mistakes. I have been up since 5:30,thinking of all this,but I have the correct names on my notes. I found L'Acino while reading about Babette. It looks like it is one metro stop down from Pirmide(Voleptti). Is it too far? We have the ancient Rome tour on Sat and I figured we go down there for dinner. I know about Voleptti and Il forno Campo di fiori being a gourmet shop and a bakery and can't wait to try them.
Dutyfree and Ellenem- Thank you. I guess Da luigi stays on my list.

mrs...you are where I was a couple weeks ago. Outside of one special dinner.. DD and I threw away the list of recommended restaurants. We decided we don't want to spend our time worrying about where we are going to eat. We will look for places near where we are when we are hungry, instead of trying to arrange our sightseeing around a restaurant location. We'll ask our hotel and look for where business people seem to be heading for lunch.

Stop the madness! hahaha My suggestion is to forget the restaurant list and enjoy your trip!

I loved Pierluigi this summer. Especially the shrimp risoto and the wild mushroom salad.

It's a little hard to make suggestions w/o knowing what restaurants you have considered and rejected. There are a number of good, well-established restaurants in the Jewish ghetto neighborhood: Da Giggetto, al Pompiere, Vecchia Roma. This is an interesting area to explore and is centrally located, so a lunch there would make sense if you are in the historic center. (Also maybe you want to go to the Al Forno al Ghetto bakery anyway?--Da Giggetto and Al Pompiere are both very close to it)

We are planning ahead for restaurants for our trip to Rome in November--our fourth trip there. I am confused-Is Pier Luigi and Da Liugi the same restaurant?

nini, they are two different restaurants.

Sarge56-I agree with you so much on this topic. I have noticed that Fodorites spend over half their trip planning on eating at "the perfect restaurants" which is ridiculous.
The wonderful thing when you travel is where the journey takes you to. When eating in any foreign city, you should wander and chat with the locals about their favorites and find out about places that you wouldn't have even thought about going to.Some of my best meals have been those that we found after wandering some interesting streets so relax and enjoy the unexpected surprises!

Now I feel better! We leave this Thursday and haven't even thought about restaurants! Actually, beyond hotel, transportation, one tour and a cooking class, we haven't planned much.

<< I have noticed that Fodorites spend over half their trip planning on eating at "the perfect restaurants" which is ridiculous.>>

Pretty judgmental, aren't you?

What is ridiculous to you is not to all and some of the most entertaining and interesting threads on this forum are restaurant related.

To each his own and I will continue to travel in a way that I enjoy, without needing your approval

Kfusto- thank you. I asked a simple question and if you don't like to answer,that is fine. Food is very important to me and I always research and plan for a few restaurants no matter where I travel to. I wouldn't ask a total stranger in my hometown, where to eat,so why should I do that in Italy. With the Euro being so high, I try not to take too many chances.

Geez-scuzie! I only said that because if you read Fodors on a regular basis,the "where should I eat in Rome, Venice or Florence" seem to be the main threads.I was trying to get across that people do not need to feel that their trip is not perfect if they do not eat at "the perfect restaurant" that EVERYONE has to eat at.
Kfusto-I did answer in a nice way about Da Luigi and I thought that I was not in any way judgemental in what I said.
I offered up a second answer as I see too many people on my flights home from Rome everyweek upset that they did not hit every restaurant that was on their list.I believe in preparation in all trip planning but sometimes the best memories are those that "just happened".

dutyfree, I got what you said & to me it did not appear judgemental, just good advice. Some of us travel planners do get rather carried away without realizing it. My DH & DS say, "Are you micro-managing this trip again?" And I'm glad they do from time to time. It brings me back to reality & calms me!

On one of my threads, rkkwan said, "Julie, don't sweat the small stuff!" I thought that was hilarious. I told DH & DS & they laughed about that for days! But actually, rkkwan's comment caused me to re-evaluate my methods, which was a good thing.

On our last trip to Italy, I had pages of Fodorites' restaurant recs - took a lot of my time to develop the list. We didn't use it, because it was too much trouble.

So, dutyfree, I understand your response. I also understand that mine & your methods are not for everyone.

Happy travels everyone, Julie

Don't miss Pierluigi, we ate there 3 times this summer and it was great!!!

Is it expensive? The website has no prices which caused me to believe that it was quite expensive.