wonderful and inexpensive food in Rome - especially Trastevere
 

We've rented an apartment in Trastevere in Rome not too far from the Isola Tiberina April 1-14. Can't wait. Where and what should we eat?

We are looking for ordinary, local establishments: pizza, home cooking, that kind of thing, but good, authentic Roman cooking. We'd love ideas for places across Rome but especially for our neighborhood, say a fifteen-minute walk or less.

Since we are renting we'll be cooking. If you know of great bakeries, salumeria, butchers, fish mongers, greengrocers, please recommend them. Or wine ships. Or gelaterias. (We admit we are partial to San Crispino near the Trevi Fountain.)

We are an older couple and don't speak Italian (beyond tourist pidgin) but we can easily manage a menu. We try to avoid entertainments and noise that isn't about people enjoying their meals.

Thanks for all your help.

I really enjoyed this place: http://www.flickr.com/photos/douglas...7640512455924/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/ai-marmi-roma

I'm not much of a foodie, but <b>Fior di Luna</b> at Via della Lungaretta 96 has unbelievably great gelato.

This past December we were in Rome for six days, staying in the ghetto right across the river from Trastevere. We discovered it on the 4th day and went there once a day thereafter. I wish we had found it sooner.

SS

Dar Poeta (viccolo del bologna, 45) in Trastevere has some of the best pizza - and incredibly cheap!!

I also went to Dar Poeta this past October and it was really tasty (though the flavor came from olive oil?) but the crust was like a hockey puck, and the cheese wasn't melted either, though still tasted o.k.. I guess I enjoyed it, but it was not a well-integrated product: http://www.flickr.com/photos/douglas...57637640291643

Great suggestions! Ellen

I just got back from staying in Trastevere, there are so many great places to eat but there are some hidden places that are more frequented by the simpler locals. Da Augusto is one such simple place that served very cheap but delicious food. They open at 8:30pm and the tables fill up quickly. Not particularly attractive and we ate elbow to elbow with the locals who prefered to ignore tourists but we enjoyed the food, my favorite is bolito misto but their pastas are good too especially at the super low prices. Their menu is quite extensive but they only speak Italian. They calculate our bill on the paper covering the table, cash only. If you ask the locals for directions they may pretend that they don't know it because they dont want tourists to eat there. That said food at the main square is not horrible though more expensive and not as good. Tavern Trilussa is also a good place to eat even with all the tourist crowd. There is a good winebar called Meridionale which is normally empty and not attracting much tourists but it can get crazy busy on certain weekend nights especially on valentine Friday when the local youth spilled out to the street blocking the street with club music. Trastevere has a lot nightlife for the local young crowd who goes for cheap but decent pizza places, you'll see where they go every night.

Keep in mind that not every dish is fantastic in any given restaurant so it depends on what you like. For example one of my favorite places is Dar Sor Olimpia (at a small piazza off the Via Lungaretta but on the east side of Viale Trastevere) but only for their mussels that's baked with mozzarella €7 and some pasta dishes. Their coda (oxtail) and other typical roman dishes are just OK. Still I kept going back for their mussels with mozzarella (I love the flavor combination of the sea and the farm). In general, most tourists eat in the more touristy area west of Viale Trastevere but there are plenty of good restaurants on the east side removed from the tourist paths.

We also walked/trammed our way to eat in Testaccio which is just across the Tevere river. One new major food destination is the 3-4 story brand new Eataly by the Ostiensee train station. It's 3 times as big as the one in NYC. Lots of different food bars to try inside and fun to food shop inside.

We ate at Da Augusto several times during our 2004 and 2007 visits but couldn't get in our recent (Dec 2013) visit. There was a long line 25 minutes before opening. (We ate at the restaurant in the same piazza (Renzi) -- Casetta di Trastevere, which had good food but was more expensive...slightly more upscale.)

Glad to hear it is still basically the same..."family" seating sharing tables with the bill written on the paper "table cloths."

When we were there in '04 and '07, a guitarist would come in and play (for tips, obviously), but it was a really nice addition.

SS

Glad Ssanders liked Da Augusto too. We were there around 8:20 to get a table. Now that we discuss it here maybe more tourists will get there early to beat the locals for a table:)

DAX and ssander, you are great! Da Augusto and Dar Sor Olimpia both going on the list! an additional queston: We often try to eat our big meal of the day around 12:30 or 1:00. Age and digestion make late suppers a problem. Any suggestions about places you think are great at mid0day? Thanks!

Lunch options:
We lunched outside of Trastevere, but Da Augusto is actually open for lunch, come early or late to get a table. Just to prepare you, the place is more like a worn down canteen in need of renovation; outdoor seating could use some umbrellas but they could care less because they are always filled with Italian speaking locals. It's a no nonsense/no charm kind of place, however the food was delicious, authentic and inexpensive.

The cafe on the rooftop of the Vittoriano on Piazza Venezia may make a good lunch place with a great view.
The various sit down food bars inside Eataly offer an incredible array of higher quality lunch/dinner items for less.