fishmonger6

My wife and I are going to Rome for 4 days in late October. We're mostly using Rick Steves' Italy book for the sightseeing stuff.

However, wanted to see if people had restaurant recommendations. I've found Rick Steves' restaurant recommendations don't always hit the spot, also he tends to overlook the high-end dining options, being a budget-friendly guide.

We're open to splurge on one meal, if it's worthwhile. Are any of the high-end (Michelin starred and similar) places worth the money or a "must-go" while in Rome, in your opinion? We've dined at a couple of 2 and 3-starred places before (mostly in Northern California as we're from San Francisco, and a couple in France). Or do you think that's not really needed in Rome as other local restaurants serve just as good a meal?

Thanks in advance on any insight. I understand food's subjective, just wanted to get the experts' opinions on here.

PWMTrav

Search Perche's posts in this forum. He's answered this question a lot and I've bookmarked a lot of his links. I'm not at home or I'd paste the bookmarks.

Perche

It would be a huge mistake to think that the food is automatically good in Italy, and that you'll be getting Michelin star type quality just by going to a local restaurant.

As PWMTrav said, there has been a lot of discussion about how to eat in Italy in this forum. Recommendations for apps have been posted.

You are going to be visiting the tourist areas. What restaurateur has an incentive to serve high quality, carefully cooked ingredients to people they will never see again? In tourist areas you can ask your cousin to cook in a restaurant, or someone with no experience, training or talent, because no matter how bad the food is, it will have a line of tourists waiting outside because they are located near the tourist sites. The "chef" may be no more qualified than the cook at Waffle House.

You can eat amazing food near the tourist sites, but only if you know where to go. Armando del Pantheon is right down a side street from the Pantheon. One of the best restaurants in Rome. Most of the other restaurants around the Pantheon are serving factory made frozen food cooked to order in a microwave oven, and the tourists who eat it come back raving that it was the best lasagna, pizza or whatever, that they have ever eaten. Much of the food served up to tourists will be Olive Garden, or worse. They pay double or triple the price for it, and think it's great because they are captivated by the fact that they are eating in Italy.

You have a better chance going away from the tourist areas, and into the places where the locals are. But that still doesn't mean you are going to be in the same universe as a Michelin star restaurant. Think about your typical restaurant in San Francisco, away from the tourist area of Fisherman's Wharf, the kind of place where the San Franciscans live, and where no tourists go. Just because you go into any old restaurant in Pacific Heights or in the Mission District where the people live doesn't that mean it's a world class, memorable meal, even though there are only locals there, and no tourists. It could be terrible. The guy behind the stove could be a moonlighting cab driver (no offense to cab drivers).

You might get overcooked, undercooked, rubbery, moldy food in a local restaurant in San Francisco, and you are just as likely or more to get it in Rome. You are not guaranteed to eat great food just because it's where the locals eat at their neighborhood diner.

If you look you will find amazing, memorable food that justifies Italy's ranking as having perhaps the best food. It's not an automatic that you can just go into any restaurant in Italy and the food will be great.

If you do some homework and actually eat in a good italian restaurant, it makes it hard to eat anywhere else. Do your homework and as PWMTrav said, don't assume that just because you are in Italy you don't need to pay attention to which restaurant you go to. If you eat in a tourist area you have perhaps five times the chance of striking out than if you ate in the states. If you just go out and eat somewhere just because, "that's where the locals eat," you'll be better off than if you went to a restaurant in a touristy area, but it will only make it about as equivalent as going to any random local place in San Francisco.

If you want to experience great Italian food, and it seems as if you do, you must do your homework, as you will only have a few opportunities during your trip. Don't waste them in a random tourist area, or believing that just because is away from the historic center and it is in Monti, Prati, Testaccio, that it's automatically any better than your neighborhood diner in San Francisco.

JMN57

I'd also offer that Michelin starred restaurants (both in Italy and elsewhere) get their stars for a variety of reasons. Some of the older restaurants that have the credentials often do classic cooking of the region. Increasingly, newer restaurants have climbed the ranks with inventive cooking that, while often leaning on the cooking of the region, by no means presents classic cooking. Neither is right or wrong and one can like both but if one is looking for classic cooking and using the Michelin guide, I'd pay attention to the restaurants that don't have a star but are mentioned. Moreover, I'd look at their menu online to see if what they are serving would be what I would like that night.

In Rome, for example, La Pergola at the Cavalieri Hilton, is 3* Michelin. Here's the menu:

http://waldorfastoria3.hilton.com/re...u_Apr_2014.pdf

It's a fine menu with Italian influences but if one is hankering for classic Roman Italian cuisine, there are better fits, at better prices and in a more classic setting.

Perche

Very true. Lots of great chefs doing interesting things. The main thing is not to fall for the idea that since you are eating in Italy, the food must all be great. "Or do you think that's not really needed in Rome as other local restaurants serve just as good a meal?"

La Pergola is excellent but I agree, there are great local restaurants with no stars, but you have to look for them.

PWMTrav

It's like eating anywhere else and people need to remember that. I would say that Italy has a more socially-important food culture, so the odds of a bad restaurant are lower overall - but they are higher in the areas where tourists tend to concentrate.

It'd be like coming to Maine and expecting decent seafood anywhere you go. That might be true if you're up north of MDI or somewhere else that tourists don't go, but there are going to be some seasonal seafood dumps waiting to rip off tourists as you get closer to places like Bar Harbor, Portland, etc. (and even then, like a lot of Italy, I do think we have an overall lower percentage of bad restaurants mostly due to a strong food culture but also because summer is only 3 months and you can't scare off the locals).

As we've said in other threads, avoid recommendations from your concierge and other tourism industry people. They'll just send you to their other friends in the tourism business.

dkelly1110

Katie Parla
www.parlafood.com

We loved:
Cesare al Casaletto -- Its a hike, but so worth it.
Roscioli -- Certainly polarizing among foodies. But it's damn good.

While neither is especially cheap, they are not Michelin-starred. But sometimes you don't need to go all out to get great food.

mromalley

Check out the Italy board on Chowhound. Lots of opinions on restaurants in Rome.

mmack

We were in Rome in July (hot) and staying on the via Babuino, so we ate locally.
We did reallly like the Jardin de Russie: expensive but the food was good and the garden beautiful especially in the warm weather. If the climate is OK when you are there it is a lovely spot.

CatchThePigeon

Grateful for any comments, positive or negative, about the following eateries in central Rome:
L'Asino d'Oro - Via del Boschetto
La Tavernelle - Via Panisperna
Ai Tre Scalini Bottiglieria - Via Panisperna
Il Girasole - Via del Boschetto
La Pollarola - Piazza Pollarola

None appear to be particularly upmarket. All our tips from colleagues who have been to Rome but as I'm only going to be there for two nights I'd like to try at least one of them. Any other tips in the vicinity gratefully received.

Perche

I can't comment on Jardin De Russie, which is quite high end, but almost all of the local places on Via Babuini are serving frozen pizza, lasagna, etc., brought in by delivery trucks in the morning and afternoon. Or, pre-made sandwiches that come in little individual boxes. They take them out and put them in a display case as if freshly made. Wouldn't eat on that street without researching a particular place to find a good restaurant. It's a very high end street connecting Spanish Steps and Piazza Del Popolo. I bought some art there. It's with exploring, but don't just enter any place to eat that you see. It's very touristy. .

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Perche

L'Asino d'Oro is excellent. I used to go to school in the neighborhood. It's in Monti, a real non-touristy area, not far from Piazza Venezia. People living in that neighborhood consider it the best of the many good restaurants there. They tend to be closed a lot. Make sure you call ahead and get a reservation.

CatchThePigeon

Many thanks. I will call ahead but I fear it will be closed on the Sunday. I'm looking for a nice place to take the wife for good food and atmosphere but nothing flash.

Perche

It is closed on Sunday.