1. Don't rely on your concierge. They will just send you to one of their friends.

2. Know the regional food. You wouldn't go to New Orleans and order New England clam chowder. Same principle. Locals go to places where they serve the local dishes they're used to eating.

3. If you see fettucine alfredo, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken, veal, or shrimp parmigian, walk out. Those are all italian american dishes, and only tourist restaurants serve them.

4. Examples of Roman dishes include pizza, pasta in the form of carbonara, amatriciana, cacio e pepe, etc. When in Rome, do (eat) what the Romans do.

5. Know what is seasonal. If you ask for artichokes in November, you may get a blank stare. The better restaurants really focus on what they can obtain fresh, and for this reason their menu changes frequently throughout the year.

6. Due to the beautiful surroundings in Italy no matter what a tourist eats they tend to think it was the best pizza, the best pasta they ever had. It's more about the surroundings and atmosphere than the quality of the food. This "vacation effect" generally makes sites like TripAdvisor pretty worthless.

There are some good apps/websites where independent critics rate restaurants, and they will not steer you wrong, and will ensure that you eat great, local, seasonal roman food.

Examples of some good websites are:

http://www.parlafood.com (my personal favorite)

http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome.com

http://tavoleromane.wordpress.com (It's in italian, but you can copy and paste any review that looks interesting into google translate and read it.)

http://theromedigest.com/about/ (This one is quite good. It's actually a combination of reviews from Katie Parla, Gina Tringali, and other qualified wine and food historians and critics.)

This is making my mouth water!