Originally Posted by
pbiflyer
Mrs PBIFLYER and I will be in Rome on our anniversary. Need a great suggestion. Long ago, we were in Rome and had a great dinner in a street side cafe in Trestavere. She loved that.
We aren't into stuffy, michellin rated restaurants that serve tiny fancy food.
Romantic, small, great view maybe? Outdoor, although sine it would be in July, maybe not. All suggestions welcome.
Originally Posted by
josephineperry
Hi, I've heard that Felice a Testaccio offers great typical roman cuisine. I haven't been there so I don't know about the view, but here's the website
http://www.feliceatestaccio.it/index-eng.html and you could have a look at the reviews on the net and see what htey say 
Then it seems you've never been to Metamorfosi:
http://metamorfosiroma.it/
The OP merely said that he wasn't into nouvelle cuisine as depicted in the pictures he shared. And nouvelle cuisine is not only found in Europe. Again you inferred something not stated by the OP.
The OP never said he wanted large portions. He said he wasn't into "tiny fancy food".
The OP never mentioned TripAdvisor.
If anyone is generalizing about a nationality, it's you generalizing about Americans.
Originally Posted by
PWMTrav
I actually could recommend some good restaurants in Italy that serve large portions, but they're all around Florence where Bistecca is ordered by the kilogram
First, the OP didn't say he didn't want nouvelle cuisine in his original post. That came up after my post. He said he doesn't want tiny portions, which is generally taken to mean you want large portions. With rare exceptions large portions and good food don't go together in Italy, and I suspect this had something to do with only two please responding in 6 weeks.
I never said OP mentioned TripAdvisor. My response quoted the OP's original question, and Josephineperry's advise,
which was to look for reviews on the net, which generally means TA or some similar site.
I stand by the advice that just wandering into any restaurant in Trastevere is a recipe for a disaster. Katie Parla's most recent column commented, "DOT Bistrot opened a little over a year ago just off Piazza San Cosimato in
the tourist trap-laden zone of Trastevere. Normally, I avoid dining in this part of town like the plague, but DOT is a rare island in a sea of mediocrity
http://www.parlafood.com/dot-bistrot-in-trastevere/ Tavernacia da Bruno is also good in Trastevere, but otherwise be careful in this neighborhood.
The food and people at Metamorfosi do not look like the picture the OP posted. Go to their website and watch the food scroll by on automatic. Note the size of the pasta dish, maybe 100 grams, a typical Italian portion, and the size of the piece of fish. That's normal. The picture you sent is just a small desert. It's one of the best restaurants in Rome, if not Italy, The sous chef just came from working at Noma in Denmark, the restaurant that has been ranked the best restaurant in the world almost every year since 2010. This doesn't seem what the OP is looking for even though the dining room is minimal, modern, and the waiters are unpretentious.
http://metamorfosiroma.it/index.php?page=2
Josephineperry's recommendation for Felice in Testaccio is a good one. It's a veritable Testaccio institution, but as she said, there is no outdoor seating. The place his former chef Flavio opened up has two rooftop patios for dining. Ask for the upper one, and you'll have a nice view. And if you are willing to go to Testaccio, consider Perilli's and have the carbonara. It's not very romantic, but it is one of the where you will get a healthy portion, and it's one of the best restaurants in Rome. Like most places in Testaccio, you won't find tourists. It's a real neighborhood restaurant. You can also have great food in a gorgeous outdoor setting in a beautiful plaza at Pierluigi's in Testaccio, but concentrate on the fish there. None of these places are stuffy.
Not far from Campo dei Fiori is Costanza. No outdoor seating, but it's really romantic because it is located literally inside the ruins of an ancient roman amphitheater. The rooms are carved out of rock. It's very romantic and cozy.
Something a little out of the way, but many peoples' favorite place, is Cesare al Casaletto. Easy to get their by tram in 20 minutes. Pleasant outdoor patio, but no view. It's neighborhood place on the outskirts outside of the city. This is the place where the Rome's chefs go to eat. Many Romans consider it the best trattoria in rome. Relaxed, not stuffy, basic design room, but food to die for. They specialize in various fritti. Small portions but you're gonna get a lot of them and leave stuffed.
Piperno in the old jewish ghetto has outside seating in a beautiful plaza, great food, and is unpretentious.
Like WestCoastFlyer said, you really have to do your homework, then just go for it. You can't go someplace because another person said they had a great meal there. You have to create your own memories. You can look up some of these places to get you started. There's also a fantastic seafood place literally steps from your hotel, I'm blocking on the name, but you probably want to get around town.
PWM Traveler is right, there are a few dishes that are famous for being huge, such as bistec fiorentina, a four inch thick steak, but it's usually shared by two people. It's similar to a T-bone steak in the USA, but is prepared differently. Look at the website he posted of Katie Parla's 10 favorite pasta places and look at the small sizes of the ten pasta dishes, and you will see what I mean about how portion size and quality are inversely linked.
Oh, and in addition to ignoring reviews on the "net," I'd cross of the list any place the hotel concierge recommends.