Nope, I know Toblerone well (actually, too well). The triangle shaped boxes.

The one I was referring to is a flat rectangular bar. Something like .65 Euro for a pretty big one.

Tob is great also, but a little more expensive.

Romelle

A friend and I had a VRBO rented apartment in Florence. Did most of our own cooking, and she also takes her chocolate pretty seriously. We taste-tested a lot of different brands. Never found a bad one, although I'm not sure either of us is very discriminating.

Thank you both for the information. I will check out the restaurant chain mentioned, and bakery's. I don't think we will go the grocery store route. The Hotel emailed us and informed me that we have complementary access to the restaurant buffet breakfast. One down, two meals to go :)

Pizza al taglio (Pizza sold by the "cut", or weight) is the best deal in Italy. This is the square cut pizza, and you can sit and eat if there are tables, or carry it out and eat it walking on the street.

(Differs from a traditional pizzeria, which is usually solely sit-down, and each person orders their own full, round pizza that arrives on its own stand.)

Pizza al taglio is cheap, delicious, and you find it everywhere in Rome.

My personal favorite was potato! Yes, spuds. Thinly sliced and baked right in the tomato sauce and cheese. Delicious. But there are lots of other wonderful varieties too.

Sometimes there are price differences depending on whether you sit at their tables and eat it, or stand at their counters and eat it, or carry it out and eat it elsewhere. If you are asked and don't understand, the usual recognizable sign language for take-out is just like that for your fingers walking through the Yellow Pages.

Romelle

Rome - Cheap Eats
 

Filetti De Baccala
Largo dei Librari 88, Rome, Italy
06-686-4018 9/24/2008
Restaurant Details
Cuisine: Seafood
Price Range: $
Hours: MON-SAT 17:00-22:30

Location: East of Campo Fiori

Fresh and very tasty seafood. If you don't like fish, this place will change your opinion about it. In a small village square beside a church. 10 outdoor tables at which you can enjoy the city's best fish, to eat with your fingers along with delicious antipasta.
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Pizzeria Baffetto
Via del Governo Vecchio 114
06-686-1617
Cuisine: Pizza
Price Range: $
Hours: Daily 6:30pm - 1:00am

Best pizza in Rome -- thin light crispy crust
Location: West of Piazza Navona. The street is just off the SW corner
Credit Cards: Not accepted

Pizzas are sold as piccolo (small), media (medium), or grande (large). Most pizza aficionados order the margherita, which is the simplest version, with mozzarella and tomato sauce, but a wide range of toppings is served. The chef is proud of his pizza Baffetto, the house specialty. It comes with a topping of tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, onions, sausages, roasted peppers, and a sunny side up egg in the middle-a bit unusual but i ordered it. The pizza crusts are delightfully thin, and the pies are served piping hot from the intense heat of the ancient ovens. Eat in the sunny or shady parts of the large welcoming terrace. It is always busy so arrive very early or very late.
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Ristorante del Pallaro
Largo del Pallaro 15, Rome, Italy
06-68801488 9/24/2008
Restaurant Details
Price Range: $$
Hours: Hours Tues-Sun noon-3:30pm and 7pm-12:30am


Prices Fixed-price menu 22€ ($26) Considered a BARGAIN
Credit Cards Not accepted
Location: Near Campo De' Fiori

We had a great eight course meal here including wine. owner Paola Fazi runs two simple dining rooms where value-conscious Romans go for good food at bargain prices. The fixed-price menu is the only choice and has made the place famous. Ms. Fazi prepares everything as if she were feeding her extended family.

As you sit down, your antipasto, the first of eight courses, appears. Then comes the pasta of the day, followed by roast veal, white meatballs, or (on Fri) dried cod, along with potatoes and eggplant. For your final courses, you're served mozzarella, cake with custard, and fruit in season. The meal also includes bread, mineral water, and half a liter of the house wine. If you're faint-of-heart and not used to Roman rudeness, seek another address for dining. The owner can be rude but we found her pleasant to us. Take correct change. She tends to forget who has paid.

My piccolo wife and I split one price fixe meal. It was plenty of food. The above price may be a shade low. I recall it being higher, but well worth it. It may not be "cheap", but is certainly a bargain and good value. That's why I included it.

How was it?
 

OP, when you get back , let us hear from you. I have a similar trip coming up.

Hi all,

Back from Rome. Had a great time.

I must say, Cheap, Affordable, eats are all over the place. I think we spent a max of 30 Euros on a pretty healthy sized meal. If you stick to Pizza and Pasta (which is obviously very good in Rome) you cant go wrong.

A pizza that can feed 2 averaged 10 Euros. Wine was about 4 Euros per glass. A lot cheaper than I expected. Pasta was about the same price as pizza.

We had breakfast at the Hotel, which was quite good. We had a decent sized lunch at a restaurant. For dinner, we were often still full from lunch so just munched on whatever was available in the lounge.

We didn't spend much on food at all.

Overall, great time, great place, very affordable, and great Pizza^

I was in Rome early this month and in general made astoundingly bad restaurant choices (never eat near a tourist attraction!) with one exception: Ristorante La Stiva, Viale delle Provincie, near Piazza Bologna.

The seafood was very simply cooked and delicious. The waiter even brought out the actual fresh fish that we had ordered to show us! The pasta courses were excellent (arrabbiata sauce in particular), and even the house white wine at 6 euros a bottle was very good.

We went twice and each time the bill came out to roughly $100 worth of euros for three people. Not "cheap" but good value.

All these places are wonderful as is Insalata Ricca. I would also check out Mario's in Trastevere -- on via dei moro and la fontanone == right behind the fountain at Piazza Trilussa. The further you go from places like the Spanish steps, Piazza Navona, the Vatican -- the food will improve and you will save cash.

Filletto di Baccala was a few doors down from my apartment when I visited Rome a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't talk my big, fussy group into actually dining there, but I got a filletto "to go" one afternoon. It was excellent, and dirt cheap.

try " 'gusto" in piazza augusto imperatore (sp?). there is an expensive restaurant and a relatively inexpensive pizzeria side. the lineup was down the block. great food, good atmosphere.

*i know i'm late for your trip...sorry!

Will concur if you go early in the evening. Can be a zoo later.

Their brunch is really really good.

Very good restaurant in Rome
 

Guys if you want to eat well in a very cool restaurant then i reccomend you to visit this place:
www.satancacrostaceria.com

from Marc.

All middle of the road and various menu options that might meet your needs - especially Life in Roma.

Rome:

My first choice in rome would be La Fontanella Borghese near Piazza Borghese (which is close to the Spanish Steps). I highly recommend the vanilla soufle as a desert.

Also, Life (also near the Spanish Steps) was great for lunch.

Of the ones listed so far I agree
 

Here is another one off the beaten track.

Rome

La Taverno Die Fori Imperidlia

16 Via Modonna Dei Monti

066 79 8643 owners Name is Allessio, he runs it with his family

This is near the Forum Hotel but off one of the side streets behind it.