Roman Food Guide: What to Eat in Rome

Roman cuisine has its own identity within Italian food more broadly, built around a handful of pasta dishes the city takes seriously enough that getting one wrong is a real faux pas at a traditional restaurant.

The four Roman pastas

Cacio e pepe (pecorino cheese and black pepper, deceptively simple and easy to get wrong), carbonara (eggs, guanciale, pecorino, and pepper — no cream, despite versions served abroad), amatriciana (tomato, guanciale, and pecorino), and gricia (amatriciana without the tomato) form the core of Roman pasta tradition, and a good trattoria will make all four properly.

Supplì and street food

Supplì — fried rice balls with a molten mozzarella center — are Rome's answer to Sicily's arancini and a reliable, cheap snack found at almost any pizzeria al taglio (pizza by the slice) around the city.

Guanciale, not pancetta

Guanciale (cured pork cheek) rather than pancetta is the traditional base for carbonara and amatriciana — a distinction Roman cooks take seriously, even if the difference is subtle to an untrained palate.

Finding a genuinely local restaurant

Restaurants directly facing major tourist sites are reliably the most overpriced and least authentic — walking two or three streets away from the Trevi Fountain or Pantheon toward a quieter side street usually finds better food at a lower price.

Aperitivo and gelato

Early evening aperitivo — a drink with light snacks, generally between 6 and 8pm — is a genuine local ritual worth joining, and gelato (proper gelato, dense and only mildly colored rather than artificially bright) makes a reliable afternoon break between sights.

Jewish-Roman cuisine in the old Ghetto

Rome's historic Jewish quarter has its own culinary tradition distinct from the rest of the city's food, most famously carciofi alla giudia — whole artichokes fried until the leaves crisp like petals — worth seeking out specifically rather than assuming it's available everywhere.

Wine and where to drink it

Frascati, a light white wine from the hills just outside Rome, is the traditional local pour, though the city's wine bar scene now stretches well beyond it — an enoteca (wine bar) makes a pleasant alternative to a full restaurant meal for a lighter evening.

Coffee culture

Espresso at the bar, standing rather than seated, is both cheaper and more authentically Roman than sitting at a table — and ordering a cappuccino after 11am or with a meal is a reliable way to mark yourself as a tourist, since Italians treat it strictly as a morning drink.

Whatever you order, resist comparing it too closely to Roman food you've had elsewhere — regional pride runs deep here, and the local versions are usually worth judging on their own terms.