Let me preface this article by explaining my love for food. Contrary to my health-obsessed mother, I love to eat and I don’t really like to exercise. When I told my mom that I would be studying abroad in Rome, her first thought was, “Katie is going to come back fat.” And she was right, I did. In the words of Sofia Loren, “Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.”
I had always known that Italians loved food, but I never knew the extent to which they did and where this love stemmed from. For instance, did you know that the ancient Romans had Vomitoriums, where, after they had eaten themselves into oblivion, they could go and barf it all up so that they could go for round two? My kind of people. I’m the type of person to literally roll out of a restaurant cursing my stomach for not being able to hold more.
Prior to leaving home, I downloaded all of the Roman foodie apps and bookmarked all of the relevant foodie blogs – Elizabeth Minchilli, Katie Parla, The Roman Foodie, and Gillian’s List, to name a few. I started to make lists by neighborhoods that I was interested in exploring – Prati, Testaccio, Trastevere, Centro Storico, and Monti. And then, once I started making friends in Rome (which happened a lot faster than I expected), I assembled the cavalries and away we went on our eating adventures.
From cacio e pepe to cariciofi alla giudia, I ate my way through Rome. Below you will find my favorite restaurants, separated by what neighborhoods they are located in and accompanied by the things you should order or do when you go to these places.
Centro Storico:
Etabli – Order any of the pastas and the charcuterie board. Their wine selection is incredible. After you eat here, head down the street to Bar del Fico and watch the "nonni" (grandfathers) play chess in the square.
Da Francesco – If you don't have the burrata appetizer, the bucatini al’amatriciana, the truffle meatballs, and the pistachio tiramisu, then you might as well just go home.
aT – If you want any semblance of healthy food, head to aT and get a juice or a smoothie. Their baked goods always look delicious, and their salads and fruit cups are always fresh. The even better news is that this place is right by a four-story Zara. If that's not enough motivation, then I don't know what is.
Trastevere:
Taverna Trilussa – The pastas come in skillets – be sure to order the gnocchi, the carbonara, and the bucatini al’amatriciana. They also have a good fried artichoke and fried zucchini flower appetizer.
Spirito Divino – Any of the pastas here are good, but the real winners are the buffalo mozzarella appetizer and the pork shoulder (it is made with the same recipe that Julius Caesar's cook, Gaius Matius, wrote and used).
Ostiense / Testaccio:
Flavio al Velavevodetto – CACIO E PEPE. Have the house wine and end with the tiramisu. If I had to choose, I would say that this is the best meal I had in Rome. This is also where the students and young people live, so nightlife is booming. It wouldn't be a bad idea to go dance off all of the calories you just ate. And then have some gelato because, why not?
(photo = mine) 
Prati:
Pizzarium – This is the type of place to visit with a group – they cut the pizza with scissors and weigh it, so be sure to order six to 10 different types to try. You cannot go wrong. Hands down the best “pizza taglio” in Rome.
Prati Urbani – This place has some green stuff (i.e. salads), but the dish everyone comes running for is the carbonara – it consists of an egg yolk cooked at exactly 62 degrees Celsius on top of pasta. Everyone here is, and will be, cooler and more chic than you are, so don't even try. Just go for the food.
(photo = mine)
Monti:
Ai Tre Scalini – Lasagna, gnocchi, and the dry sausage. If you really want to feel Roman, head to Ai Tre Scalini in the evening for an aperitivo, and make sure to wear all black, Zara preferably. Order a Campari soda or a negroni, and snack on crackers and sausage while you say the same 10 words you know in Italian over and over so as not to draw attention to how American you actually are.
Aromaticus – Go here when you’ve had enough carbs and fried food. And, if you're looking for something to bring home, buy their olive oil. It's the best I've ever had.
While the eternal city may do a lot of things wrong – traffic is terrible, parking jobs are even worse, and don’t even get me started on Italian politics – the one thing they consistently do right is food. Buon Viaggio e buon appetito!
