This is an absolutely marvelous restaurant and well worth visiting when in Rome. Mind you, of course it’s practically impossible to pick a bad restaurant in this town. the Romans take pride in their food as most Italians do. «Americani» may find themselves more at home here than other places since it’s a big hang-out for the clergy at «The Casa» and«The NAC» but one visit here will tell you there is a reason! I consistently get the carbonara there and it is perfect every time. Al dente pasta and the perfect amount of pepper, eggs, and cheese, served with peas. The arancini are the best in Rome. They are kind enough to offer four types of house«digestive» and it really does help settle a big Roman meal. Remember, the wait staff are professionals, so the service is always excellent, simply mind your manners and don’t be «pig American». The only thing worse than that is being German, they hate Germans more… This is not a tourist place, so kick back and enjoy. It’s a wonderful little restaurant.
Andrew Z.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Merriam Park, St. Paul, MN
This was a favorite restaurant of mine when I studied abroad. The waiter that I often had was hilarious and was a lot of fun to visit with. I almost always had their Carbonara and I really think that it is the best in the entire city.
Michael C.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Missoula, MT
The service was excellent. Our waiter was extremely friendly and helpful. They had a really nice gluten free spaghetti carbonara. The kids’ meals were good, however, they were a little heavy handed with the olive oil and/or butter. Otherwise, the price was reasonable and the AC inside was a welcome site. I would definitely recommend you try it out.
Leah S.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Cincinnati, OH
Amazing carbonara. Excellent flavor, just cream enough, not too salty, not too rich. The service was great. Just a tiny bit sarcastic and funny, but not at all rude. Great prices, evidenced by the seminarians hanging out there.
Andreas R.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Rome, Italy
Superb service and cosy restaurant. We were able to order takeaway even tho they usually don’t offer this. However, the food were not that great as the reviews say. We ordered lasagna, Vaile, tortellinin and risotto. The lasagna were ok and nothing more, the Vaile were only servered with sause and nothing on the side. The tortellinin were ok and the risotto were good. I don’t think the food were as great as the others described before. I’d give them 5 stats for the service but only 3 for the food. :(
Jim R.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Juneau, AK
It’s a very quiet place with mostly locals. The food and drink were wonderful, the service was wonderful. I had the cannelloni and my wife had the lasagna, we would recommend both. It was the day before St. Patrick’s day and we commented to our waiter about the two priests who were drinking green Sambuca. After dessert(tiramisu) to our surprise, he brought us the bottle with our espressos to pour our own shots. We poured a few and stumbled toward our hotel. A sofa king good time was had by all.
Melanie M.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Toronto, Canada
I’d hate to be the dissenting voice here, but I didn’t enjoy this restaurant at all. Did I maybe just order the wrong thing? I got the pasta with shrimp and zucchini and green beans as a side dish. The beans had fine texture, but the flavor wasn’t anything special. And the pasta was nothing to write home around. I would not come here and I would not recommend anyone go here.
Christian L.
Rating des Ortes: 2 München, Bayern
Das Pfefferfilet war angeblich schon aus und die Spagetti al Pomodoro schmecken wie mit Fertigsugo gemacht. Der Pfeffer zum Nachwürzen wurde auch nach wiederholtem Nachfragen nicht serviert, wobei am Nachbartisch, 2 Pfeffermühlen standen. Nicht empfehlenswert für den Preis!
Marshall F.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Bossier City, LA
What a great place. Food was fantastic, atmosphere was great as well and the best part no noisy English speaking tourist. Service was good although not speaking Italiano was a small inconvenience the staff really went all out for every meal. Price was well worth what we ate — I really can’t say enough about this place. If you read trip ad like we do you might think twice but as a Unilocaler know this — if you get the chance — go. Be as we all are respectful make your reservations and act like you belong an you won’t find a better place
Tony P.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Miami Beach, FL
I too enjoyed Abruzzi very much. The antipasto was great– don’t miss the buffala mozzarella. The garbanzo soup(made similar to pasta fagioli) was incredible. The osso buco was divine and the rigatoni carbonara was right on! Thank you Timothy Dolan for the recommendation. Save room for a coffee and dessert.
Richard C.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Van Nuys, CA
Read Jim M.‘s review as it is much more in depth than I can ever do. I will just second and third what he has written. I’m not saying the carbonara here is the best in Rome as I’ve not sampled nearly enough to make that judgment. I’ll just say that this is the best I’ve had in my life. Off the beaten path, though not too far from the hyper-busy Piazza del Venezia, on a cold winter’s day, the Via del Vaccaro was virtually empty. The restaurant was inhabited only by locals, not a tourist in sight, and the main occupants were priests at lunch as well as a few government types… a bit intimidating when dining by yourself. The ambiance was old school, dark woods, subdued lighting, and white table cloths. This would be a good restaurant in which to hatch plots, discuss the ephemera of Medieval Latin, or seduce someone. I loved it. I ordered a salad and the carbonara. If you know Bernini’s sculpture of St Theresa in Ecstasy… well, this is no doubt what she was having spiritual orgasms about. No, not the love of Jesus… the love of this carbonara. It was so luscious and imbued with the flavor of pancetta, pancetta, pancetta. Not in an overwhelming way, but in a comforting, wrap me in your warmth on a cold winter’s day sense. It was bliss. Rarely have I know such bliss. This moment of transcendence. This was it. And the complimentary glass of limoncello at the conclusion of this meal… oh my. Along with an espresso, I was ready to face wind, rain, hail, and the overstuffed buses of Rome for another day. Definitely recommend again and again.
Jim M.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Glastonbury, CT
This is a little mom and pop restaurant that is a little out of the way(most taxi drivers will struggle to get here if you give them the address, you need to ask for the Piazza), that is an absolute excellent value. Great service, the best carbonara I’ve ever had(in fact, I came here twice, the second time so I could figure out how they made it as the first time I scarfed it right down: the secret is little to no cream sauce, almost all olive oil, pork fat, and egg yolks, plus lots of black pepper). They have a appetizer buffet that is not to be missed, with great local white anchovies, and a plethora of local tidbits(the stuffed tomatoes and cured veggies really stick out to me, even after such a long time). If you are in the old city, and need a bit of a break from the hustle and bustle and want a local joint, this will fit the bill nicely. The owner remembered us when we came in the second time, and even made sure that we got the same table once again(and got the bottle of limoncello again, but they have to like you for that :)). The waitstaff does not initially come across as speaking English, but like with a lot of places in Italy(especially Rome), if you show an effort and use proper grammar with the Italian that you do know, they warm up nicely(I will get off my soapbox, but it absolutely drove me nuts when Americans would ask Italians if they spoke English in English: it is such a small phrase, and c’mon, it’s there country!). Great place and I will be back again when I visit next, especially if it is in the summer(good outside seating, the inside would have felt a bit claustrophobic to me).