Restaurants (Overview)
Dining in Rome is not usually ranked as high as in the culinary capitals of Milan, Bologna, or Florence, but that ranking, of course, doesn't mean you won't dine well. The most sophisticated food often ranges beyond the regional, finding inspiration not just from Tuscany and Emilia, but from France and Japan as well. Roman cuisine is abundantly available in elegant restaurants where the aroma of braised basil permeates delicate veal, in trattoria where coda di vaccinara prevails along with gnocchi al ragu. Roman summer brings Roman relief, too, with the city's tantalizing gelaterias, and its cafés serving refreshing granite, or ice drinks.Romans tend to dine late, between 1 and 3 PM for lunch, after 9 PM for dinner. The trattorias get lively earlier and even the best restaurants begin serving dinner by 8 or 8:30 PM. The city, fortunately, has many inexpensive trattorias and pizzerias, because most of its restaurants cluster in the moderately expensive to expensive range. (Remember you can usually lower the price category by making frugal selections, except at the best restaurants.) As in all Italian cities, Sundays and August can be difficult times for dining out. If you find yourself stuck, the old ghetto has numerous restaurants open on Sundays as does Trastevere, which is your best bet in August, too.