We just disagree. Appeal to authority, but I found Katie Parla’s guides pretty useful and her taste hard to impeach. She’s not a fan either. But all good, difference of opinion.
No one who’s eaten at a lot of places in Rome would have called my meal a Pierluigi average. Since it was in 2015 I’d say maybe I’m out of date, but looking at their Yelp reviews it seems like the place has always been really inconsistent. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many one- and five-star reviews for one place.
Funny coincidence, I mentioned Piccolo Abruzzo here and the next day a friend who ate there with us brought it up out of the blue.
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I know nothing on this subject but saw this Eater article. Some of the pastries look very good.
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Cool article. I fell in love with maritozzo last summer.
this is content i’m here for! What do you recommend? I just added the three recs in the article to my list but always love getting the HO perspective.
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Note the guy bragging about how he uses margarine instead of butter. Most pastries I’ve had in Rome were not great.
One big exception for me is Pasticceria Boccione.
Another is Regoli.
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Yes, loved Regoli/Maritozzo
Do NOT go to the kosher pastry shop next door to Boccione. Their stuff looks pretty but it’s non-dairy and awful.
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Any recs for areas to stay near the touristy area Rome (but maybe not right in it). We are only staying for one night so close walking proximity would be nice.
Also something that has an actual street since we are going to the train station the next day.
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The touristy area is most of Rome!
I might stay at the Hotel Smeraldo, since it’s on a quiet street a block from Emma (make a reservation). You could have a nice walk up Via de Chiavari (which the hotel is on) through Piazza di Sant’Andrea della Valle, then left to Piazza Navona or right to the Pantheon. Piazza di Spagna’s a 15-minute walk from either.
Just have the hotel call you a cab to get to the train station.
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Via Margutta is a pretty side street a step away from Piazza di Spagna and Piazza Del Popolo, yet I hardly ever see any tourists on it.
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Which station?
I hear my hipster friends staying in Monti these days. Trastevere is a zoo and can be annoying with bags.
Tremini but looks like we are not going to Rome now lol
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Booked for December with the family. Going to stay in Trastevere area. Have a lot of good intel from recent threads and visits.
Emma / Roscioli
Da Enzo
SEU / Da Remo
Santa Palato
Campo De Fiori
Thinking of ~4/5 day trip to Florence and Bologna. Any advice on good areas to stay? We are likely going to do Air bnb. This is our Florence list.
Cafaggi
Cingale
Cammillo
Della Lola
Trattoria 13 Gobi
Vivoli Gelato
Is Bologna worth the trip? Seems like a great
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Emma yes, original Roscioli hard no except as a deli. Cramped and uncomfortable to dine in.
Antico Forno Campo de’ Fiori is great, the market is sad, almost all tourist crap. There’s a nice small market in Trastevere, San Cosimato. Great one near the end of the 8 streetcar line, Mercato rionale San Giovanni di Dio. Testaccio market is worth the detour.
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Controversial but I had a bad meal at Da Enzo, think it’s mainly for tourists.
I liked Santa Palato, maybe preferred Trecca. Heard good things about Menabo. Always wanted to try Tempio di Iside. I’d probably add a Bonci pizza spot or Emma as Robert mentioned. Ma Che is a fun beer bar in Trastevere. Da Bruno south of Trastevere. And I’d get a maritozzo at Regoli.
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Menabo is only great if you eat pork liver dish. Other things are good too but it’s in centocella neighborhood and it’s far from central Rome. It’s 45min with taxi on traffic time from center. Not sure it’s worth the trouble
Definitely SEU I think their pizza is one of the best one in Italy. Try tasting menu if not get dessert pizza always. I don’t know how’s it if it’s not tasting menu but shouldn’t be worse. All the high end gelato shop is in this area so pre bang bang is good idea.
For trattoria I think santo palato and trecca is the best choice in Rome and local foodies love il San Lorenzo (sea food restaurant but remember this is Italian’s taste bud lol)
Skip the da Enzo, it’s not same anymore somehow, same for Armando al pantheon. Sad those two places gave me the best carbonara ever before.
if I have to choose I would skip campo di fiori and go to fratelli trecca and pantera. They both have really nice crispy taglio pizza. Bonci is high level on dough but I had better pizza Rosa (good pizza is not necessary the best dough) at fratelli trecca.
it’s not amazing like other trattoria but romane near Vatican is just overall good place (if your goal is trying the best meal only then skip) and can bang bang with bonci after Vatican tour with st pietro church. Which you should try! One of the most fascinating tourist destination in the world in my opinion.
For Firenze why not eat everything dinner at Bologna and visit Firenze for lunch sandwich? Trattoria da amerigo, via sera, mirasole, osteria bottega all good. Firenze is beautiful in day light time with lot of casual food and you can eat bistecca during lunch also
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St Pietro’s Church = St Peter’s Basilica? Nothing came up when I Googled.
Gonna do a few days each in Bologna and Firenze. Definitely gonna save room for lots of meals and snacks in Bologna.
Saint Peter’s basilica yes. When I fist enter main area from the tomb I was shocked. Amazing. Bologna <> Firenze train is fast and not difficult. So you can have Bologna as your main stay and move from there to Firenze, Parma, Modena, Pisa etc
Also if you try to go saint peter basilica with full tour guide for whole Vatican, afternoon is way less busy. Don’t try to go without reservation, you won’t get in lol. I did morning bonci bakery start with best Maritozzo in Rome (cream is more elegant taste than regoli bakery) after tour visited bonci pizzeria to get one or two slices and then headed to Romane for dinner. There’s also place called retrobettga famous among Italian but honestly when your in Italy you want Italian food lol.
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Also just because I said da Enzo and Armando al pantheon was not as good as before, don’t hesitate to try. Restaurants have bad days and could be one of those days I walked in
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