Eating outside in Rome: restaurants with outdoor seating, terraces and gardens. It’s not only the restaurants in the centre of the Rome that can seat you outside during these sunny days and sweltering summer evenings. There are many districts in the Capital serving delicious food in a cool outdoor setting, surrounded by luscious foliage or overlooking the Roman rooftops. Read on for a list of our favourite restaurants and trattorie with terraces and gardens, where you can eat outdoors in Rome during the summer months of 2017.
Eating outside in Rome
GIANICOLO – A COOL HANGOUT
Yugo a San Pancrazio
At Yugo you can enjoy a fantastic aperitivo on a summer evening. Different plates of fusion cuisine are served on the San Pancrazio terrace, a little north of Trastevere. The Yugo staff also run the popular fusion bar in Monti that opened in June last year, and both menus are curated by award-winning chef Anthony Genovese. You can tuck into raw dishes, carpacci, tartare and ceviche, which are all accompanied by refreshing cocktails.
Terrazza San Pancrazio, via di Porta San Pancrazio 32, Rome Facebook
IN THE CENTRE – A TRENDY NIGHT OUT
Osteria delle Coppelle
L’Osteria delle Coppelle reigns supreme in the piazza from which it derives its name. Not straying far from the concept of the traditional osteria, you can enjoy a lunch or dinner of traditional but creative first and second courses. There’s saltimbocca alla romana with speck and fried sage, and on Wednesday night there’s aperitivo with a dj set, drinks and little bites to eat like fried tomato pizzella or tuna tartare with guacamole and beansprouts (3 euros). You can also choose between pizza, bruschette, home made pastries (6 euros) or a huge salad (from 9 to 12 euros), and there’s the option to eat outside at the tables in the piazza. But the osteria‘s little secret is it’s ‘retrobottega’, the Club Derrière, a speakeasy which is hidden away inside a white wardrobe in the back room. You enter with the password, dressed in the right outfit, ready to obey the classic speakeasy rules: don’t shout, don’t drink too much, and don’t use you’re phone or you’re out.
Osteria delle coppelle Roma, Piazza delle Coppelle 54. Open every day for lunch and dinner. Tel. 0645502826. Website and Facebook
TRASTEVERE – A GOURMET MEAL
Pianostrada
In via delle Zoccolette you’ll find the splendid Pianostrada, an elegantly styled restaurant with a lovely courtyard-garden, a great long bar and an exposed kitchen. Already a huge success with Roman foodies, you can try anything from fried antipasti (10-13.50 euros), salads, gourmet panini (12.50-14.50), and excellent bread that’s made in house. We loved the artichokes alla giudìa, the deliciously light cod tempura, and the fig and sun dried tomato focaccia.
Pianostrada Rome, via delle Zoccolette 22. Open from Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner. Tel. 0689572296. Facebook
TRASTEVERE – FOR ROMAN CUISINE
Teo
You’ll find Trattoria da Teo (named after the owner, Teodoro Filippini) in one of the most beautiful Roman piazze, piazza dei Ponziani. Serving traditional Roman cuisine (you really can’t get more Roman than these dishes), you can truly indulge by tasting the excellent amatriciana, broccoli and skate soup, coda alla vaccinara, roast lamb, or even a fresh plate of fish. There are ten tables inside and a beautiful veranda in the piazza. It’s worth knowing that the waiters tend to err on the side of fairly grouchy or fairly friendly (!). The bill will come to around the same as other trattorie in Trastevere: amatriciana at 9 euros, and maltagliati pasta with amberjack fish at 14. A single courgette flower (which are absolutely excellent) costs 1.50 euros.
Trattoria da Teo Roma, Piazza dei Ponziani 7. Open for lunch and dinner. Closed on Sundays. Tel. 065818355. Facebook and Website.
IN THE CENTRE – A GOURMET MEAL
Marzapane all’Opera
In the piazza across from the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, two minutes from piazza Repubblica, is Marzapane. Run by young chef Alba Esteve Ruiz and the Marzapane team, the menu is an array of traditional Italian dishes made with fresh ingredients. It’s particularly fish-focused, and is a great spot both for lunch or dinner outside in the summer months. So, what can you eat? We enjoyed the tomato bread with jamon from Bellota (13), insalata di lingua (salad with tongue) seasoned with turmeric, capers and mustard, mezze maniche pasta with amatriciana sauce (19), and the fillet of turbot with wild fennel and olives. The Caffé dell’Opera will be open all day long, from 8.30am for breakfast, with delicious treats from Antico Forno Roscioli, while lunch is served from 12pm to 3pm. In the afternoon you can taste one of Stecco Lecco’s tasty ice creams, and from 7pm to 11pm dinner is served (with a wine menu featuring bottles from winery Trimani).
Caffè dell’Opera Roma, Piazza Beniamino Gigli 7, Rome. Open from 8.30am to 11pm. Closed Mondays. Tel. 0648160504. Facebook
MONTI – FOR GOURMET PIZZA AND CEVICHE
Madre
With a beautiful outdoor space which is both relaxing and elegant (but maybe a little kitsch), Madre is one of the coolest hangouts in Rione Monti. Gourmet pizza and ceviche (18 euros) are the most popular dishes, and they are indeed delicious. But prices are quite a bit higher than the average, a Margherita with buffalo mozzarella costs 15 euros, while La Roja, with prawns and smoked buffalo mozzarella, costs 26 euros.
Madre Roma, Largo Angelicum 1, Rome. Tel. 06 678 9046 Facebook
AVENTINO – A GOURMET MEAL
The Corner Marco Martini
The Corner, the award-winning restaurant and cocktail bar created by Marco Martini, is definitely one to visit. You can dine outside in the beautiful terraced garden with a Liberty-style decor and sit yourself down on one of the couches or sink into an armchair. At lunch time it’s possible to order from one to three dishes that cost between 10, 18 and 25 euros; while for dinner there are different tasting menus costing from 95 to 200 euros.
The Corner Marco Martini, viale Aventino 121, Rome. Tel. 06 45597350. Facebook
GARBATELLA – FOR ROMAN CUISINE
Ristoro degli Angeli
Ristoro degli Angeli is tucked away in the heart of Garbatella. Run by Elizabetta Girolami and Ivo Menichelli, the atmosphere is lovely and informal, and there’s an outdoor area where you can enjoy the Roman summer. All the ingredients come from the Garbatella market and the menu boasts quite a few vegetarian recipes. For the first course there’s the focaccina with lard (made from organic Tuscan pork) for 8 euros, the fettuccine degli angeli with butter from the mountains, mature parmesan and toasted sesame seeds (10), cod-filled ravioli (14), Roman fregnacce pasta with aubergine and sword fish (14), and pecorino from Sabina served with Sicilian honey and orange flowers (12). For your second course, try the rolled rhombus fish filled with ginger-seasoned vegetables (20), or the pan-fried steak served with a red wine sauce or simply Himalayan rock salt (20).
Ristoro degli Angeli Roma, Via Luigi Orlando 2. Open every day for dinner, closed on Sundays. Tel. 0651436020. Facebook
IN THE CENTRE – A GOURMET MEAL
Osteria Siciliana
In via del Leoncino, you’ll find a little piece of Sicily at Osteria Siciliana. Seating around sixty people, with around 30 indoors and the others at the outdoor area that faces onto via dell’Arancio, the menu consists of cuisine from Sicula (which is similar to cooking from Palermo). The menu consists of traditional recipes with a creative twist that certainly won’t break the bank. You could begin with the stuffed artichokes (13 euros), vegetable caponata (12 euros), or sardines alla beccafico (15). For your first course we recommend spaghetti with salted tuna and Sicilian lemon peel (20), fried pasta alla norma with salted ricotta (14 euros) or lobster soup with spaghetti (26).
Osteria Siciliana Rome, via del Leoncino 28, Tel. 0668805283. Facebook and Website.
TESTACCIO – FOR ROMAN CUISINE
Flavio al Velavevodetto
At Flavio al Velavevodetto you’ll find great cooking and a very pleasant atmosphere. There’s both an internal courtyard and a stunning terrace for eating outside and enjoying the balmy evenings. The historic district of Testaccio is the home of some classic Roman dishes: fish is served on Tuesdays and Fridays (local seafood, amberjack fish and cod), offal gnocchi on Thursdays, and roasted lamb on Saturdays. After the antipasti (which aren’t the restaurant’s strongpoint), try the handmade pasta alla gricia (like carbonara but without the egg), amatriciana and carbonara (9 euros), and then the breadcrumbed cutlets, chicken alla romana with peppers or the meatballs in sauce (12). There’s no wine list, you simply get up from the table and head to the corridor where you can fill up directly from whichever bottle takes your fancy (each bottle is marked with a price). There’s also a second restaurant which opened in 2012 in piazza dei Quiriti, which also has an outdoor area.
Flavio al Velavevodetto, via di Monte Testaccio 97, Rome. Tel. 065744194 – Prati restaurant: piazza dei Quiriti 4/5, Roma. Tel. 06.36000009 Website and Facebook
Traduzione a cura di Corinna Parker