La Torricella - Ristorante

Beautiful local spot cooking fish to order. classic Roman dishes if you want them or simple fish for something fresh

Couldn’t have loved this place more. Old school in the best possible way with very kind, helpful staff. Fantastic fish dishes and the rolling cart of appetizers and side dishes had amazing options. Definitely going back!

We visited La Toricella based on a recommendation from the owner of the AirBnB, where we are staying. We were told to reserve our table because this restaurant is very busy. When we reached, the staff did not have a record of our booking. However, they kindly provided us with a table. The restaurant is very rustic and the decor on the inside projects this very well. The staff were very friendly and efficient. We particularly enjoyed the salt fish with potato fritters and the courgette flower with burrata and anchovies. For the main course we had the tonnarelli pasta with courgette and prawns and the linguine with lobster. All dishes were excellent and we only have compliments to share. Definitely a place you should for lunch or dinner if you are in Testaccio!

Very traditional place. Good food, slow service. Restaurant is very accommodating, we were able to get in without reservations, and were seated promptly. Staff is friendly and knowledgeable, however place is understaffed. This makes service extremely slow and can become frustrating when it takes more than 15 minutes to get the check. In the other hand, food is of extremely good quality and fresh. We do hope this place improves service and becomes the excellent place it can be.

Charming local restaurant. Arrived at 7:30 and were the first people there. Warmly greeted by the gentleman at the front counter. Came with a friend visiting Rome who was interested in seafood. The house red wine was good. The staff were welcoming and willing to work with our limited Italian. We tried some of the artichoke/seafood fried "fritters", they were OK, but they didn't really taste much like artichoke. Then had the squid/broccolini spaghetti. It was OK, but nothing exciting. Maybe we just ordered the wrong dishes?

Update. As you can see from previous reviews, this restaurant is getting worse and worse. My friends and I decided that we will never go back to this restaurant. Really bad service. We had to wait 40 minutes to order even though we had booked in advance. We requested to change the table as they had reserved for us a table that was in the middle of the street behind the corner, it was facing a wall and it was wobbly. Fried squids were borderline disgusting as they fried them without cleaning them; I had to eat their bowels and ink was dripping everywhere. You can see from the pictures that squids used to look (and taste!) much better. They probably skipped the cleaning because they were in a rush. Portions of spigola were ridicolously small, the wine was cheap, and the bill was ridicolously high. You can get better seafood on the beach for half price. I do not know if they changed the chef or something, but I strongly discourage people from wasting their money in this presumptuous restaurant. I got back to this restaurant, but the winter menu was a bit disappointing. I got fried and marinated moscardini, but they were too oily and salty (vote 5). The homemade olive all'ascolana were just OK, nothing that I would order again (vote 6). The bruschetta with beans was tasteless; basically, it was a slice of bread with steamed beans on top. The only flavour I could taste was the olive oil's one, too heavy and acid (vote 3.5). I also had pasta with courgette and shrimps that was quite disappointing too. It was floating in oil and there were just a few frozen shrimps; honestly, I can make it much better by myself (vote 4). Finally, I ordered a homemade tiramisù that was more or less like Tesco's tiramisù, awful (vote 3). The cherry on top of the cake was the bill; 40€ each for some starters and only one main. The owner did not allow us to split the bill saying that it was against the law, which I believe is true in such an archaic country. My vote for this experience is 1, but I cannot forget that I had a great dinner last summer (vote 5); the mean [(5+1)/2] is 3. I do not know if I will give another chance to this restaurant. Below you can find my previous review. l am usually quite strict on ratings but this restaurant is amazing. It is probably the best restaurant I have ever been in Rome. Delicious fried squids, the best ever; incredibly light and crispy, never oily (vote 10). Marinated and fried moscardini. Nice but with a peculiar garlicky after taste that someone might dislike (vote 7). Delightful sea bass on a bed of roasted potatoes; it literally melts in your mouth (vote 9). Mixed grilled fish platter. You can see and taste that fish is super fresh; the shrimps were so nice that we would even eat the skin (vote 9). Good range of home made desserts such as lemon sorbet (vote 7) and tiramisù (vote 9). On top of this scrumptious food we also received a great service. I have never met a waiter who was so kind, attentive and efficient in my life. You can see that this is a real old school restaurant, something that is unfortunately disappearing in Rome. Are you worried about the bill now? Believe it or not we spent less than 50€ each even though we ordered 2 jugs of wine and 4 expresso. P. S. Don't get deceived by the pictures; my phone has a cheap camera that makes look everything worse.

You made me remember my dad’s cooking. I love you dad in heaven! Over all 100% including all the team in this restaurant.

Lovely food, reasonable price. We had fried octopus, linguine with fish, desserts and house wine from daily menu and everything was perfectly cooked and so much tasty.

We had a big group dinner here. The food was warm and homey, very simple. Wish we had some meat dishes but I didn't get to choose the menu! I like the warm staff and the broccoli pasta, but my favorite was the ricotta dessert. If this were a cafe I'd come for the ricotta cake alone.

The worst treatment EVER!!! I had called to make a reservation at 6.45 p.m for my daughter because I speak Italian and she doesn't. She was going with a friend and Augusto confirmed with me. When she showed up with her friend, they said they didn't have a reservation and turned them away. It is hard not to think it is because they were the only two non white people and didn't speak Italian. We have gone in the past because their food is delicious but what a bunch of terrible people, really.

I'm surprised by the negative review. Must have been a bad night. I've lived in Rome half-time for the last 20 years, went to La Torricella with Roman friends who say it is their favorite fish restaurant, and now it is mine too. Everything I have eaten here has been marvelous and the prices -- especially for the generous fish antipasti -- are very good, especially considering the quality of ingredients and preparation. These are serious people committed to the food and the atmosphere, which is homey and old-timey, the real thing. If there are not big crowds it's also rather quiet, which I love. The owner's always there, ready to chat and recommend but never overbearing, and the small staff really care. I recommend La Torricella and everything (everything I know) on its menu, fish or not fish, enthusiastically. Including the amazing desserts.

We chose to eat here because it was listed as one of 38 essential restaurants to dine in Rome on Eater.com. I would never, ever recommend this to anyone, not even an enemy. I have given one star only because I had a good Brunello for 45 euro, other than that it would get zero stars (if zero was an option). Briefly, the wrong starter was brought out and when the artichoke & cuttlefish starter did arrive it was fried within an inch of it's life. I also ordered carbonara (I specifically asked if it was made with guanciale & was told yes--it was not). The pasta arrived with 6 chopped pieces of bacon & what appeared to be scrambled eggs (because they had not tempered them). I sent it back. The plate was returned to me in 2 minutes with the pasta rearranged on the plate and the same scrambled eggs--it had not been remade. I was then asked if I wanted dessert--I declined because my grilled squid & vegetables had not been served yet. When the squid did arrive it was chewy and barely grilled (and on one side only). I'm pretty certain that it had been frozen about 15 minutes earlier. My vegetables never arrived (probably a blessing). There was no concern from staff about my disappointment with my dinner & when I asked for the bill the waiter threw it at me with a grimace.