Taverna Romana

I went here with my mom and her husband after a long morning wandering in the Roman ruins. Tables are jammed together and it’s a little confusing as to how one gets seated, but if you’re willing to try out your Italian and be a little flexible, you will be rewarded with amazing food and kind staff. Tables are very close; diners sit cheek-to-jowl with neighbors, and depending on where you are seated, you will likely get jostled by those walking past. Try not to stress, be in the moment, and enjoy the amazing food. We got the grilled artichoke, grilled veggies, soup, and pesto pasta. All were delicious.

I'm so grateful this restaurant was recommended to me. They were very kind to me as I tried to use my Italian language guide to request a seat. When I first walked in, I was awkwardly standing around as I was fully sure what the procedure for getting a table would be. It was quickly communicated that I only wanted a table for one and that if I wanted to wait 10 minutes they would probably have a table for me. Within that 10 minutes one of the employees brought me inside and I was able to order a nice lunch. If your stumbling around Rome I also highly recommend you make time for this fine dinning establishment.

I had the oxtail and artichoke and it was fantastic the meat was so tender and flavourful. Then I had their evening special of oxtail (again) served on a pasta and again my favourite thing was the oxtail, it was cooked perfectly Restaurant was quite busy as well so be sure to book in advance

Cute little restaurant(we believe it’s run by a family so it felt extra cozy!) they serve traditional Roman dishes and they’re amazing! make sure you make a reservation, it’s always busy with a line outside. I recommend everything on the menu, especially the lamb offal(organs)with artichokes, lamb chops, oxtail stew and the steak were all TO DIE FOR. We came here twice during our stay, it’s that good!

Small authentic Roman cuisine/ restaurant, usually very busy and a bit of a wait. Simple dishes, good service, delicious food, good wine, excellent desserts, all home made! Love eating here!

the food was amazing and good value. i would recommend booking as they were very busy or getting there when it opens (as we did).

The best Carbonara we've ever had! Everything we ordered was delicious. The house wine was affordable and perfect for the table. Would recommend reserving a table if possible. We came around 21.00 and waited about 30minutes for a table without reservation (was definitely worth it!) 🍝 Staff was incredibly welcoming and the atmosphere was cozy and felt like a family-owned place 🫶🏼

As authentic as they come! Good food, fine well, homemade, no drama, no fuzz, just great food cooked very well, with fast and competent service, serving the real traditional dishes, all of them carefully made respecting the traditional recipes. I had the fettuccine with coda alla vaccinara, delicious, hearty, homemade, a delightful start! The parts was fresh, the sauce was phenomenal. The main course I had was the abbacchio a scottadito, plus the roast potatoes, another classic done extremely well. It was followed by a 2-desserts combo, the tiramisu, and the cake with dark chocolate and pears, both incredible. This wax the perfect ending to a great meal ! If you Like traditional Roman food, this is a must

Quaint restaurant recommended by my Airbnb host! Top notch food and service! Wish I could go back again and again. Thanks

This is a no frills restaurant but I had THE BEST MEAL. I've never had a fresher salad, and the dressings I will be purchasing when I get home. The artichoke just melted in my mouth. It was stuffed with pesto and it was so soft I ate the stem too. Then I had the oxtail linguini... ah I couldn't finish it but wowzers. I came by myself and because they were so busy I got a table in the corner by the toilet but I didn't care. I was so happy with everything. The price couldn't be beat too. I need to go here again before I leave Roma.

Best pasta when we visited Rome in 2023. Small, but great place to eat for 2. Not too far from the Colosseum.

Great location right next to the Coliseum. Pretty fast service, nice decoration. Food was very tasty and the prices are good, like other trattorias in Rome, 12-18€ per person. Good address.

Our first evening in Rome, and Taverna 79 Romana was simply delicious. We had a table of 6, and sampled several pasta dishes, the salad was so very fresh, and an outstanding dessert. And the wine! Sooo good. Service was excellent (not the kind expected in America, which we think is usually overbearing and bothersome). We had a wonderful evening here! Highly recommended!

It was my first time in Rome and I was recommended to try Taverna Romana. They're well-known for their handmade pasta. My boyfriend and I came in around 7:30pm and at first, they said they were fully booked until 8:30pm. However, they had an opening and helped us get seated right away. We appreciated this so much since we are not locals and had no idea that they were reservation based! This restaurant is about 10-11 minutes from the Colosseum. It was a pretty-easy walk! The restaurant was located in an Alley way, but can be found through mapping on Google. We had the 1/2 liter of house red wine, carbonara, tonnarelli olive and coda (oxtail). Everything was delicious, but the most stand-out dishes were the carbonara and the coda. The carbonara was the perfect creaminess and the pasta was cooked al-dente. I loved that they had pork slices that were so crispy. They helped to break up the creamy taste of the pasta. The coda sauce was SO GOOD! The perfect blend of tomatoes and the oxtail was huge for the price. The servers were very nice and helpful towards tourists. The restaurant was pretty small with limited seating outdoors. Overall, I would highly recommend stopping by and making a reservation!

Food was very good. I had the meatballs, which were fantastic, and my husband had the bucatini gricia, also very good. We shared the insalata mista, which was very fresh and we had the house wine. The house wine was a box wine, and it was disappointing. Otherwise, we really enjoyed our meal and the view! I would recommend this place overall.

This place does not disappoint. again, we came by for the tonnarelli cacio e pepe and had the lamb offal with artichokes. They offer wine and beer and this place gets very busy for lunch and dinner. You may wanna make a reservation to dine in an old world charm place with mom and pop cooking. indoor and outdoor tables

What a lunch! It's hard not to eat big, i.e., try to have a light lunch in Italy because the food is so good. I was tempted by a simple spaghetti with meatball dish. Unfortunately, my order may have been lost in translation and wasn't served on time with my friends. In terms of service, there was one absolute beast (hard worker!) of a waitress so this 5-star is a shoutout to you!

Oxtail. Nom. Game bird. Definitely. Thursday is gnocchi day. Get it with beef or lamb, or both, as the case maybe, because it will be the best you have ever had. Salads are amazing. Vegetables are great appetizers. Roman pasta is great. Just go with what they recommend. Always get wine. Cheaper than the states. Meatballs are always delicious. Gets crowded so do show up early for lunch. Right by the Coliseum so you should make your way here after the tour. Not as touristy as others. Worth the brisk 5 min walk to get here.

We'd been walking all day and just wrapped up our night at the Viaggi Nel Foro Augus. Our feet hurt and we were tired and hungry. Yelp brought us here and given its proximity to all the tourists spots I had my doubts. Put them aside I say - Taverna Romana is fit for Caesar or Augustus, take your pick. Sometimes the simple things are what you're looking for so it was nice to be served flat water. Who knew in a city with over 2000 fountains getting water at a restaurant would be so difficult. Let's not stop at water though - we ordered the misto formaggi salumi, fettuccine alla Romana, Involtinia and the Torta Ricotta for dessert. All were delicious. The service was friendly and as has been my experience in Rome, very patient with my bad Italian. When in Rome - you come here!

The Monti neighborhood in Rome is one of the main foodie areas in Rome along with Trastevere and Testaccio. It is also conveniently located near the Roman Forum so it makes for a good lunch/dinner stop before or after a long sightseeing day featuring Ancient Rome. Being near a tourist attraction the sights nearest the Forum are tourist traps, as are the restaurants that line the main street. What I did was to wander around 1-2 blocks behind the main street and find a restaurant from there. Although I randomly found this restaurant, it turns out that this is also listed in Rick Steves' Italy. Seems like being listed has its downside as I saw more tourists than locals. However I was seated rather quickly next to a man and his son who made small talk with me as to not feel lonely. I remember getting carbonated water which was not free but this is the case with Europe in general so I wasn't surprised. I was in the mood for pasta (again...) so I got the Roman tonnarelli cacio e pepe (tonnarelli [fresh homemade pasta] with fennel tops, olives and ricotta salata cheese, €9). The beauty in Italian (specifically Rome) pasta is that it's very simple and makes for a good meal if you've been walking around all day. The €5 tiramisu is no joke as it contains just the perfect amount of espresso, ladyfingers and mascarpone cheese. I'd definitely come back here just for the tiramisu. Rick Steves isn't a foodie and while I don't use him as a primary source for restaurants, he has certainly taught me a skill on how to find decent (read: not overpriced/awful) food on my travels. In this case I was able to find good and filling pasta for less than €10. I'd definitely come back just to be able to eat that tiramisu again.

We came during lunch on our first day in Rome. Not in the heart of the tourist area, but definitely still in a tourist area. Limited menu and most of the staff speaks English. However, this was my third to last day in Italy and I managed to communicate all in Italian which made it easier for the staff who couldnt speak English. They dont give you olive oil so make sure you ask for it. The bucatini with cheek in red sauce was great and so was the cacio e pepe, which seems to be the popular dish to have on menus in Rome. More expensive than a lot of the other places we've been to on the trip but not totally unreasonable.

Believe the hype in previous reviews. We walked over from our hotel and arrived about 30 min before opening and there were already several people waiting. Inside the cozy, family-run dining room we sat among other Americans but my focus was on the food. I don't have oxtail often and couldn't refuse but my favorite was their Cacio e Pepe with homemade tonnarelli. The service was friendly and had no problems ordering.

Ti amo Taverna Romana! I read a small article in a 2010 Budget Travel magazine and swore I would stop here to eat if I ever got to Rome. Well, fate would have you that our apartment was not that far and not only did I get here once, but twice! It was that delicious!!! I even saw the owner, and stopped her to show her my magazine (yes, I'm a nerd), but I think it really made her day. Our waitress explained that she owns the restaurant, but doesn't manage it anymore. But I was glad to meet her, and even had her sign her pic. Okay, now to the food. On the first visit, I ordred the tagliatelle bolognese and the partner ordered the pasta with grape tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Both were delicious!!! For our secondi, I ordered the lamb chops and he ordered the meatballs. We also got the roasted rosemary potatoes and grilled eggplant. Both dishes were delicious! If you order the lamb, don't expect shi-shi baby lamb chops, you do have to be careful of bones, but it's rock salted and grilled, and very good! We also ordered a litro of the house wine, which is really good for the price! We ended the meal with a cheese cake and a chocolate cake with dried fruits. Soooo very good! On our last night in Rome, we both ordered the bolognese as our primi, and for our secondi, the partner had the veal with rosemary potatoes, and I ordered the carbonara. I forgot to tell the waiter I wanted rigatoni instead of spaghetti. I was in pasta heaven! Creamy sauce with just the right amount of fried pork. The veal was tender and came with prosciutto and an amazing lemon sauce. This was a great way to end our last night in Rome. Lots of locals. You have to go in and catch someone's eye for a table, if they're busy, they'll take your name. It is cozy inside and you may have to share the large community table in the center. I did have another customer get us a table since he offered and spoke Italian. I love this little neighborhood! I can't wait to come back someday in the future!!!

Read some reviews and decided to take the family here. There are so many restaurants on every street in Roma. So hard to know if it will be a good one. We went here and it looked small. Only maybe 12 tables. It was crowded, so they took our name and we came back in 30 minutes. Sat us 10 minutes later. No air conditioner, so expect to be hot if the weather is. We started with an appetizer of two meatballs. They were a bit cold in the middle. We had the Guenea Hen, Gnocchi, and linguini as our entree. Food was good and pasta was handmade. Overall service seems to be the usual in Roma, not enough water and not very attentive. Overall I give 3 stars.

First official meal in Rome, it was valentines evening and we happened to walk upon this place since it was close to the hotel. there was a short wait and since we didn't know Italian there was a miscommunication (due to language barrier) about the waiting list but we were still sat rather quickly. The place was cozy and we warmed up our waitress by asking "how do you say?" For practically everything, she would chuckle and it made our visit easy and enjoyable. We made the mistake of ordering the 2 course meal (per person) which was way too much food. The food was outstanding, the service was great, the drink was also very good. I apologize for not remembering the new names but they were great. This was a great "kick off" to our Rome meal experiences.

Taverna Romana is an small but elegant restaurant with a fantastic wine list with the best of Italy's drinks to go along with a extensive menu. They also have some of the best desserts in Rome with an amazing flourless chocolate cake topped with a fine layer of powdered saucer and a scoop of the finest vanilla bean ice cream. For an appetizer I would recommend to get one of the two bruschettas which all come with their own palate of flavor. The pastas are homemade and are truly delicious; I recommend the truffle pasta and the carbonara. We also loved the spaghetti special with yellow tomato, nuts and burrata. The place requires reservations and is packed most of the time, so be sure to reserve a table before. Really enjoyed our dinner and the service is very homey. Can't wait to come back.

We were so excited to come here but the big dishes failed us: the carbonara was extremely salty - I couldn't eat it all (I had pasta all over Rome and this one was by far the saltiest) and the lamb chops were chewy. The 4 stars are because the other dishes were amazing: chickpea soup, and the fried liver/lamb organs.

Holy moly. We stumbled upon this pure delight by chance on our last night in Rome, and it is now a place I'll try to come to every time I return to Italy. We got the oxtail and the grilled vegetables - wow wow wow. The lamb was good, but really just focus on the oxtail. Was excited about the guinea fowl on the menu, but they were out by the time we were seated - so, my assumption is that it's delicious. The tiramisu was also amazing, as was the house wine. All of this in the context of quaint Roma cobblestone streets and outdoor dining lit by candles, off the main drag. Make a reservation here, you won't regret it.

Authentic Roman experience. Off the beaten path, serving some amazing dishes. We came for a small lunch, so we ordered the meatballs and carbonara. The meatballs came out in 2 an order, so had to order more, but they were tender and flavorful. Like grandma used to make em. The carbonara had a ton of flavor and plenty of cheese yet didn't feel creamy like it could of been. Perfect place if you are in the area.

I got the bucatini alla gricha, coda della vaccinara (oxtail stew) and the tiramisu and they were all fantastic. The oxtail was especially delicious. The house white wine was cheap and you get what you pay for, but still went pretty well with the meal. Great place to get classic Roman food.

Great roman classic fare in an unassuming locale. The staff is very friendly and as always, can't go wrong with a carafe of house wine and some local cheeses

A recommendation from our guide and it exceeded expectations. We ate the traditional 4 course Italian and it hit the spot at every meal. If your there in Thursday, try the gnocchi with lamb! The home made pasta was also great :)

This place was alright, but sadly not overly impressive. We waited about 45 minutes for a table, which we were hoping was indicative of a fabulous experience to be. This was not to be the case. First of all, the service was decidedly apathetic in every way. I don't know if it was the tail end of a rough shift, but the various service people we encountered clearly couldn't care less if we ate at their establishment. The entrees we ordered were not bad, but after spending 5 days in Rome, we had already experienced far better fare at other eateries. I can't even remember what we tried, so it was obviously not very memorable. The worst part of the meal was just getting the bill. We asked the main young lady who had been helping us for the check, and she nodded and walked to the front of the restaurant. We didn't see her for another 15 minutes, so we asked another woman that worked there for the check. She disappeared as well, and after waiting for ANOTHER 10 minutes, we asked a gentleman who worked there for the same thing. Finally after over 25 minutes we received our bill. Why that was such an issue, I still don't know! All in all, this was not a great showing for Taverna Romana. It could have just been an 'off' night, but there are simply too many other fantastic restaurants in Rome.

Our first dinner in Rome, and it did not disappoint! I enjoyed the delicious amatriciana, and the grilled lamb chops! For those non-europeans, dinner is typically around 9, so get here earlier and you won't have a problem getting seated!

When you come to Rome and see a restaurant packed with people (with more waiting), it's usually a good sign that it's good. Unfortunately this isn't one of them. What is perceived as good value/taste is defeated by the following observations: - we didn't like their famous pasta, which is bland with chunks of unmelted cheese and undercooked noodles (not like the fresh ones you get, which has a bounciness to them) - table to our left returned another pasta dish because it tasted horribly. - table to our right had the wrong check twice. - very average meatballs The silver linings are the grilled lamb chops and the house wine ($4 for a small personal pitcher), but there are MUCH better restaurants in the area (see matermatuta and trattoria torre Argentina). Finally, one waiter lectured me on how every Rome pasta dish has cheese, even if the menu doesn't list it as an ingredient is completely wrong. Make sure to ask a gazillion questions about the dish (don't feel bad, it's your money) because their menu is not at all accurate. Better yet, go somewhere else instead of putting up their subpar dishes and arrogant attitude. Thankfully the house wine put me in a better mood at the end of the night. Woohoo wine!

Amazing, authentic Italian food! Service is a little slow due to the popularity of this place but well worth the wait! House wine is a must!

We arrived without a reservation to find a packed restaurant and a staff member who took pity on us and said we could come back in thirty minutes. So we grabbed a glass of wine at a nearby bar, and returned to a private table with friendly service and quickly delivered food. We tried the salad, bucatini, and lamb chops. Everything was delicious. The pasta was cooked perfectly; the sauce and pork cheek were tantalizing. The taste of the meal was only surpassed by the staff members' attentiveness. The meal was inexpensive, the house wine was delicious, and the service was excellent!

This place was the first on the list to visit for authentic roman food written by our Airbnb host. (who is roman himself). Maybe it was due to high hopes but to put it shortly - it was the most mediocre food you can get in any country. Undercooked spaghetti and below avarge service. The atmosphere is nice though - thus, 3 stars.

A local recommended this restaurant so we knew it had to be good! We found it nestled within a gorgeous alleyway and made it right before closing time in the afternoon. We started with a bottle of Cincinnati Pozzo Dorico Bellone wine and a delicious order of their meatballs which we heard were amazing! This was my first time trying a pasta cacio e pepe and I was not disapointed. It was better than I expected! This was definitely a great find and we hope to return soon.

Tasty food near Palatine Hill. Small home style place with pasta and meats! I feel fully satisfied with my meal and ready to tour some more of Rome before the next meal!

Omg. This was SO DELICIOUS! I went there today when the opened specifically for soup since I've been under the weather the last couple of days. Let me just say that this soup DID NOT disappoint. Is it crazy that I'm going back later tonight to get it again...?? Who cares. I'm doing it. Haha. And the service was as good as the house wine! Molto bene!

We came here because Rick Steves recommended it, and his restaurant recommendations almost never lead us astray. Instead of pork cheeks like the menu said, my pasta had 1.5 anchovies. The staff gruffly insisted that was what I ordered, even when I pointed out the pork cheeks indicated on the menu. The cacio e pepe was the worst we had in this city. Dry, unappetizing. The saltimbocca was dry and tough. Prices are fine, but the quality was not there.

The Gnocchi in a lamb ragu was worth the trip to Roma! As someone who was raised on northern Italian cooking, this was a fantastic place. Small, family owned, ambiance was great and matched the food.

Convenient location - short walk from the Roman Forum. Friendly service. Meat dishes were superb but their pasta game was severely lacking. I had specifically ordered the fettuccine amatriciana based on a previous pleasant experience in Rome. What came out of the kitchen was something much rather resemble bolognese. I think for us, the lamb chops, meatballs, and 2 liters of wine definitely saved the day. Would recommend if expectations are not high.

Cute little authentic place in the middle of central Rome. If you want some authentic Roman cuisine then tour are in for a treat. Even Rick Steves mentions this place in his 2016 Rome book. My husband had the carbonara , I had lamb chops and veggies . For antipasto we ordered cheese and meats . We had Moretti beer and House red wine. Also very affordable and delicious. It's a tiny place so please call to make a reservation or email via Yelp . I emailed them and they confirmed my reservation within 30 minutes via email. Im super happy we found this place . Perfect last night in Rome.

Being our first restaurant in Italy we didn't know what to expect. Once we walked in we had to get the waitress' attention and she told us that we needed to wait 10 minutes. We waited less than 10 minutes and it was absolutely worth it. Once we saw the food on other people's tables we got excited to eat there. Then the moment came and we sat down at a table. The waiter took about 5 minutes to come. The menu has a very wide variety of pastas with different sauces. Pastas were fresh and wrapped in delicious sauces. The veal wrapped In prosciutto was out of this world. The restaurant is right next to the ruins but tagged away in a picture perfect alley. A mom and pop gem, definitely recommended!

Had an Italian late lunch here. Excellent, authentic, delicious and great location, if a little tricky to find (what isn't in Rome). If looking for a great lunch while in Italy, check this out!!

Our tour guide recommended this place. It was pretty good and it had a line up before opening so we had a good feeling about it. The pasta was excellent but the veggies were not that great. I would still recommend this place for pasta though! Definitely one of the best in Rome. A lot of locals like this place apparently.

This place was recommended by our BnB host. It was nearby and has great prices. We made reservations for dinner (recommended for a Saturday night). The food was yummy and the service was lovely. Surrounded by families enjoying food and time together. Walk a block or two to the Forum of Augustus - it's well light at night and there are bleachers set up for you to take in the site. Breathtaking!

It was recommended for the person that rented us an apartment very close , the waitress very nice the place nice but the food no bad but nothing to impressed I have been eating in Italy in different part from Trento , Venezia to Rome for a week and Personally this was the most average food ever , my family is part Italian so I know how Italian food mas with love taste . Maybe was the dish that I choose or not always is good to experience personally but to me was ok ( the house wine was definitely not good) . I tried to eat there twice and was a line outside really don't know why is so popular as mentioned before maybe was just my dish. Although my husband dish and was saltimboca a la Romana was good but very small plate . Mine was pasta amatriciana just have a lot of tomate sauce , you have to look for the pork with a magnifying glass . My son have the pork chop and he said the same as me was ok.

Very authentic real quality place. You will feel great eating here and taking in the atmosphere. Very family run type place. If I had a private chef I would be this chef. Highly recommend

Slow service Cabonara pasta is very salty and the pasta doesnt seem to be cook ed at all.

Local Italian cuisine. Great friendly knowledgeable staff and very reasonable price earns 4.5 stars. Mostly locals eating, basic Italian menu with local wines, happy experience. Loved my wife's lamb, my pasta was traditional Roman style, nothing special. Basic Italian menu. Saw couples, families, some girls on a night out. Nice local experience.

Vert good authentic Italian food! The people are friendly and welcoming! Place is small but very cozy and comfortable.

The best pasta carbonara I've ever had. Their pancetta was cooked on point.

Rating: 83/100 pts The vast majority of restaurants lining the streets around the Roman Forum are rip-off tourist traps intending to ensnare travelers. But if you're reading this, I assume you're trying to avoid them and find some real food. Venturing just a few blocks from the main street will bring you to Taverna Romana: a rare treat that offers excellent traditional Roman food. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I decided to go back the very next day, thereby electing to eat here on two of my three days spent in Rome. I jumped in at 12:30, right when they opened, and within a half-hour the place was flooded with locals. (This was in November, during the off-season.) My first time here, I wanted something Roman, but without tomatoes (the only food I refuse to eat). There were many things I wanted to try, but I ended up settling on the Tonnarelli with olives, fennel, and shredded ricotta cheese. Despite my best intentions (and there being no mention of "pomodoro" on the menu), it came chock full of sliced tomatoes. But even so, it was so good that I ended up eating the whole thing--tomatoes and all! The tonnarelli pasta, a Roman speciality that is long and slightly thicker than spaghetti, was excellent, having a slightly hard texture. Not a "they didn't cook this enough" kind of hard, but a "wow, this is some serious pasta" hard. The cheese was abundant and chewy, going perfectly with the salty olives and herby fennel. The tomatoes were sweet and incredibly fresh--with each bite, I couldn't believe I, someone who hates tomatoes, was enjoying them. This combination of flavors and textures convinced me to come back the next day to try some of them their other items. It was tough to choose what to get the next time: they have a list of daily specials on a chalkboard outside, and I hadn't gotten to their authentically Roman secondi the previous day (sausage-wrapped veal, etc). But even then, my instincts drove me to pasta again, this time ordering Carbonara (another typically Roman preparation). The thick cuts of bacon were great, but again, the texture of the pasta was what most strongly lingered in my memory. For dessert, I got the pear, pine nut, and walnut tart. This was a great finish: not too heavy, and not too sweet. The crunchy walnuts are the most overwhelming flavor and texture. With all primi and secondi coming out to €9-12, this is one of the best deals I found in Rome, and certainly the best I found in the area, without a shred of pretension. I loved their pasta, and urge you to get it. Perhaps try the long tubey bucantini--they were out of it when I went, and I didn't see it on any other restaurants. My instinct tells me their secondi are just as strong. I'm not going to get into a flub I had with the service which was most likely an isolated incident. Focus on the food, and you should have a great meal. Oh, and if you just want regular tap water, ask for "acqua del rubinetto"--otherwise, you'll get nabbed for a pricey €3 bottle of mineral water. Their tap water is perfectly good, and even comes in a cool stone pitcher. Bread is complimentary, but you may need to ask for it.

Great little place for lunch with authentic affordable Roman cuisine. We were the only people not speaking Italian inside. Always a good sign. The oxtail was awesome.