4 Best Restaurants in Ancient Rome, Rome

Wine bottles cover just about every inch of wall space in this intimate restaurant a few blocks from the Colosseum, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, also has an encyclopedic wine list. The friendly staff will happily help you navigate the options and suggest pairings for the dishes, which are rooted in tradition but often with a little twist, like the addition of artichokes in their version of la gricia (pasta with guanciale and pecorino romano).

Tucked on a cobblestone street at the edge of Monti, this cozy little family-run restaurant is one of the best places to eat near the Forum. An eclectic collection of sketches, photos, and paintings decorates the walls, and the menu offers traditional Roman trattoria fare as well as some creative twists on the classics, like cacio e pepe, usually a simple dish of pasta in a peppery cheese sauce but here featuring black truffle, and burrata-stuffed ravioli.

This charming osteria, with burgundy leather booths and vintage advertisements, serves forgotten recipes from Rome and Lazio in addition to classic dishes like carbonara and an excellent cacio e pepe with homemade tonnarelli. Don't expect artichokes in July or eggplant in December—the cuisine is strictly seasonal and made using the finest local ingredients.

In an unassuming location between the Colosseum and Piazza San Giovanni, this elegant restaurant with exposed brick arches and white tablecloths serves some of the freshest seafood in the city—with tanks full of live lobsters and crabs to prove it. Owner Francesco Tripodi personally goes to the fish auctions in Fiumicino every day and presides over the dining room, charismatically dispensing suggestions and taking orders, which are expertly prepared by his brother Giuseppe.