7 Best Restaurants in Esquilino and Environs, Rome

In addition to serving the usual array of sandwiches, salads, pastries, and gelato, this caffè—conveniently situated at the No. 660 bus stop on the corner of Via di Cecilia Metella—has teamed up with Bicycle Roma to rent bikes to use on the Appian Way and arranges guided tours (book via  www.bicycleroma.com). There's lots of outside seating in the back, where your meal will be accompanied by birdsong.

Part of the wave of new restaurants with chefs embracing Rome's traditional cucina povera and making it hip for a younger audience, Mazzo doesn't shy away from off-cuts like tripe. Vintage furniture and vinyl records set the tone, while the wine list focuses on natural and organic wines. For diners who'd rather skip innards, there are plenty of vegetable-focused items and more innocuous pastas on the menu.

A cornerstone of the neighborhood, this historic family-run restaurant was bombed during the Second World War, but later reopened and became a favorite of artists, intellectuals, politicians, and actors, including Stanley Tucci, who came here on his show Searching for Italy. Homestyle Roman cuisine is the specialty here, with dishes like fettuccine with porcini mushrooms, chicken and peppers, and fried lamb chops.

Though she hails from Abruzzo, the young chef-owner Sarah Cicolini earned her place as one of the rising stars in Rome's restaurant scene at this trendy trattoria, where she embraces quinto quarto—or the fifth quarter of an animal, like tripe, tail, and heart. Be sure to book ahead for the vintage vibes and superlative carbonara.

The name refers to its proximity to the tram tracks, but it could also be used to describe the small interior of the restaurant, which is often packed with diners (in warmer weather there's a "side car" of tables along the sidewalk). Founded by Rosanna Borrelli and her two daughters, the restaurant gives Roman cuisine slight Puglian touches, emphasizing meat and vegetables—pappardelle with a white ragù of lamb and artichokes, for example—as well as a variety of homemade pastas.

There is just a handful of wooden tables crowded into the upstairs and downstairs dining rooms at this family-run trattoria, where the walls are festooned with photographs and soccer jerseys. Owner Danilo Valenti presides over the dining room, while his mother, Pina, whips up Roman classics, including an excellent carbonara, carciofi alla romana, and cacio e pepe that gets tossed tableside in a wheel of pecorino cheese.

This casual, relaxed trattoria follows the style of a fraschetta, a type of countryside restaurant where the menu focuses on porchetta—here, it's served on butcher's paper according to how many people are in your party. Accompany the main attraction with a cheese-and-charcuterie board followed by pasta all’amatriciana or cacio e pepe.