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During the day, the area around the Spanish Steps is a hotbed of tourists, shoppers, and office workers. It gets significantly quieter at night and, as a result, it's easy to fall into tourist traps and overpriced hotel dining. Stick to recommended restaurants.
The red-velvet chairs and marble tables of one of Rome's oldest caffès have seen the likes of Byron, Shelley, Keats, Goethe, and Casanova. Locals love basking in the more than 260 years of history held within its dark-wood walls lined with antique artwork; tourists appreciate its location amid the shopping madness of upscale Via Condotti. Drink your coffee at the counter for a much less expensive experience.
Established in 1878, Venchi is one of Italy's premier confectioners, and you'll see the brand all over the country. At this brick-and-mortar shop, you can buy chocolate as well as gelato, made fresh daily. The nougat and caramel flavors are fabulous, and, of course, there are several chocolate variations, but the real crowd-pleaser is the fountain of melted chocolate that takes up the entire wall behind the counter. There's a second location on Via della Croce, but this branch is more impressive.
Many people say this place—which is around the corner from the Trevi Fountain and had a cameo in the movie Eat, Pray, Love—serves the best gelato in Rome. Creative flavors like black fig, chocolate rum, Armagnac, and ginger-cinnamon all incorporate top-notch ingredients, and the shop is known for keeping its gelato hidden under metal covers to better preserve the quality.
With its long wooden tables, hard-back booths, and free-flowing beer, this Art Nouveau–style, circa-1906 restaurant in a 16th-century palazzo evokes a kitsch Munich beer hall. There is a full Italian menu, but hearty sausages or goulash make a nice break from pasta and tomato sauce, and this is one of the few places in the historic center where you can fill up on protein for very few euros. Be sure to put your name on the list inside when you arrive because reservations aren't accepted here.
On chic Via del Babuino, the former studio of neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova and his student, Adamo Tadolini, is now an atmospheric spot for coffee, a snack, or lunch. Opt for the budget-friendly option of taking your coffee at the bar while admiring the enormous plaster copies of the maestros' work, or pay more for table service and sit amid vast sculptures. Food is run-of-the-mill, but the setting is splendid.
