9 Best Restaurants in The Vatican, Rome

Tucked away above the Auditorium della Conciliazione, this glamorous restaurant/lounge with sky-high ceilings, marble walls, and plush seating feels like something out of Paolo Sorrentino's award-winning film La Grande Bellezza. Renowned bartender Massimo d'Addezio shakes up creative cocktails, like a twist on a French 75 made with yuzu, while the kitchen whips up delicious modern Italian cuisine.

Chef Ciro Alberto Cucciniello studied economics, pivoted to cooking, and then cut his teeth at renowned restaurants in Italy and abroad before opening this intimate eatery with a Nordic-inspired design. He plays with smoke and fire to elevate humble ingredients like carrots to avant-garde dishes (look for "Carote, Carote, Carote" on the menu, which translates to "Carrots, Carrots, Carrots"). You can order à la carte, but the prix fixe options with five or seven courses are among the most affordable tasting menus in the city.

This impressive wine bar pairs modern decor with creative cuisine and three dozen wines available by the glass. There are some fantastic seasonal specialties, but you can also get cheeses, smoked meats, and composed salads. Try a risotto or spaghetti with kale, red shrimp, and burnt lemon for a primo and the duck breast with foie gras and red berries for a secondo. 

With wood-paneled walls, white tablecloths, and formally attired waiters, the vibe is old school at this Prati standby, so it's no surprise that the menu emphasizes culinary tradition. Homemade pasta with meat sauce is the primo to order; marinated anchovies and sardines or raw oysters quell seafood cravings, and thick Florentine steaks satisfy meat lovers.

At the most upscale wine bar in town, you come for the vino but return for the food. Everything here is appropriately raffinato (refined): raw and marinated fish; spaghetti with garlic and minced raw shrimp; and saffron risotto with red prawn carpaccio. Main courses might be seafood or meat—all of which complement the vast offerings of top-notch wines.

This bright, white-subway-tiled bistro functions as a bar, café, and restaurant all in one, with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. Salads, pastas, steaks, and seafood run the international gamut, but the beef burger is a standout. Although the restaurant buzzes from morning till night, things are especially busy in the late afternoon and early evening, when the waitstaff serves cocktails and light bites.

This tiny family-run restaurant has changed a lot since it first opened in 1959 as a simple trattoria. Today you'll still find classic Roman dishes on the menu, but it's worth trying original creations like salmon marinated in Aperol with avocado and savory panna cotta or the homemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta and topped with octopus confit. There is just a handful of tables inside, but in the warmer seasons you can sit outside on the cobblestone street.

The Borgo area near St. Peter's Basilica hasn't been known for culinary excellence, but Taverna Angelica was one of the first refined restaurants in this part of town. The dining room is small, which allows the chef to create a menu that's inventive without being pretentious.

Exposed brick walls and tables made from upcycled parquet flooring or white marble are among the design elements at this welcoming bistro founded by two surfer brothers. With the exception of primi (pastas) and burgers, all of the dishes can be ordered as full-size options or small portions that let you taste your way through the menu.