5 Best Restaurants in Villa Borghese, Piazza del Popolo, and Flaminio, Rome

Though there's a full menu of pasta and fish or meat-based mains, those in the know head to this restaurant on Via Veneto specifically for the award-winning pizza. The decor is a bit over the top, and the prices are a little higher than at the average pizzeria, but it's a great option in this neighborhood. The Neapolitan-style pizzas come with a range of toppings, from standards like a margherita to creative pies like the Oro d'Ischia, which features two types of cheese, pollen, and fig jam from Ischia.

The location near Piazza del Popolo makes Brillo especially convenient for lunch or dinner after shopping in the Via del Corso area. The menu is quite extensive, with fried starters, burgers, salads, pastas, grilled meats, and pizzas. You can eat at the recently expanded dining room, outside on the patio, or downstairs in one of several rooms.

Attached to the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, inside the Villa Borghese, this retro-styled caffè with a pretty terrace is a favorite all-day rendezvous both for Romans from nearby upscale Parioli and for visitors to the Villa Borghese park and museums.

It dubs itself an American West Coast–style restaurant, and the decor is very Malibu beach house, with a patio out back. It opened in 1998 and feels a bit frozen in that time, but it's a nice change from eating Italian, and everything is high quality. Up front, the bar opens out onto the street and attracts the neighborhood's beautiful people.

The original location of Ercoli opened in Prati as a gourmet food store, and this newer location has a deli counter where you can buy cheeses, cold cuts, smoked salmon, caviar, and other delicacies. What this location has that the other two don't is a vermouth bar—and during aperitivo hour (6 pm until 8 pm), classic cocktails and select small plates are 50% off. There's also a full menu with pastas, salads, and mains. The third (and newest) location is in Trastevere.