20 tables near the museums, rankedBest restaurants in Rome
Where to eat in Rome before or after a museum: the 20 tables with a history within reach of them, the historic cafés, the old trattorie of the Ghetto and Testaccio, and the tables with a view, in the order their customers rate them.
- 20
- Tables near the museums, ranked
- 1518
- The oldest: La Campana
- 9
- Within 500 metres of a museum
- 4.6
- The highest rating: Colline Emiliane
The ranking for Rome
Show
All 20
14.6
The dish, not the restaurant. Picture: Marco Carboni, CC BY-SA 3.0
Colline Emiliane
Trattoria, Piazza Barberini
A small family restaurant near Piazza Barberini that has served the cooking of Bologna, with pasta rolled by hand in the window, since 1931.
24.5
Antico Forno Roscioli
Bakery, Campo de' Fiori
The bakery near Campo de' Fiori where Romans queue for pizza bianca hot from the oven, the family's since 1972.
34.4
Antica Birreria Peroni
Beer hall, Trevi Fountain
A beer hall of 1906 with its Art Nouveau decoration intact, between the Trevi Fountain and Piazza Venezia. Loud, quick and cheap.
44.4
Tazza d'Oro
Café, Pantheon
The coffee house on the corner by the Pantheon, roasting its own beans since 1944 and famous for its iced coffee granita with cream.
54.4
The dish, not the restaurant. Picture: Luca Nebuloni, CC BY 2.0
Armando al Pantheon
Trattoria, Pantheon
A family trattoria thirty metres from the Pantheon that has cooked the Roman classics since 1961 and never turned into a tourist restaurant.
64.4
The dish, not the restaurant. Picture: shu tu, CC BY-SA 2.0
Checchino dal 1887
Restaurant, Testaccio
The restaurant opposite Rome's old slaughterhouse where the cooking of the fifth quarter, oxtail above all, was worked out. One family since 1887.
74.3
The dish, not the restaurant. Picture: Popo le Chien, CC0
Da Enzo al 29
Trattoria, Trastevere
A tiny trattoria in the quiet half of Trastevere, with a queue down the lane every evening for its carbonara, amatriciana and artichokes.
84.3
The dish, not the restaurant. Picture: Markx89, CC BY-SA 4.0
Felice a Testaccio
Trattoria, Testaccio
The Testaccio trattoria whose cacio e pepe is finished at your table, with a different Roman dish for each day of the week.
94.3
The dish, not the restaurant. Picture: Mattes Boch, Public domain
Roscioli
Delicatessen with a kitchen, Campo de' Fiori
A delicatessen near Campo de' Fiori where you eat between the cheese counter and the wine shelves. Its carbonara is the one people cross the city for.
104.3
The dish, not the restaurant. Picture: Popo le Chien, CC BY-SA 3.0
La Campana
Restaurant, Piazza Navona
The restaurant that calls itself the oldest in Rome, in a lane north of Piazza Navona, with a long menu of old Roman dishes.
114.2
The dish, not the restaurant. Picture: Mon Œil, CC BY 2.0
Piperno
Restaurant, Ghetto
The old restaurant of the Ghetto, in a hidden square by the Cenci palace, where the fried artichoke has been the reason to come since 1860.
124.1
Pizzarium
Pizza by the slice, Vatican
The shop that turned Roman pizza by the slice into something people fly in for, five minutes from the entrance of the Vatican Museums.
134.1
Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè
Café, Pantheon
The most argued-over espresso in Rome, roasted over wood behind the counter since 1938, two minutes from the Pantheon.
144.1
Sora Lella
Trattoria, Tiber Island
The only restaurant on the Tiber Island, opened in 1959 by a Roman actress whose face the whole country knew.
154.1
Il Vero Alfredo
Restaurant, Piazza Augusto Imperatore
The restaurant of the family that invented fettuccine Alfredo, opposite the Mausoleum of Augustus, where the dish is still tossed at the table.
164.1
Harry's Bar
Bar and restaurant, Via Veneto
The bar at the top of Via Veneto where the stars of the Dolce Vita years drank, with a piano, a terrace and waiters in white jackets.
4.1
2,038 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1918, as the Golden Gate
- Nearest museum
- Galleria Borghese, 650 m
174.1
Il Matriciano
Restaurant, Vatican
A restaurant of 1912 in the streets north of the Vatican, named for the dish it is known for, ten minutes from St Peter's Square.
184.1
Babington's
Tea room, Spanish Steps
An English tea room at the foot of the Spanish Steps, opened by two women in 1893 and still serving tea and scones.
193.9
Giggetto al Portico d'Ottavia
Trattoria, Ghetto
A trattoria built against the columns of a Roman portico in the Ghetto, serving fried artichokes at tables among the ruins since 1923.
203.8
Canova Tadolini
Café in a sculptor's studio, Via del Babuino
A café and restaurant in the studio Canova passed to his pupil in 1818, where you eat among plaster models and marble giants.
3.8
2,326 Google ratings
- Opened
- 1818, as a sculptor's studio
- Nearest museum
- Trevi Fountain, 850 m
How long they have been open
Each bar runs from the year a restaurant opened to today. The oldest on the list opened 508 years ago, and 5 of the 20 were already open in 1900.
- La Campana1518, claimed
- Canova Tadolini1818, as a sculptor's studio
- Piperno1860
- Checchino dal 18871887
- Babington's1893
- Antica Birreria Peroni1906
- Il Matriciano1912
- Harry's Bar1918, as the Golden Gate
- Giggetto al Portico d'Ottavia1923
- Colline Emiliane1931
- Da Enzo al 291935, about
- Felice a Testaccio1936
- Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè1938
- Tazza d'Oro1944
- Il Vero Alfredo1950
- Sora Lella1959
- Armando al Pantheon1961
- Antico Forno Roscioli1972
- Roscioli2002
- Pizzarium2003
How near they are to a museum
For each restaurant, the museum or sight it is nearest to, and how far it is in a straight line. Nearest first: the top of the list is where to go when you come out hungry.
- Armando al PantheonPantheon, 100 m
- Tazza d'OroPantheon, 100 m
- Sant'Eustachio Il CaffèPantheon, 150 m
- Antica Birreria PeroniTrevi Fountain, 250 m
- Giggetto al Portico d'OttaviaCapitoline Museums, 350 m
- Colline EmilianeTrevi Fountain, 400 m
- Sora LellaCapitoline Museums, 450 m
- La CampanaPantheon, 500 m
- Antico Forno RoscioliPantheon, 500 m
- RoscioliPantheon, 550 m
- PipernoCapitoline Museums, 550 m
- Il MatricianoVatican Museums, 550 m
- PizzariumVatican Museums, 550 m
- Babington'sTrevi Fountain, 600 m
- Harry's BarGalleria Borghese, 650 m
- Da Enzo al 29Capitoline Museums, 650 m
- Il Vero AlfredoTrevi Fountain, 750 m
- Canova TadoliniTrevi Fountain, 850 m
- Felice a TestaccioCapitoline Museums, 1.6 km
- Checchino dal 1887Capitoline Museums, 2.0 km
The track is 3 kilometres long. A restaurant inside a museum or a monument has almost no bar at all.
What diners say
Each restaurant's overall rating on Google, and how many people have given one. The longer the bar, the more people have eaten there and said so.
- Pizzarium4.114,456 Google ratings
- Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè4.113,253 Google ratings
- Da Enzo al 294.310,223 Google ratings
- Antica Birreria Peroni4.49,947 Google ratings
- Felice a Testaccio4.39,370 Google ratings
- Antico Forno Roscioli4.57,919 Google ratings
- Roscioli4.36,597 Google ratings
- Tazza d'Oro4.45,828 Google ratings
- Giggetto al Portico d'Ottavia3.94,554 Google ratings
- Sora Lella4.14,220 Google ratings
- Il Vero Alfredo4.12,624 Google ratings
- Canova Tadolini3.82,326 Google ratings
- Armando al Pantheon4.42,191 Google ratings
- Harry's Bar4.12,038 Google ratings
- La Campana4.32,023 Google ratings
- Colline Emiliane4.61,755 Google ratings
- Il Matriciano4.11,696 Google ratings
- Babington's4.11,416 Google ratings
- Checchino dal 18874.41,010 Google ratings
- Piperno4.2685 Google ratings
Read on Google Maps. A famous café is rated by a great many visitors who came for the name, which is why the best known are not the best rated. Ratings change, and so will this.
Where they are
Each number is a restaurant, by its place in the ranking. The yellow squares are the museums and sights this site has a guide to. The blue band is the river, the green blocks the parks, and each square of the grid is one kilometre.
- 1Colline Emiliane
- 2Antico Forno Roscioli
- 3Antica Birreria Peroni
- 4Tazza d'Oro
- 5Armando al Pantheon
- 6Checchino dal 1887
- 7Da Enzo al 29
- 8Felice a Testaccio
- 9Roscioli
- 10La Campana
- 11Piperno
- 12Pizzarium
- 13Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè
- 14Sora Lella
- 15Il Vero Alfredo
- 16Harry's Bar
- 17Il Matriciano
- 18Babington's
- 19Giggetto al Portico d'Ottavia
- 20Canova Tadolini
River and green areas: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Where to eat in Rome: common questions
- Which is the best restaurant in Rome?
- Of the 20 on this list, Colline Emiliane: 4.6 out of 5 from 1,755 ratings on Google. Antico Forno Roscioli and Antica Birreria Peroni come next. The order on this page follows that rating and nothing else.
- Where can you eat near the Vatican Museums?
- Il Matriciano, 550 m away; Pizzarium, 550 m away; La Campana, 1.8 km away; Il Vero Alfredo, 2.0 km away. Distances are in a straight line.
- Which is the oldest restaurant in Rome?
- Of those on this list, La Campana, which dates itself to 1518, claimed.
- Which are the famous cafés of Rome?
- Tazza d'Oro, Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè, Babington's and Canova Tadolini are the cafés and tea rooms on this list.
- How is the list made?
- The restaurants are chosen by this site: famous tables with a history, within reach of the museums. Their order is not chosen. It follows each one's overall rating on Google, and where two are level, the one more people have rated comes first. No restaurant pays to be listed or to be higher.
Things to do in Rome
- 1Walk into the Colosseum and the Roman ForumAncient RomeMonument, 3 to 4 hours, ticket
- 2See the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican MuseumsVatican CityMuseum, 3 to 4 hours, ticket
- 3Climb the dome of St Peter'sVatican CityChurch, 1.5 to 2.5 hours, free, ticket for the dome
- 4Stand under the dome of the PantheonHistoric centreMonument, 30 to 45 minutes, ticket
Where to stay in Rome
- Hotel Hassler4.8Five-star hotel, Spanish Steps
- Hotel de la Ville4.8Five-star hotel, Spanish Steps
- J.K. Place Roma4.8Five-star hotel, Via del Corso
- Portrait Roma4.8Five-star hotel, Via dei Condotti
How the ranking is made
Which restaurants are on the list is this site's choice: famous tables with a history, within reach of the museums. Their order is not. It follows each one's overall rating on Google, highest first, and where two are level, the one more people have rated comes first. No restaurant has paid to be here or to be higher.
No prices are given, because they change, and no stars, for the same reason. The button on each restaurant's page leads to its own site, where the menu and the bookings are.