A local’s selection of delicious bakeries in Rome city center for daily fresh bread, pizza and light meals to go to enjoy at your accommodation.
Freshly baked bread is one of the simple pleasures of life in Rome.
No matter how hectic life in the city gets, we Romans love our fresh bread and buy it daily as a staple for breakfast, sandwiches and accompanying meals (in Italy, you always have a basket of bread on the table).
Freshly baked bread in Italian is ‘pane fresco’ or simply ‘pane’ = bread.
The element of freshness is so essential for us that you don’t need to specify: if you ask for ‘pane’ (bread), it is understood you mean it is freshly made, not packaged.
I am from Rome and today, I share with you my top address for bakeries in Rome. I hope you enjoy them!
Where to buy fresh bread in Rome
Before we dive into my list of best Rome bakeries, it is useful to know where you can buy bread in Rome and what type of shops translate into the Eglish word ‘bakery’.
You can get freshly baked bread in Rome in these main types of shops:
Forno – bread bakery.
Forno / Forni (forni is the plural): these are usually local small-ish shops with a bread oven that sell bread, pizza (not the round type; I’ll get into this in another post!) and often a small selection of baked meals like lasagna to go
Alimentari – these are becoming rarer, and they were the mom-and-pop shops before supermarkets became a thing.
They do not make their bread but get it fresh daily. In the past, this is where most families would get their bread every day.
Supermarkets deli counter – the most popular option!
Supermarket deli counters may sound a step down from a bakery, but they are excellent!
They get fresh bread daily and can even stuff it for you with anything you want from their pantry. They are everywhere in the city, cheap and delicious!
Need to know! Roman forni are not the same as patisseries (pasticcerie). While some also have a selection of patisserie and cakes, the forni are mostly about bread, pizza and biscuits. You can find here >>> Best pastry shops (pasticcerie) in Rome
Best Rome bakeries: map
Or use this link to open: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1yymnh8vrosaY67zc_9dVq4nTN5fXXX0&usp=sharing
Best bakeries in Rome: My top addresses
Forno Monteforte (City Center) Via del Pellegrino, 129 – 00186 Roma Fresh bread, pizza, pastries to go or eat in. Option to also have a sit down breakfast (morning), quick lunch or aperitivo (later in the afternoon)
Forno Campo de’ Fiori (City Center) Campo de’ Fiori, 22, 00186 Roma RM, Italy A classic address right on Campo de’ Fiori, with fresh bread and sandwiches, pizza bianca (a must! Order it stuffed with mortadella), biscuits, some cakes including traditional crostata calle visciole (ricotta and cherry tart). This is also a lovely place for a take out sandwich for lunch.
Tulipane (City Center) Via del Pavone, 28, 00186 Roma RM, Italy Bread, pizza, stuffed bread for light lunches, cinnamon rolls, croissants and cakes. Also a great address for brunch.
Forno Conti & Co (Esquilino/Monti, Termini station) via Giusti 18 00185 Roma Fresh bread, pizza, breakfast pastry (croissant, pain au chocolate, maritozzi, seasonal treats like Christmas pandoro and panettone. Thanks to a limited number of tables this is also a lovely place for a light lunch or apreritivo.
Panificio Bonci (Vatican) Via Trionfale, 36, 00195 Roma RM, Italy A famous, award winning address for fresh bread, pizza, rolls, sandwiches and special seasonal bites such as Christmas Pandoro and Panettone and Easter Colomba (traditional baked holiday bakes)
Mare’ (Prati/ Vatican) Viale Angelico, 88, 00195 Roma RM, Italy A local, delicious, neighborhood bakery to get fresh bread, breakfast pastries, focaccia, sandwiches and seasonal treats like frappe for carnival! Also a lovely place for a sandwich for lunch.
La Madia (Trieste- Salario) Via Sebino 2, 00198 Rome A fabulous, local bakery store in the pretty Trieste- Salario neighborhood and a classic in the city.
La Madia has fresh daily bread, pizza, biscuits, cakes and seasonal baked goods such as frappe, easter Colomba but also chocolate Easter eggs and more. La Madia also has fresh pasta (the easiest meal you can make at at home!) and high end staples perfect for festive hampers, should you be looking for a foodie gift. Also great for breakfast and quick lunch.
Le Levain Patisserie Boulangerie (Trastevere) Via Luigi Santini, 22, 00153 Roma RM, Italy As the name suggests, Le Levain is a Rome bakery with a French theme. Le Levain made a name for itself with French style pain au Chocolat and baguettes and then grew in popularity also as a place for cakes and light lunches (thing quiche, pizza, stuffed croissants etc).
Antico Forno Roscioli (City Center) Via dei Chiavari, 34, 00186 Roma RM, Italy Antico Forno Roscioli is now a household name with shops all over the city and eve abroad (New York). The forno used to be a small and local address and now has long lines of tourists at its door yet it is still good, so it make this list! The best buys here are bread and pizza and a special shout out goes to its panino con la porchetta (pork sandwich) which is a great option for lunch to go.
Good to know! In the same area, there are many traditional food places you may want to try. Find them all in my >> self guided food tour of Rome.
Antico Forno Urbani (Ghetto) Via dei Chiavari, 34, 00186 Roma RM, Italy A Rome classic and a fantastic kosher address right in Rome’s historic ghetto. As well as bread, the top buy here is their pizza rossa (pizza with tomato sauce)
What you can buy in bakeries in Rome
Bread bakeries in Italian are called forni, and they make bread and pizza. Some of them make breakfast pastries, in which case you are often able to enjoy them there too, with a cup of coffee at the bar or at one of the tables and some of them also make cakes.
However, ,ost commonly, bakeries are for bread and ‘bread family’ products, while the widest selection of cakes and mignon patisserie is in the shops we call pasticcerie (patisserie).
In Rome’s bakeries (forni), you can buy:
>> Loaves of bread
>> White rolls such as panini all’olio (soft, white rolls made with oil) panini al latte (soft white rolls made with milk)
>>> Pizza Bianca: this looks a little like a focaccia but it is a particular type of pizza from Rome
>>> Speciality bread like rolls with olives, nuts etc,
>>> Rosette – bread that are crusty on the outside, low-density inside bread, perfect for stuffing
Sometimes, you also find bakes such as lasagna and speciality pizza.
I hope you enjoyed this quick list of my top bakeries in Rome and it helps you find an address you’ll love. Buon Appetito!
The best bakeries in Rome for fresh bread – pin this!
