A delicious, self-guided food tour in Rome city center by a local mama to taste the best of the city in your own time.
Rome has delicious food and some specialties are that are specific to the city and its’ region.
Because of this, eating in Rome is different than anywhere else in Italy and taking a food tour in the city a worth way to spend your time.
With a food tour, you’ll take many different specialties in a short amount of time, learn what is local and also get fun and inreresting food facts from your guide that can add to the experience.
However, food tours can be expensive and, if you are traveling with kids or people with specific dietary requirement, can prove hard.
I am from Rome and today I want to give you an alternative: an idea for a self-guided food tour of Rome city centre that you can do in your own time, picking only the foods you want!
I am from Rome and, for this self guided food tour, I have chosen places I love and I believe will give you the very best food experience.
I hope you enjoy it!
Need to know: traditional Rome food is meat and cheese heavy. While there are some veggie specialties (many of the pizzas, suppli, tiramisu…) many the most traditional dishes have pork and almost all have either eggs or cheese. When possible, I have specified alternatives for non meat eaters. Unfortunately, traditional Roman food doesn’t cater well to vegans, so you won’t find vegan options on this tour.
How to use this self-guided food tour in Rome
For this food itinerary, I have focussed on a limited area within the historic center of Rome: this, to make it easy for you to cover this distance on foot and to make sure you can enjoy a beautiful and safe area as you go.
I have listed the places in a sequence that makes sense geographically but also food wise: we start with starters and end with gelato and tiramisu’, so I recommend you follow it just as it is laid out.
Due to the nature of Rome food, not all dishes are take out.
For instance, I haven’t found traditional starters such as Jewish style artichokes or zucchini flowers in take out version.
So, if you want to try them, my recommendation is to use this tour during the day / lunch to taste all the specialties to go, then sit down for an evening meal in the jewish ghetto (Il Giardino Romano is a great address) and have them as a starter there.
Good to know: if you eat ALL the foods on this list you will be rather full by the end of it, so I recommend to pace yourself with portions!
I hope you enjoy it!
Map: You can open the map at this link >> https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1RJY5nvPEyfUmVwShnYl3RfWEhjikcXQ&usp=sharing
Stop 1 – filetto di baccala (fish)
Filetto di baccala’ is a fried cod fillet and one of the best known and most delicious starters/ appetisers from Rome.
The fillet is reminiscent of fish ‘n chips (minus the chips!) as it is a piece of white fish, deep fried in batter, and THE place to have it is called ‘Il Filettaro’, ‘the fillet guy’ or ‘the fillet place’.
Il filettato is in Largo dei Librari, 88, 00186 Roma RM, Italy in Rome city center, close to Campo’ de’ Fiori
Stop 2 – Panino con la porchetta (pork)
Porchetta is pork or, more specifically, a whole pork, deboned and cooked on the spit, with herbs (a few variations, but most often pepper, bay leaves, rosemary etc), carved and served as filling to freshly baked bread.
Porchetta is originally from Ariccia, a town on ‘I Castelli’, the hills around Rome and is humble food from rustic origin that made its way from being the food of choice in local village festivals to the mouth of Rome’s discerning foodies.
Juicy inside and crispy on the outside, it’s a messy, satisfying, earthy food you want to dig our teeth in! Traditionally, porchetta is sold in ‘fraschette’ which are simple establishments in the roman countryside; however, you can now also taste it in Rome proper.
A good place for porchetta in Rome city center is Forno Roscioli, where you can get it as a take out sandwich.
Address: Antico Forno Roscioli, Via dei Chiavari, 34, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Good to know: here you can also have ‘pizza con la mortadella’ (see below) should you keep the number of stops low.
No pork alternative: Rome food is pork heavy but there are alternatives. On the same street as forno Roscioli, you can have a quick meaty bite of lamb in Arrostreet, a simple, take you place selling arrosticini (small lamb skewers from Abruzzo. So, not immediately Roman but very much local to central Italy).
Stop 3 – pizza bianca with mortadella (or without)
Maybe THE most famous street food / easy bite you can have in Rome is Pizza Bianca, with or without a filling.
Pizza Bianca Romana literally translated into white Roman pizza but it is not pizza as you may thing. Pizza Bianca is a baked good that is sort of in between bread and focaccia, without being either!
Pizza bianca has a crispy base, a not too tick center and a deliciously oily top: it is sold in bakeries and you can eat it by itself or use it instead of bread for a sandwich.
If you want to stay with the most local of Rome traditions you want to fill it with mortadella (pork) but you can very much have it with whatever you like, including cheese or vegetables.
A traditional, great places to have it in this area is Forno Campo de’ Fiori, right on the piazza.
Address: Campo De’ Fiori, 22 – Vicolo del Gallo, 14 00186. Rome
Stop 4 – pizza al taglio and suppli’
Pizza al Taglio is another variation on the idea of pizza, different both from the round pizza from wood fire open and pizza Bianca you find in the bakeries, delicious in its own way and worth seeking out!
Pizza al taglio means ‘pizza by the cut’ and takes its name form the fact that it is presented in large trays and you buy by weight, asking them cut for you just as much or as little of it as you like.
Pizza al taglio comes in all forms: plain (no topping at all, delicious!), margherita (cheese), con le patate (with potatoes and rosemary, with or without cheese), with sausage, with zucchini flowers, with egglplant… even nutella, in some establishments!
A fantastic place for this in Rome city center is Alice pizza, where we also recommend you try suppli’, another specialty from Rome.
Suppli’ are fried balls of rice, cooked with tomato sauce (and, traditionally, meat: always ask if you area vegetarian) and with a dollop of mozzarella in the center. Usually eaten as a appetiser before pizza, they are a must have in Rome and the perfect Rome street food for this self-guided food tour in Rome city center.
Due to the vast variety of topping available, pizza al taglio can be vegetarian friendly.
Address: Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 35, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Stop 5 – traditional roman pasta
As I mentioned at the start of this article, not all traditional Roman foods come in street food / quick bite version and definitely not the pasta dishes.
However, recently the fashion for pasta-to go has been taking hold, so it is not an impossible quest.
While I still recommend to have pasta in a sit down restaurant if you can, if time is against you, you can also have a street food pasta version in PastaEat (in front of Alice pizza. Address: Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 22, 00186 Roma RM, Italy)
The most traditional Rome dishes are carbonara (eggs, cheese, pork), amatriciana (Tomato sauce, cheese, pork), gricia (cheese, pork) and cacio e pepe (cheese, pepper), so I recommend in this self-guided foof tour of Tome you eat these for a local dish.
If you can sit down, my paces of choice are:
Mimi e Coco on Via del Governo vecchio for carbonara (best paired with white wine, not red) Address: Via del Governo Vecchio, 72, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Armando al Pantheon for Amatriciana. Address: Salita de’ Crescenzi, 31, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
Stop 6 – Tiramisu’
I love Tiramisu and have made it my mission to try tiramisu in Rome to find the best one and I am delighted to report I know have two absolutely amazing addresses I can share with you!
The are both in this area and I’ll give them to you both but, for this tour specifically, I recommend one in particular as I think it would work best size wise / take out wise: Two Sizes.
Tiramisu is not from Rome specifically; however, is it a traditional Italian dish and some places in Rome make it amazingly well, so I think it makes sense to include it!
Tiramisu is made with finger biscuits, eggs, mascarpone, cream, cocoa, a touch of liquor and coffee (so, evaluate well what size you want to order!) but here also comes in different flavors such as pistacchio which can be lovely to try.
Address: Via del Governo Vecchio, 88, 00186 Roma RM, Italy
The other address is Mr 100 Tiramisu, on Via dei Sediari
Stop 7 – Gelato
Gelato is ubiquitous in Rome but not all are created equals, so it is nice to know where to go! I have here >> a list of the best gelato places in Rome city center but I have two that I recommend for this self-guided food tour for quality and location:
Gunther on Piazza Sant’Eustachio
Frigidarium, on Via del Governo Vecchio.
My family is divided on which one is best (I think Gunther, my kids say Frigidarium) so I think the perfect food tour would see your group splitting and try both, so you can have a ‘which is best’ fight and proper rating!
Stop 8 – Caffe’ (coffee)
Italian meals end with coffee (espresso) so what can be better than finishing your self-guided food tour with what is know as the best coffee in Rome?
The coffee in question is Sant’Eustachio il caffe’ and it has been deemed the best coffee in the city for decades, and with merit!
Here the most common way to order it at the ‘bar’ (so you stand up and order an espresso, gulp it down and go, or you can sit at one of the tables. If ordering at the bar, pay first, show you receipt and ask for ‘un caffe’ per favore’. Enjoy!
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