We are headed to Rome for. in early June 2026 – my wife’s choral group will be performing there – and will spend 5 nights in Bologna beforehand. I know that we’re staying the Pati area in Rome and will be somewhere central in Bologna. Ravenna will be a day trip or perhaps an overnight, and we may take day trips by train to one or more other nearby towns, This is an “extra” trip for our year’s budget on the heels of two Florida and one St. Thomas trip after a pretty extravagant 50th anniversary trip this year, so we’ll be looking for lower end eateries - osterie and trattorie. I welcome suggestions.
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I really like Roscioli in Rome, which has a cheaper bakery location where you could find things like suppli. Their Salumeria is what I would consider an upscale wine bar and restaurant.
Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina [Rome, Centro Storico]
I also really liked Mercato Centrale, the food hall next to the Termini train station, which has is like a mid-range food court with some stalls from well known chefs, and licensed beverages.
I think a dinner in the Jewish Ghetto is a must. We liked our affordable meal at Nonna Betta .
I think it would help other HOs with their recommendations if you provided a specific Euro amount for what you consider to be the most you would want to spend on a dinner for 2, or the maximum amount you would spend on a main dish.
Apart from Nonna Betta, Roscioli, and some food at Mercato Centrale, most of the affordable food at restaurants my friends chose in Rome was fairly forgettable. Salumeria Roscioli was more than they wanted to spend, so I dined there at lunch, alone.
I tend to keep my own dinners to less than 40 euros per person, and usually spend less than 40 euros on breakfast, lunch, drinks, and snacks combined, when I travel. Which I consider mid-range, but that’s relative.
The Salumeria Roscioli lunch was an exception to my typical budget.
These are some places I have enjoyed.
I wanted to visit this trattoria but it did not work out.
If you have a car for Bologna I would highly recommend Trattoria Amerigo 1934 which was by far the best restaurants we visited when staying in Bologna. It is about a 30 minutes drive outside of Bologna but definitely worth the drive. Even though it has a Michelin star for the last ~30 years it serves very classical/authentic E-R dishes in a beautiful small village at very good prices
If you don’t have a car Trattoria Da Me is also very good. The one restaurant we wanted to visit based on recommendations but was closed due to summer holidays is Trattoria Trippa
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Maybe peep these very recent threads (if you haven’t yet, that is):
And lastly, not sure how good this is, but the NYT had a thing recently, too.
Thanks, Natascha! I’d searched “bologna” but not Rome – yet. you always come through, and I really appreciate your recommendations.
40 euros/person/meal is a bit high. I’d like to keep a fair number of meals below that so we can have a splurge or two. I expect both of us will to skip breakfast – just a cafe americano for me, the for the much better half..
It’s been a while since we were in Italy. As I recall, I usually did and appetizer and a primi or secondi, not both. And wine. Accurate?
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