Hey, lots of good food in Rome. Lots of tourism (and touristic eating) concentrates around the historic center, understandably, and the Vatican. Since the historic center is also the governmental and business center, there are good restaurants there, we remember enjoying watching some aging lion of business or government having lunch at Armando al Pantheon on a Sunday surrounded by fawning acolytes, pretty females and big guys with wires in their ears The food at that restaurant remains is truly excellent, by the way. There are also a lot of places mobbed by tourists too. We always try to plan our eating convenient to or at least convenient to reach from where we are touring that day. That last on a past visit included making our way out on the tram to Cesare al Casaletto where the cooking was fine and the atmosphere relaxed (now with a second location , al Pellegrino in the Center)
Katie Parla’s blog and recommendations on Eater etc are probably the most useful current info source https://katieparla.com/city-guides/rome/, the Slowfood guide is helpful too. Our tastes usually run to high quality versions of local and regional food. Rome has its own cuisine and thankfully some vey good regional wines now which a good resto will offer to you, but you can find food well represented from other provinces as well here in the capital which is great. We last spent time in Rome Iin 2023, and here is my report of the places we visited then (staying near Ostiense Station/Testaccio) [Rome] Visit 2023 .
YOu definitely dont have to eat only the 4 classic pastas, baby lamb chops and scallopini variations as some say; there are plenty of other dishes to try including fish, seafood, game, wonderful vegetables and great mushrooms in season.
Since the residential Prati neighborhood is adjacent to the Vatican you can be disappointed if you just randomly go into a restaurant, including those recommended in tourist guides, websites, etc; there are a lot of bad ones. Its been many years but we enjoyed a simple trattoria, Osteria del Angelo, with local neighborhood patronage (then in the Slowfood Guide) Here are some Parla suggestions I saw for Prati https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKzt3E9Rece/.
