ROMAN PASTA

What's the first thing you think of when you think about Rome? For me it’s PASTA...and the Colosseum obviously! Rome is known for four specific pasta dishes: Carbonara, Cacio e Pepe, Amatriciana, and Gricia. Some of these you may have heard about and others maybe not but ALL of them are life changing. On my recent trip to Rome, I made sure to try each of these dishes AND at some of the best restaurants in Rome.

CARBONARA

Now the carbonara in the U.S. is nothing like the carbonara in Rome. I was never a fan of carbonara until I had it in Rome a few years ago.

Carbonara is a pasta dish made with cured pork cheek (guanciale), hard cheese, (pecorino romano), eggs, and black pepper. This trip I wanted to try the carbonara at Tonnarello. I tried going to Tonnarello my last trip but they were just too busy. They do get very busy and don't take reservations.

However, I was staying in Trastevere this trip and there are TWO Tonnarello locations in Trastevere. This is the location I went to and only had to wait about 10-15 minutes during lunchtime.

This place is SO hyped up so I was worried it might not live up to the hype but I'm happy to report that it exceeded my expectations. 

GRICIA

I had never heard of pasta alla gricia before visiting Italy. Essentially gricia is carbonara without the egg so it’s cured pork, (guanciale), hard cheese, (pecorino romano), and black pepper.

I decided to try this dish at Osteria da Fortunata. This was one of my favorite restaurants I went to during my previous trip to Rome so I knew I had to go back to try it again.

They have multiple locations throughout the city but I went to this location.

Osteria da Fortunata not only makes incredible pasta, they always have an employee hand rolling pasta while you are there which adds to the charm.

Gricia isn't my favorite dish, I'd always choose carbonara over gricia but if you don't like eggs, this dish is perfect for you to try.

It's still better than any pasta I've had in the U.S. 😂

AMATRICIANA

Amatriciana is my least favorite dish of the classic Roman pastas. It's the only one which uses tomatoes and is made from tomatoes, guanciale (cured pork cheek), pecorino romano or pecorino di Amatrice cheese, black pepper, extra virgin olive oil, and dry white wine.

I would say this is the safest pasta to get if you aren't a very adventurous eater, as it's the closest one to what American's would consider traditional spaghetti.

The restaurant I had planned to go to for this dish was closed so I had to improvise and ended up at Taverna 51. This was a super cute restaurant in Trastevere, located here.

I would love to come back here and try some of their other dishes.

CACIO E PEPE

Last but certainly not least, Cacio e Pepe!

Cacio e Pepe is my FAVORITE dish on this list...actually it's probably my favorite pasta dish of all time and my absolute favorite place to have it is at Mimi e Coco.

I had this pasta at Mimi e Coco for the first time on my first trip to Rome a few years ago and fell in love with it. So I was worried that it wouldn't be as good as I remembered but it was even BETTER than I remembered. I actually came here twice for cacio e pepe during my most recent trip to Rome.

Cacio e pepe is essentially cheese and pepper but made with the highest quality pecorino romano cheese and black pepper. Think the MOST AMAZING mac & cheese of your life.

It's life changing and heavenly.

Mimi e Coco has multiple locations in Rome but I've always gone to this location near Piazza Navona.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Have you tried any of these dishes? Let us know in the comments what your favorite pasta dish is along with your favorite restaurant in Rome ☺️ And remember, when in Rome, eat as the Romans eat!

If you would like to see more must-try spots in Rome, check out our DIY Roman Food Tour YouTube video here ↓

If you got this far, thanks for reading and remember to STAY CLASSLESS 😉