To eat well in Testaccio, we start at the market and work outwards. Mordi e Vai makes braised-meat sandwiches at a stall inside the Mercato di Testaccio. Pasticceria Linari has been run by the same family since 1971. Flavio al Velavevodetto and Pecorino cook Roman pasta. In the evening, Remo has been making thin pizza on the main square since 1976.
The short list
7 places, in the order they appear below.
- 01Mordi e VaiA braised brisket sandwich at lunchMercato di Testaccio
- 02Pasticceria LinariWarm ciambelle at breakfastTestaccio
- 03Flavio al VelavevodettoRoman pasta and fried meatballsTestaccio
- 04PecorinoFamily trattoria cookingTestaccio
- 05Remo a TestaccioThin pizza, no bookingTestaccio
- 06Gelateria Torcè - AventinoChocolate gelato by originViale Aventino
- 07SEU PizzaA booked pizza dinnerSouthern Trastevere
Where to eat at the Testaccio market
For a cheap, filling lunch, we head to the Mercato di Testaccio and find Mordi e Vai at Box 15. Here, Rome’s humblest quinto quarto cuts (tripe, brisket, offal) plus artichokes go into sandwiches. Treat it as a midday stop, and try to arrive before one o’clock.
Order the allesso di scottona. The brisket is braised slowly until tender, packed into a roll dipped in its own broth, then finished with bitter cicoria and a little chilli.
Mordi e Vai
Hours: Mon 10:15–14:30 · Tue–Thu 10:00–14:30 · Fri–Sat 10:00–15:00 · Sun closed
Address: Nuovo Mercato Comunale di Testaccio BOX 15, Via Beniamino Franklin, 12/E, 00153 Roma RM, Italia
Where to have breakfast in Testaccio
Two sisters who grew up behind the counter now run Pasticceria Linari, which has stayed with the same family since 1971. People cross town for the ciambelle. The maritozzi are filled with cream that has a hint of vanilla and honey, not plain cream. Get there before nine and the ciambelle are still warm.
In the morning, workers grab breakfast on the way to a job, next to older residents who were coming here long before the sisters took over. Some days the ciambelle are gone well before lunch. Arrive late and you may have to pick something else from the counter.
Pasticceria Linari
Hours: Mon 06:30–14:00 · Tue–Thu 06:30–21:00 · Fri–Sat 06:30–21:45 · Sun 06:30–21:00
Address: Via Nicola Zabaglia, 9, 00153 Roma RM, Italy
Which Roman trattorias to try in Testaccio
Testaccio has two trattorias that stick to Roman cooking, and we’d choose them for different evenings. Flavio al Velavevodetto, on Via di Monte Testaccio, serves cacio e pepe, carbonara, grilled meats and hearty stews in a warm room, and the service is attentive. Pecorino feels more like a family dining room than a restaurant. Its ingredients come in daily from the nearby market.
At Flavio, we start with the polpette di bollito: meatballs made from boiled meat, then fried. After that, one of the pastas, the cacio e pepe or the carbonara.
Flavio al Velavevodetto
Hours: Mon–Sun 12:30–15:00, 19:30–23:00
Address: Via di Monte Testaccio, 97, 00153 Roma RM, Italia
Alfredo and his daughters run Pecorino, and the cooking is filling and unfussy. In artichoke season, order the carciofo alla giudia.
Pecorino
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Sun 12:30–14:30, 19:30–23:00
Address: Via Galvani, 64, 00153 Roma RM, Italia
Where to get pizza in Testaccio
At Remo, on Piazza di Santa Maria Liberatrice, the wood-burning oven runs flat out and produces the local standard: a very thin base, soft in the middle and charred at the edge. The room is loud and rustic. Families, groups of friends and lifelong regulars all wait in the same line.
There are no bookings, but the queue moves faster than it looks. Once you’re seated, the pizza usually comes in about twenty minutes, which is why so many Testaccio parents bring their children. Before it arrives, order fried zucchini flowers, salt cod fillets or supplì.
Remo a Testaccio
Hours: Mon–Sat 19:00–01:00 · Sun closed
Address: Piazza di S Maria Liberatrice, 44, 00153 Roma RM, Italy
Where to eat near Testaccio, toward the Aventine and Trastevere
Gelateria Torcè, on Viale Aventino, is a good gelato stop about ten minutes’ walk from the Giardino degli Aranci. SEU Pizza, in the southern part of Trastevere, is a sit-down pizzeria for an evening when we’d rather book a table than stand in a queue.
Torcè made its name inventing savoury flavours such as cacio e pepe. We come for Claudio Torcè’s chocolate, though. Order it by origin, not by name: the Manjari from Madagascar or the Chuao from Venezuela.
Gelateria Torcè - Aventino
Hours: Mon 12:30–20:00 · Tue–Thu 12:30–21:30 · Fri–Sat 12:30–22:00 · Sun 12:30–21:30
Address: Viale Aventino, 59, 00153 Roma RM, Italia
At SEU, Pier Daniele Seu and Valeria Zuppardo make a light, airy dough, and their toppings are closer to a restaurant kitchen than a pizzeria. Start with the fried dishes, the Lingotto and the classic supplì. If the seasonal Capricciosa is on (Parmesan cream, roasted tomato, artichokes, prosciutto crudo and a soft-boiled egg), it works far better than that list suggests. You’ll need a reservation.
SEU Pizza
Hours: Mon–Fri 19:00–00:00 · Sat 12:00–15:30, 19:00–00:00 · Sun 19:00–00:00
Address: Via Angelo Bargoni, 10 - 18, 00153 Roma RM, Italia
We’d build a whole day from this list: Linari in the morning, the market at lunch, then a trattoria or Remo for dinner. Opening hours vary a lot between a market stall, a bakery and a pizzeria, and several of these places close one day a week. Check each card before you set out. Book SEU ahead. At Remo, allow time for the line.
