The idea of the “best trattoria in Rome” is an elusive one. Not only are tastes highly subjective, but even the most reliable establishments in town are plagued by a lack of consistency. Try the cacio e pepe one day, and it is exquisite. Come back the next and it lands at your table a congealed pasta brick. Or worse, order the “wrong thing” and suffer dire consequences. (Yes, most Roman restaurants are only really exceptional at a fraction of things on the menu.) Consequently, for a place to be the “best” in Rome, it doesn’t have to be perfect. But, for me, Trattoria Da Cesare al Casaletto comes pretty close.
This long-established trattoria was taken over by Leonardo Vignoli and Maria Pia Cicconi in the spring of 2009. As the name suggests, it is located on Via del Casaletto in the Monteverde Nuovo district and it was once owned by a guy called Cesare (he took over his parents’ trattoria La Palma in the 1970s and renamed it after himself). With Leonardo and Maria Pia at the helm, the food and wine list were pulled out of obscurity and Da Cesare is now lauded by Roman gastronomes for its quality and value (a good rapporto qualita-prezzo is of supreme importance in this city).
It is both of these factors which appeal to me, but particularly the former. Over the past dozen and a half years, I have made it a habit to dine at Cesare at least monthly and it is my go-to destination for just about any occasion. If I need to impress Roman friends and prove to them Americans know good food, I take them to Cesare. If out-of-town journalists are in Rome reporting on pasta, I take them to Cesare. If chefs come to Rome in search of that fantasy trattoria they dream of, I book us a table at Cesare.
In all of the above cases, we start with assorted fritti, some of the lightest fried foods you will ever encounter. Crisp cod filets, anchovies, baby squids, and squash blossoms filled are served in paper cones. Golden gnocchi nuggets are strewn atop a thick cacio e pepe sauce.
Perhaps the greatest expression of the fried genre is achieved in the form of polpette di bollito (spheres of pulled braised veal) and poplette di melanzane (eggplant croquettes). Supple and delicate, their crusts give way to soft, flavorful interiors. Americans will want to save some of the eggplant croquette’s spicy tomato sauce for dipping the squid, but know it will offend the locals. Pro tip: if, like me, you are no longer 20 and cannot eat all those fritti, prioritize the squid, gnocchi, and eggplant.
The parade of fried things should absolutely be accompanied by a thin and crispy pizza rossa, one of the most ethereal expressions of this Roman classic you’ll find anywhere. It is a disc of dough that has been rolled thin, then topped with a bit of tomato sauce, and baked in a wood-fired oven. The result is crisp and chewy pizza with a decisive tomato tang and no tip sag when you pick up a slice. It’s available at dinner only.
The primi menu at Cesare can be extensive and overwhelming so stick with the gricia and never ever skip the pasta with sugo di coda (oxtail sauce). The menu let’s you joyfully mix and match pasta shapes and sauces. For me, it’s tonnarelli with the gricia and mezze maniche (half-rigatoni) with the oxtail. I’m also way into the cacio e pepe, which is extremely juicy and must be paired with tonnarelli–in spite of the other choices, you will be refused. You can see more about the cacio e pepe (and the trattoria in general) in a video collab I did with Eater here:
So far this place sounds perfect right? There’s one teensy flaw that is not unique to Cesare but is instead a feature of post-pandemic global dining: the service can be a bit off or confused, or stressed–or all of the above–depending on the day. It is what it is. And it’s hard to stress over it when the atmosphere is so lovely.
To experience the flavor and value of Cesare al Casaletto, take the #8 tram from centro or Trastevere to last stop, Casaletto (another bargain–it’s less than 5 bucks per person R/T). The restaurant is 100 yards from the tram stop. I cannot stress how highly I recommend this place. But if you’re really not down to leave central Rome, Leonardo e Maria Pia took over the institution Settimio al Pellegrino near Campo de’ Fiori in 2023, renaming it Cesare al Pellegrino. And if you want to have a glass of wine or shop for Cesare’s signature dishes and sauces to take away, Laboratorio opened near Cesare al Casaletto in summer 2024.
Cesare al Casaletto
Via del Casaletto, 45 – 00151 Roma
Tel. +39 06536015
Online bookings
Closed Wednesdays
