Flavio al Velavevodetto

Yum! I came here after reading that this place is known for their traditional dishes and I was not disappointed! I came on a weekday for lunch and there was plenty of seating. I was seated quickly, ordered the oxtail in tomato sauce (coda alla vaccinara), and was brought a basket of bread. My oxtail dish came really quickly but was piping hot, so I suspected that it had been cooking/​braising for several hours. The meat fell off the bone and the tomato sauce was so hearty and delicious… I definitely used my crusty, soft bread to wipe up ALL the sauce. My waitress was also super kind and brought me a dessert for free! I left completely full and totally happy – although it’s a bit out of the way from the touristy parts of Rome, definitely worth the trip!

Traditional Roman food is served here!
I came here for dinner one night and enjoyed traditional Roman food. It’s Italian food but ingredients they use is what I don’t see in other parts of Italy.
Our reservation was at 20:30 and when we arrived promptly, our table was ready. They have English menu available upon request. One of the appetizer ordered was some sort of mozzarella cheese from Morolo. Cheese had interesting texture and flavor. I am not used to eating this and it was certainly an acquired taste. It went well with prosciutto ham.
For pasta, I ordered homemade pasta with cheese and black peppers. So simple and enjoyed perfectly al dente texture of pasta.
I had ox tail for my dinner and it was so soft, meat came off the bone so easily. I also got to taste everyone’s main dish. Rabbit tasted like chicken. I like the chewing texture of some kind of cow’s stomach organs. (Still not quite sure what it was).
What I learned about traditional Roman food that night based on just one meal experience, most food is salty and they don’t waste any parts of animals. They use all. So it may not be your regular diet but that is what Roman traditionally ate. In a way, I thought Roman food is similar to Japanese food, they just cooked differently.
It’s a bit away from the city but great place to enjoy traditional food. Reservation is highly recommended and be prepared for a long night. Our dinner lasted a little over two hours.

Literally could not stop eating the Cacio e Pepe here. Thickest noodles I have ever tasted which added so much to the flavor. All pastas our group had were great. Highly recommended when in the neighborhood.

Mi compañero Salvatore me llevó a comer comida típica romana, y la verdad es que jamás pensé que me fuera a gustar tanto. Ni pizzas, ni nada por el estilo, comimos bien de pasta, en las formas y colores más insospechadas.
Empezaré diciendo que el lugar es poco más que una cueva. Esta situado, según me contó Salvatore, al lado de un montículo creado con los restos de ánforas rotas. Y de hecho, en algunos de los salones interiores se pueden ver paredes de cristal con los restos de las ánforas, acumulados tras el paso del tiempo. ¡Casi un vertedero de la época romana! Nosotros comimos en «el jardín» (más bien una terraza) aunque llovía a cántaros. Pero muy bien, porque está convenientemente adecuada a las inclemencias del tiempo.
Para empezar tomamos unas tostas de burrata con anchoas que estaban espectacular. También calabacín salteado y un bacalao frito riquísimo. De plato principal tiramos por tres medias raciones de pasta, y destacaré aquí la pasta pajata, hecha con tomate y tripa de vaca. Ya sé que esto a los no amantes de la casquería les puede disgustar un poco, pero por lo visto es un plato tipiquísimo romano, así que había que probarlo. ¡Y estaba bueno!
El lugar no está situado en una zona especialmente turística, pero es muy, muy popular. Buen servicio, atento y diligente, y un espacio que merece la pena ver, la verdad. Eso sí, es tirando a carillo.

In a cavern (carved out of a mountain made of broken pottery). The pastas here were done very nicely al dente. Old school. Table wine was delicious. I loved the pomodoro sauce best.

En este restaurante me estrene en Roma … y he de decir que fue un buen recibimiento el que tuve.
Llegué sobre las nueve al aeropuerto de Fiumicino (o como se escriba) y tras una excursión hasta llegar a Roma y al airbnb de turno, aterrizamos en este restaurante al que íbamos recomendados.
El sitio no nos defraudó, aunque tuvimos unos instantes de crisis porque cogimos la última mesa libre. Estaba lleno hasta la bola.
Consultamos la carta, y nos decantamos por una burrata con anchoas del cantábrico servida a modo de tosta, y de plato principal yo pedí unos rigatoni a la matriciana que estaban deliciosos. Se me antojó vino, y medí el de la casa, Cincinnato, que además de estar buenísimo (muy afrutado) tenía un precio supereconómico.
Me gustó mucho el sitio (salimos como a 25 euros por cabeza sin postre y con café).

This place is pretty popular, so we decided to get dinner here. We ordered the mozzarella di bufala, rigatoni with intestines, and beef tripe. The mozzarella was good, but it was kind of rubbery. The rigatoni and beef tripe were good, and very different. I didn’t really like the intestines, but the sauce was good. And the tripe was tasty, although it tasted a little gamy. All in all, we just wanted to try something different, but maybe next time, we’ll try something else, haha.

Went here for lunch on a Sunday after reading great review on the «Revealed Rome» website. We took a seat on the front patio, as it was too hot inside.
I ordered the zucchini scarpece & rigatoni amatriciano, and my husband had the seafood linguine. We also had the house red wine (Nero Rosso). The zucchini was delicious, with a hint of mint. But both of our pasta dishes were «meh»… Mine honestly tasted like jarred red sauce from the supermarket with added salt and bacon. The rigatoni was al dente but that was the best thing I can say about it. My husband’s seafood linguine was just OK. The wine was good, not great.
Service was also ok, not great. Not actively unpleasant, but they did not make any effort beyond the basics.
Worst was the cigarette smoke. There was one person smoking at a table near us in the small semi-​enclosed patio. He managed to fill the place with his noxious pollution. I know you are an addict, but why make the rest of us suffer?
Can’t recommend — there are far better trattorias in Testaccio.

This place is jut fantastic. It’s a bit out of the way of the main city center, but certainly worth a trip if you want an authentic, delicious, Roman meal surrounded by locations.
We had a reservation for a Sunday night at 8 pm. I think a reservation is a pretty good idea anytime, but certainly on Fridays and Saturdays. It was nearly entirely full on a Sunday and there is a lot of seating at the restaurant. Two levels, all open air.
We ordered:
Tonnarelli cacio e pepe — spectacular are you kidding me? The sauce was perfectly creamy and cheesy without overkilling it on the grease and butter. The pepper flavor came through. The tonarelli was homemade and quite nicely al dente. Proportion of sauce to pasta was spot on. Portion was much larger than expected and not like a typical primi.
Spaghetti fatti in casa alla velavevodetto — this used to be a homemade ravioli, but now they no longer have that. Instead, they serve their velavevodetto sauce with spaghetti. The sauce is a light oil based sauce with fresh tomatoes, mint, basil, and thyme. It’s unique and worth trying. Lovely, but not my favorite of the bunch. Still a hit, though. The spaghetti is not made in house, but was cooked perfectly and of great quality.
Stufatino di manzo con patate o con cipolle — beef stew with potatoes and onions. We were hesitant to get this dish, but our waitress recommended it over the meatballs, which she said you could get everywhere. She was right. Meatballs are easy to find, but this stew is authentically Roman and more specific to this restaurant. Tender cubes of beef cooked in a delicious rich, hearty tomato sauce with potatoes and onions. I mean the flavor is spectacular and the sauce is thick and not oily. The beef is cooked perfectly, a bit of a fatty cut, but it really just melts in your mouth.
2 Euro service charge for the bread and table cloth. Bottle of water is 3 Euros. And we ended with watermelon for 4 Euros.
Servers are incredibly nice and helpful and speak English perfectly.
Portions are huge. Prices are right for this type of restaurant. Ambiance is great. Definitely give this place a try.

This was our favorite Roman restaurant. It focuses on animal parts or offal. If you don’t have a reservation, they’ll probably seat you inside which is fine. Outdoor seating during the summer is intolerable.
— Sautéed zucchini was very good. Something so simple was beautifully flavored.
— Meatballs were delicious was the best? Eh. Had better in NYC. Try for yourself.
— Rigatoni with baby cow intestines was da bomb. I think it’s one of its classic pasta dishes and it was one of the best things I ate here. The baby cow intestines only experienced milk and had never been fed grass making the texture and flavor so good.
— Rabbit cacciatore was good but some pieces of meat were a bit dry and not as tender as I expected. Tasted like dry chicken
This was a middle of nowhere restaurant but has been made popular by various blogs and Andrew Zimmern. Worth the trip.

If you’re like us, tourists staying in the center of Rome, Flavio is quite a hike. But it’s a hike that is definitely worth it. It is located in the city’s Testaccio area. It seems to be sitting alone in a residential corner and from afar anyone can think that it’s a quiet restaurant. Flavio is far from that. Come closer and you will see and hear people laughing and enjoying their meal and more waiting for their table.
Reservation is necessary for outdoor seating around warm months. Walk in and expect to be seated inside.
Service is quick and friendly.
We ordered four dishes to share:
Zucchini — stir fried and dressed with olive oil salt and pepper. Served room temperature. This was pretty simple but quite addicting. You won’t help yourself but to keep picking at it Til you finish the whole plate.
Polpette al Sugo — meatballs in tomato based sauce. Served with three appropriately sized meatballs. Meaty.
Rigatone with pajata (intestine of unweaned veal or lamb) — Flavio specializes in what they call «Quinto Quarto» or fifth quarter which basically means peasant or organ meats. This dish is made with the same tomato based sauce as the meatballs but with creamy young cow intestines. A must get either with the rigatoni or by itself.
Rabbit Cacciatora — this is my first time trying rabbit and it’s perfect that I had it here. I do not want to compare it to chicken but that’s just what it tasted like, like chicken. Leaner tho. Again, this dish was cooked with tomatoes and herbs.
Great restaurant to try when you’re in Rome.

HORRIBLE customer service. We left after being rudely greeted by the staff (refused to sit down and eat). Never had such a bad service experience.

This place’s excellence primarily derives from its amazing main courses. We had some of the truffle flavored pastas and carbonara dishes. They were light, fresh tasting, and most had perfectly balanced flavor that was definitely unique to central Italy. They were the BEST main pasta dishes that I had during my Rome trip.
Some things to note though:
1. You need to make reservations for this place
2. It is a bit out of the way of the main touristy areas, but I appreciated the more authentic food experience. There were some local options available — IE: Tripe
3. The funny thing is that they segregate the foreigners to an upstairs al fresco area and give you English speaking wait staff.
4. The bread left much to be desired for… that was disappointing
5. This will probably be your most expensive meal in Rome if you are sensible normal tourist.

So some of my internet research kept mentioning this place so I decided to try it. After getting taken for a «ride» by my taxicab we finally arrived.
I didnt make reservations so I took a chance and went anyway. They were accomadating and sat us inside. Our table inside was next to a window that exposed the fact that we were really sitting in a bunker. An ancient dump site where previous Romans dumped thier clay pots. The windows showed these pots obviously in peices but I thought this was unique.
For antipasti we had prosciutto, smoked cheese and octopus. All were good as expected. Service was a bit slow but nothing upsetting. My sons had the meatballs and I had the rabbit cacciatore. Incredible!!! I dont care what anyone was thinking and used my hands to wipe every peice of meat and sauce from the rabbit carcass. So tasty and so well done. I was actually wanting to go back for breakfast the next day. This is a «go to dish». The dish you always order regardless of how many times you go to the same place.

Tratoria típica italiana
Com ambiente agradável e familiar
Cardápio enxuto porém tipicamente romano .
Poucos turistas e muitos italianos
Agradável

was recommended this restaurant by someone we met in Florence. We took the subway here although it is a little out of the way it was really nice. The walk wasn’t bad especially when the sun is down and it’s breezy. We didn’t make a reservation but they still seated us inside. We also got to the restaurant around 6pm which is early for Italians to eat dinner.
We ordered the tonnarelli cacio e pepe, ox tail and tiramisù al bicchiere. The cache e pepe pasta was very good. The pasta was eggy and chewy. There isn’t much sauce but it is very peppery and cheesy which i loved. It is heavy though. The ox tail was great along with the sauce that came with it. I couldn’t get enough bread to dip it in. The tiramisu was interesting since it did not have the typical lady finger cake inside and was instead a cookie.
we also ordered this appetizer of mixed fried vegetables of eggplants, peppers and other things. i don’t know what it was called but i think i can just eat and be completely happy with my life.
The service was super slow but i think we came to expect dinner to take really long where ever we were in italy. i think it was like over a 2.5 hour meal for 4 dishes. one being a dessert they just bring out.

I would give this place 3.5 stars.
My mate loved this place and I kinda liked it… I think it was because I had too many biscotti snacks and gelato prior to dinner. I DO (strange as it is) remember loooving the bread. I had so much of it. Probably another reason I didnt necessarily love my main course?
I ended up getting a fettuccine with artichokes, peas, fava beans, etc. I chose it because the waiter recommended it as one of his favorites and also because I thought the ingredients sounded very appetizing ;) love me some artichokes and fava beans! I personally thought it was kind of heavy, mainly because of the texture of the pasta and the lack of juicy sauce. Flavor was otherwise good and again, I think I may have been confused by my rather ruined appetite. Totally my bad.
Mate got sun dried tomato ravioli with ricotta. He liked it but he loved my dish which he happily finished off after devouring his: P
Another thing– the restaurant itself was rather underwhelming. Im not the type that demands pristine modern sleek beautiful décor. I just want an environment that is appetizing! Nice background music or at least some pleasant noise? It was dead quiet. Also the walls and everything else were stark white… So interesting. No windows as it was downstairs in what used to be a wine vault I imagine. I mean, pretty cool historically speaking but why just white? :(
I remember leaving feeling rather disappointed. & this is after many many mind blowingly amazing meals we had prior. Meh…

I’m not quite sure why I’m not raving about this place. It was, as Unilocal writes next to 3 stars, «A-​OK.» Nothing spectacular.
First — the locale; it’s off the beaten path which is nice, except you definitely need to take a cab unless you’re a local and can drive it yourself. The place itself is something others have commented on – I imagine you’ll love it or hate it. It felt extremely claustrophobic to me; not because it was a tight space but because it was, indeed, carved into the hill. It was like dining in a wine cellar — no windows, just stone all around.
We asked for a wine list and were told to walk into the entryway where wines were listed by their prices. We chose an excellent Sangiovese and enjoyed it immensely. But I’ve never been to a restaurant where we «shop» for the wine. Interesting.
For our appetizer, we ordered prosciutto — and, indeed, what we got was a plate of prosciutto. It didn’t say there’d be melon with it so I knew not to expect that, but I certainly expected, I don’t know, some sliced tomato, a side of oil, something to make it interesting. So it was just prosciutto. It was delicious prosciutto, but again… interesting choice.
We both had primi dishes — and both had the cacio e pepe; excellent.
We didn’t have secondi; wasn’t necessary, we were pretty satisfied with the other dishes. We shared a tiramisu for dessert; this was different from any I’d ever had — there was a sort of custard/​pudding filling to it and was served in a glass. It was light and delicious. We both had coffee; it, like all Italian coffee, put hair on my chest. Loved it.
In the end, the meal cost about 90 euro for all that for two people; kind of what I’d expect when wine is included. If you’re in that area, it’s worth checking out; otherwise I wouldn’t make a special trip for it.

Great restaurant in the Testaccio neighborhood! We made a reservation for 7:30. When we got there, there was only a few couples, but the time we left, it filled with people, mostly locals.
The Testaccio neighborhood was built on an ancient pile of testae or clay pot shards that were used to haul oil during the days of the Roman Empire. This restaurant is built in the side of a hill and the inside dining room has large glass windows displaying the clay pots. So cool!
We sat at a table outside on the roof. Had to walk up a windy staircase and walk around the deck to get there. Definitely a unique perspective and very romantic, being it was tucked away in the back.
We ordered the vino rosso della casa, which they brought out in a liter bottle. It was sooo good and very inexpensive.
Our antipasti was the caponata. It was a chunky relish of egg plant and tomatoes with pine nuts, served cold. Very tasty.
My primi was the riggatoni alla matriciana sauce. The rigatoni were cooked to a perfect al dente and the amatriciana sauce was a tomato based sauce made with guanciale or pork cheek. The sauce was a little salty, but that’s kind of the nature of the sauce. I did love it and ate every bite. My wife got the Ravioli fatti in casa alla velavevodetto. The ravioli were stuffed with a parsley, ricotta mixture and came with a light sauce that featured cherry tomatoes. Also sprinkled Parmesan reggiano over the top and a scoop of ricotta in the center. Very good!
I ordered a secondi of the trippa di Roma. «Tripe» in English, is actually cow stomach stewed for many hours and served in a tomato based sauce with lots of Parmesan Reggiano over top. This is something I grew up on, so believe it or not, I had been looking for this dish and when I saw it on the menu I was very excited to order it. And it was absolutely delicious!
Lots of bars and nightclubs lined up one after another on the way to the pyramid subway stop, so lots to do after dinner. When we left around 10:00, people were not there yet, but it definitely looked like the calm before the storm.

Terrible service. Terrible food. We ordered the pork dish and it had no meat. The cacio e pepe was decent but it’s not worth coming back for.

Location: Testaccio
The place: First, this place is really cool! It’s built into the ‘mountain’ of discarded clay pots — basically the city’s most historic landfill dating back to God knows how many years. You can actually see the layers of cracked pots that make up the mountain walls through windows that are strategically placed in the restaurant.
The food: We had the Cacio e Pepe, the Amatriciana, and the Carbonara. The last two both had bits of pork cheek in their respective sauces. I have to say that I loved all three dishes, but my favorites were the Amatriciana and the Carbonara. They were sublime. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the sauces were bursting with flavor. Thank God we got to try three varieties — I would hate to wonder what I could have missed out on!
Service: Very good.
Price point: Good.
Book ahead as this place is very popular with the locals and the traveling foodies.

This was far and away the nicest restaurant that I went to while in Rome. My AirBnb host suggested it for a place that most tourists would not necessarily go to because it is relatively far from the tourist attractions.
Flavio used to be the chef at a different restaurant and then decided to go off on his own. This takes «hole in the wall» to a new level… it really does feel more like a hole in the side of a small hill. But it’s quite lovely inside, and I would suggest dressing «european casual» at least.
The menus are completely in Italian, which was somewhat challenging. I went with my waitress’ suggestion for my appetizer (fried artichoke hearts), which was great! For my main, I had the «house special» ravioli — also very good. I finished everything off with a house tiramisu, which was very good as well.
Their red house wine (vino della casa) was good. Would I suggest going here? Yes, but it was kinda hard for me to find… Piramide is probably the closest metro… so if you have the time and patience… this place is great!

Tolles Restaurant im angesagten Ausgehbezirk Testaccio, abends oft voll, also reservieren! Sie haben einen großen Innenhof plus eine Terrasse, sehr gute römische Küche (viel Fleischgerichte). Sehr leckere Vorspeisen und Desserts. Den Wein sucht man sich aus dem Weinregal aus, sie haben wirklich für alle Geschmäcker etwas vorrätig und das zu fairen Preisen!

Went to the Museum of Roman Civilization and decided to come to Flavio al Velavevodetto for lunch on Sunday. The place was packed, primarily Italian families sharing lunch together
— Gnocchi con sugo di involtini
— Rigatoni alla matriciana
— Misto umido (3 meats polpetta, coda, involtino)
— Involtini al sugo
This was one of our best Roman meals. We arrived at 12:40 and were the 2^nd group of people in there.
The gnocchi was absolute heaven like little fluffy pillows that melt in your mouth. The rigatoni alla matriciana had a rich tomato sauce with bacon, the richest we had had.
The meats were excellent as well. The misto umido had three kinds cooked different ways in a variety of aromatic tomato sauce.