Description: If you're traveling with kids in Rome, this is a good restaurant to remember. You see, a lot of places close in the afternoons, and they don't open again until 7 PM. This is no good for young American families who are used to eating closer to 6. Wandering around the
Piazza Popolo, we ran across this place. All of us wanted to eat, but all of the restaurants were dark. Then we saw the sign on an outside wall: "Always Open."
SOLD! We grabbed seats out front underneath an umbrella.
How was the food? Well, we didn't have high expectations, but we were pleasantly surprised. My son's pizza was pretty good. I had ravioli with 4-cheese sauce, which I enjoyed. It wasn't the best pasta I had during our trip, but it came out fast and hot. Plus I was starving. Other offerings like lasangna are on the menu. Young kids could easily split one pizza. The prices were good for Rome. Everything we ordered was under Ten Euro. Our waitress spoke English well. I noticed a "Top Table Recommended" sticker on the front door. (Top Table is a UK based website.)
How was the atmosphere? Great. We sat outside in the shade and people-watched, which is always amusing. One boy in a black top-hat, crimson red shirt, and tails walked by us with a pale-faced girlfriend who had too much black mascara around her eyes on his arm. (These were
Goths, our son said.) The service at the restaurant was really fairly fast. The wicker chairs were comfortable. The bathrooms were clean. The tablecloths were white and green checked so felt... Italian.
Any negatives?Avoid the daiquiris and martinis. I ordered the first with a vision of a crushed ice drink like you'd get on the beach in my mind. They aren't served this way. The rim was covered in sugar. My husband asked for a dirty martini. Both drinks were horrible. After one sip, I switched to a glass of wine. My husband switched to a soft drink.
Any extra positives?We like to go to the cinema in foreign countries when we're traveling with our son. After all, we can't exactly take him on a pub crawl! Very close to this restaurant is the
Cinema Metropolitan (Via del Corso, 7), which shows films in their originial English with Italian subtitles. (Most cinemas have films dubbed over in Italian.) "Indiana Jones" was playing at 5:15 PM, so we had an early meal at Al Vantaggio when most other restaurants were closed before walking over to see a movie. Both the restaurant and the cinema are off the
Piazza Popolo, to which you can easily walk from the Spanish Steps. Our movie tickets were 5 Euro each. Our 14-year-old is considered an "adult" in Rome. Price breaks can sometimes be had for kids under 12.
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