Expect to pay $ 80 per person with a couple of bottles of wine at Antico Arco. If you are fit, walk up to the restaurant from Trastevere, stopping along the way at the beautiful fountain with great views of the city of Rome. It makes the«mountain goat climb» up the hill, well worth it. This is clearly a well known haunt of English speaking tourists and expats. The staff speaks fluent English and the hostess spoke English without any accent. The service here was efficient and quite helpful particularly with the wine selection. Their wine cellar is quite extensive and they have some very nice regional selections as well as some unusual varietal choices as well. Ask your waiter to make some suggestions about your choices. I am puzzled by some of the comments about the restaurants ambience. Our party of 4 was seated during a full house at Antico Arco and I found the white interior to be quite pleasant and the service was perfecto! The menu was available with a multi course tasting menu or directly from the menu. Wild game, seafood, beef, and vegetarian offerings were plentiful on the menu. The food was perfectly prepared and flawlessly presented. Poached egg, Roman broccoli, truffles and a yogurt sauce — heavenly! Pigeon with a pistachio crust — wonderful! Veal tenderloin with a crunchy thyme crust — superb! The desserts were equally interesting and delicious. This is a no brainier if you want an upscale dining experience in Rome without any pretense and for a reasonable price. Inventive but authentic menu with a killer wine cellar.
Kim W.
Place rating: 5 Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Set on top of one of the seven hills its a bit of a walk but as my hotel was two steps away my colleague and I decided to chance it. And as you can see from the stars it was a real charmer. A light dining room, stylish semiformal with comfortable seating for tables of 1 – 6 and room for groups upstairs. Service was kind spoke English and quick. I ordered the pigeon crusted with pistachios filled with figs with a port sauce whilst my colleague went for ansjovis with burrata. Both dishes were surprises of delicacy whilst also delivering on substance. For main indulged in sea bass ravioli in shellfish bisque, great pasta. My table companion settled for snapper with artichoke purée which was both perfectly cooked as well as having crispy skin. Happy as we are we decided that dessert was a necessity and we were not disappointed. we finished with yoghurt mousse, raspberry sorbet and caramel cookie and I indulged in tonka bean cookie, white chocolate cream and ginger ice cream. It all was accompanied by glasses of wine that fitted perfectly. A real prince charming this one, go and get kissed by its flavors when in Roma.
Abbie F.
Place rating: 4 Reston, VA
A bit pricey, but completely delicious. Everything we had here was fantastic and the service was great, very polite and attentive. We had the pigeon breast and salad starter, followed by the pecorino and pepper pasta, duck, and the«yoyo» for desert, each tasty and very filling with beautiful presentation. If you’re looking for somewhere intimate, relaxing, and truly delicious, this is the place!
Patrick G.
Place rating: 2 New Orleans, LA
Unpleasant. Booked this on the recommendation of a friend for our last night in Italy. The service is good and the food is fine, but the ambiance is awful. Stark, bright light. White everything. Terrible techno music. And near silence from other diners. A complete absence of character or charm. The food is interesting, but the ambiance made this a major bummer.
Peter V.
Place rating: 5 New York, NY
If you are in Rome do not leave without eating here. The menu, preparation and service are second to none. The wine list is extensive and then some. The food is prepared exquisitely and the servings are just right. Expect to be blown away by new tastes and combinations. The waiters know their stuff and give excellent service. The owner is pleased to see you. You are looked after but not harassed by over-service. I have eaten all over the world and my experience here puts this restaurant in my top 10.
Rebecca C.
Place rating: 4 San Francisco, CA
Solid restaurant at the top of one of seven hills in Rome. Suggested by our local friend in Rome. Simple and elegant in décor and lighting, clientele mostly consists of locals. The portions are quite huge — I would recommend sharing a tasting menu for 2 people. Out of the dishes that we had, Fluffed buffalo mozzarella cheese and tomato was the amazing winner. I don’t know how they Achieved the fluffy consistency of the mozzarella cheese but the result is extraordinary and the tomato was the perfect complement to the whip cream like cheese. The pigeon wrapped in pistachios was delicious. Just the right texture for the meat, with a bit of nuttiness of the pistachios. Reminded me of some of the dishes that I had in morocco. The dishes to avoid would be: Cod carpaccio with mayonnaise and cucumber — too fishy Sponge cake with chocolate gelato and apricot — too sweet
John T.
Place rating: 5 New York, NY
Great food! Great service! I wish every restaurant was like this
Sandy G.
Place rating: 5 San Francisco, CA
Have dined at a fair number of Rome’s better eateries and I must say this is truly close to the top. If you want a formal stuffy many-course meal, this is not that type of establishment. The staff was friendly from the moment I called to make the reservation. The food was a delicious and surprising modern take on Roman specialties. Service was attentive without being obsequious or overbearing. Wine list was huge but not just expensive unapproachable bottles. Overall a lovely experience!
Kai R.
Place rating: 2 Waimea, HI
Major bummer. My wife and I did our research and came here as a special treat while in Rome. for the most part… fail. ambiance was stiff and boring… we sat inside downstairs… so if we were outside or upstairs this may have been different but inside was not cool. service was a bit awkward at times but for the most part attentive and nice(best part of our experience). Wine was decent and there was a large selection so hard to go wrong there… Food… we were open minded and excited, but right out the gates… amuse bouche was a simple cracker with an anchovy paste. Fishy. not in a bold fish flavor kind of way but just gross fishy. I love anchovies and sardines, etc. not this. My wife who was being bold and open could barely swallow and i don’t blame her. Bad start. We ordered the eggplant parmesan and frizzled mackerel along with a seasonal mixed greens salad with raspberry vinaigrette… salad was virtually undressed and some of the lettuce was black wilted on the edges. Eggplant parmesan was not exciting in any way but not horrible. just ok. mackerel never came. We thought they would maybe bring it with our entrée as we we’re sharing but they didn’t. We split the filet and it was completely forgettable. Desert was the molten chocolate cake… not bad… not great. Cappuccinos were not good. :(
Linda C.
Place rating: 5 New York, NY
I had lunch at Antico Arco today at the recommendation of Aussie friends who had been there last year. As a meal on my last day here in Rome, I believe I couldn’t have done better. I made a reservation online and the management got back to me within 24 hours with a confirmation. I took a taxi from Via Cavour(and back) and both taxi drivers charged me around 11euro. It’s a little bit out of the way, so taxi is the best way to get there for out-of-towners. The service was lovely, a very fluent English-speaking Italian waiter and they have an English menu. The waiter struck the right balance between leaving me in peace and attentively looking after my needs. Lots of other reviewers rave about the menu, so I won’t repeat their comments, except to say«DON’T miss the pork belly»… it was divine. And my chocolate dessert was gorgeous! The waiter also suggested my wine and he chose brilliantly. And then I went for a lovely stroll to one of the best views of Rome. Perfect last day and I’ll definitely put Antico Arco in my restaurant list for future trips to Rome.
Nathan L.
Place rating: 4 London, United Kingdom
The food here is fabulous, no doubt about it. I went here on my very last day in Rome having completely stuffed myself for 3 days solid with pasta. I was understandable lacking in appetite somewhat but I soldiered through a primi and secondi(I’m exceptionally greedy when it comes to Italian food and must always have pasta with every meal). I ordered prawn spaghetti to start — it was really good. My boyfriend ordered a different pasta dish which was far too creamy and rich for either of us. I found the main of beef a bit too rich for me too. The meat was very thick and flavoursome but after the pasta proved too much for even me to manage(I did finish it but only because it was my last Roman meal). Needless to say we did not have a dessert! This place is great for special occasions.
Matthias H.
Place rating: 5 Manhattan, NY
This place gets five stars for food, service and ambiance. The food is ltalian with a creative twist, and since we were in the mood for something light we were pleased with the choices, including appealing salads and lentil seafood soup. Although he was quite busy, the server was very helpful and accommodating. We ordered puntarelle to share which were served on two separate plates in a generous quantity. The soup was the best I’ve ever had, without exaggeration. The restroom was impressively clean as well. I look forward to returning!
Cédric M.
Place rating: 5 Antwerp, Belgium
On the last day of our visit we went to a restaurant for the final dinner of our stay. We choose for a more expensive place but in the end it was all worth it! This was by far the best dinner we had in Italy!
Sarah B.
Place rating: 5 Bedford, TX
Mama mia — fantastico! I thought I had died and gone to heaven with that beef carpaccio! I ate outside and enjoyed the view of the ancient ramparts and arch. The servers were friendly and the owner/manager was great. I even got two dishes compliments of the chef. Such a perfect way to end my trip to Itlay!
Whitney H.
Place rating: 5 Sebastopol, CA
Hands down, best meal I had while in Rome. So good in fact that I went back for a second round and made sure that my sister and bro-in-law made a reservation as well. INCREDIBLE wine list! Worth the drive! The tasting menu was so delicious… I can’t decide what was best… the truffle carbonara or the pigeon. This place is not to be missed!
Casey T.
Place rating: 4 New York, NY
On the outskirts of the Trastevere neighborhood in Rome, this whitewashed, modern Italian restaurant is run by the owner and attentive, knowledgeable staff. The food is paired down and exquisitely prepared. Mozzarella delicately fried in pastry with herbs and mushrooms, black truffled pasta with light crème, macaroni amatriciana, and sliced pigeon: all wonderful. A treasure filled but-still-bountiful-under 40-euro wine list yielded bottles I’ve been waiting to try for just this occasion. In sum, a delightful experience that is sure to please.
Wakako U.
Place rating: 4 San Francisco, CA
What i liked best about this restaurant is that they split everything in half for us and made each half look beautiful. Nothing was to die for, but everything was 4– star delicious.