Il Papero Giallo

We stumbled upon this place today looking for anything open on a Sunday. The place was busy and full of Italians, and the food all looked so good. We could not figure out how to order, and were about to leave when a server asked if we spoke english and helped us order. She was so nice and helpful and told us of her time spent in California. We got eggplant parmigiana and rigatoni with red sauce and pork cheek (guanciale). Oh my goodness, so delicious. We also got a bottle of red wine for 5 euros that was fantastic. When we finished our pasta they brought us a blackberry tart on the house! It was buttery and sweet, a perfect little treat. We left feeling full and happy. In fact, we were so full that we went back to our place for a nap to recover. I would highly recommend, but brush up on your Italian beforehand!

Pizza! Pizza! And more pizza! Roma is a pizza mecca, it seems!
Fortunately for me, I am glad I was here. There’s an interesting story though. I sought help in locating the owner of the Bells of Rome bed and breakfast, where I was to be staying during my travels in Rome. Luck would have it that I bumped into here and asked if there’s anyone who understood English. After talking to a lady who works here, they made a phone call and 15 minutes later, the owner appeared to come get me. Apparently the call box at the entrance didn’t work, but assumed it did. With all said and done, I felt obligated to patronize this shop for helping me get out of this issue. It’s definitely grand that they serve pizza here, as well as other delectable delights. This place is really a delicatessen in a lot of ways, an Italian delicatessen to be precise! There is a small dining area in the back for those who want to eat here, which is also where I sat waiting for the bed and breakfast owner to find me. The experience here getting help was rather blustery and embarrassing, it had to be done. The other part of this experience was buying dinners for 2 nights out of the 4 I was here in central Roma.
Just like any other place with significant barriers, I just pointed to the item (s) that I wanted and said «this one» and «that one». Just goes to show you how much English these local Roma folk can tolerate from the Americans. With that said, Il Papero Giallo Italian restaurant & delicatessen is located at Via Taranto 66, right next door to my favorite gelato shop in the heart of Rome. Almost like a hole in the wall type place, when you are not expecting it in a non descript area of Roma itself. The area around this place is a mix residential city urban type deal, so best believe that parking here is not the best. Best bet would be to ride the metro to get here or the bus. If you want a car, you probably would need to find a friend and do a take away order, since parking is very scarce! On the bright side of my trip to Roma, this place does sell a variety of Italian foods, but I guess I am too chicken to try anything new, especially when on vacation, so I decided to stick with what was familiar, which was the pizza. The pizza turned out to be pretty good, although it was just overloaded with grease. Is that how they make it?
The experience here was average. The staff behind the counter seemed to be in a hurry, almost like in New York City and sometimes in Philadelphia, where the impatience can be a liability. Still, they somehow were patient with me and my American ways. I used sign language and my muffled English to get my order correct. This delicatessen is rather clean and maintain. The best part of the entire experience was that Il Papero Giallo accepted major credit cards! What a definite change from the others who were just on a cash only basis. I had gotten 2 slices of pizza, which were cut up into 2 smaller slices. Each slice was about 4 or 5 euro, which wasn’t that bad to begin with, honestly. When you’re on vacation, you deal with the price swings as they happen. I am regretting that I didn’t sample any other foods that they had for sale. The experience was good and happy that they do accept credit cards. Just can’t tell you how good that was, especially when I didn’t need to look for a bank ATM.
This place is a keeper for what it sells. Fast food, good food, and definitely recommended.
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