La Buca di Ripetta

We ate here twice (first & last nights) and they didn’t disappoint. Great food & service. English menu translation but the rest is all Italian. Small masculine interior (antique Vespa parked in middle of dining room) with attentive wait staff.
My aunt & I split pasta with cheese & black pepper prior and tonight we had veal saltimboca with a side of spinach & potato. Just perfect! Paired with a light Roman Red wine which finished beautifully with dessert — panna cotta caramel & berries. Oh Roma — I am so full but will miss your food so…

This authentic looking little restaurant appeared to be what we were looking for from the outside. It turned out to be just what we wanted.
Two women walking out said they’d had a good meal. So we went in and were promptly sat at one of the last available tables.
We shared a mixed starter plate of veal and beef Bön Bons, fried artichoke, zucchini flower with cheese and baked cheese prosciutto. All were good.
We shared a mixed salad (simple fresh and perfect). The best salad we’ve had this trip. Jane had a pear and cheese ravioli with orange sauce. It was sweet as anticipated but amazingly light. A worthwhile dining adventure.
I had the macaroni with boar ragout. It was terrific.
Still a little peckish I ordered a secondi, stewed lamb on roasted potato nuggets. It doesn’t sound to be anything extraordinary, but I had seen it coming out of the kitchen and it looked good. They used yellow potatoes and were perfectly sauté d. The lamb was tender. My eyes turned out to be bigger than my stomach though and this rich dish was one too many.
That said it did not deter us from having dessert.
Jane ordered the special, a pavlova with whip cream and fruit. Not what we were expecting with minimal meringue sprinkled on a small layered arrangement of cake, fresh berries and whipped cream. Good none the less.
I had a traditional tiramisu with coffee and was not disappointed.
The staff all worked together well and provided excellent polite and helpful service in reasonable English.
Our dinner including a bottle of water, two glasses of prosecco and two glasses of wine was 108 euro plus tip.
Reasonable value in comparison to other meals we’ve had in Rome.
I would go back again and would have no hesitation recommending this place to a friend.

Creative, flavorful dishes; great ambiance; friendly, efficient service (in English). Not cheap, street food, but not over-​priced, either. A ten minute walk from the Spanish Steps. Portions are small by American standards (loss of one star; wish I could have limited that to a half-​star).

Encore une belle surprise a Rome!
A quelques pas de la Belle piazza Del Popolo, nous avons choisi de rentrer dans ce restaurant, je dois l’avouer, car il n’y avait pas de «racoleur» nous forçant la main…
Et nous né regrettons pas !
Décoration a base de nombreuses bouteilles de vin, service accueillant et chaleureux, le repas s’annonçait bien…
Niveau cuisine, nous avons de nombreux classiques italiens, et une très belle carte de vins.
Je né peux faire de généralités, mais ce que nous avons pris était succulent ! (mozza Di buffala jambon, ravioles, tiramisu entre autre…)
Pour le prix, nous en avons eu pour 58 € à deux: 2 plats, une demi bouteille de vin blanc, une bouteille d’eau (toujours payant dans les resto italiens…), deux desserts et un digestif.
Amis touristes, je vous recommande vivement ce restaurant! Mais ça, bien entendu, ca reste mon avis… ;)
PS: petit detail sympathique, les toilettes sont très propres et «fengshui» avec de nombreux galets dans les lavabos ;)

Ahhh this was the perfect place for dinner after an entire day running around Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius. We ordered friend artichokes (beautifully presented) and spinach gnocchi. Delicious, fresh, and relatively less salty than most of the food we had in Rome.
Warm décor with friendly service who spoke fluent English
Relaxed vibe
Highly recommend

I was recommended by my hotel receptionist to try this. I went for dinner the first day I arrived in Rome & then back for lunch 2 days later. I had the same waiter, who speaks fluent English & very helpful. I had ravioli stuffed with pear & octopus carpaccio salad for dinner. Then fried vegetable & zucchini flower & dark ink fettuccine with tender baby squid in a tomato sauce for lunch. The pasta dishes were superb; I would come back for more. The octopus carpaccio was good; it was plentiful, which hit the spot. The fried veggies were a bit plain though.
Overall a very good experience. I was impressed with how patient my waiter was with a rude customer at the next table. She did not speak any Italian or English. He repeated the specials to her like 4 times & she still did not get it. Finally she decided to order «noodles» with no sauce! In an Italian restaurant, no less! Not sure what kind of weird diet she is on. My waiter handled all that with class & got on with his job.
I recommend this little bistro for a good value place for a hearty meal in the pricey Spanish steps area.

What a snobbish overpriced place! The food is tasteless and so boring. What pissed me of the the most is the way they present «food», like its a god’s gift to society. Styrofoam tastes better. A lot of old people that look like food specialists. God! Get me out of here. I want to taste something!

Truly great service
Not cheap but also not going to break bank
Got this one from hotel staff
Food was perfect
Small portions so need to get two courses

Left disappointed. I had the papperdelle with mussels — the pasta was waay too salty. Suckling pig was just ok, not as tender and as well seasoned as I expected it to be.

I loved this place! I was with my parents, and we just happened to pick this one because we knew how to get there and it was close to our hotel.
Anyway, long story short, I had the best wait service I’ve had so far in Europe (keep in mind that this is my third week in Europe. I’ve eaten out A LOT). The menu was very creative. The portions were great. Not so small that you feel like you’re not getting your money’s worth, but not so large that you need sweat pants.
I was expecting to pay much more than what we did based on the €s this place got. The pasta dishes are all about 10 €, which I have found to be pretty standard across Italy, be it spaghetti or homemade fabulous pasta. I would say the majority of the menu is around 10 €, with the meat and the fish costing more, which is expected.
Also, the presentation is beautiful! Oh, and the bread they put on the table is good. I just came from France and have been seriously disappointed with the Italian bread, but this place proved me wrong.

Okay so this review may be a little late, but its so good that its worth Unilocaling about! I traveled Europe for 6 months in 2010 and while in Rome for 5 day (which wasn’t long enough) a friend brought me to this place and let me tell you something, nothing else has compared to it since!
Imagine three kids about 21 years old searching the streets of Rome for this restaurant because a certain someone couldn’t remember where it was! The thing is that it only added to the experience, the thrill of the hunt :), This charming little place does takes walk ins for dinner, but don’t even try because you’ll be sitting there all night waiting for your table. Its so charming and its filled with locals and tourists who enjoy a good bottle of vino and great atmosphere.
I ended up going with my friends for lunch and I had the Tortellini Alfredo w/​black pepper, cheese, and a thin wafer shell which let me tell you… WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD. We each shared our meals with one another and everything was delicious. If you do end up traveling and find yourself at this place I highly recommend the suckling pig… it will change your life.
My only regret going to this place was that it was on the pricy side so I wasn’t able to enjoy a nice 3 or 5 course Italian meal due to the budget I was on.
Go here… It will change your life and change your opinion on what Italian food should taste like

After several days with my family ages 22, 29, 60+, 60+ we got to know the range of dining experience here in Rome one of my favorite cities. On a recommendation from a friend who lives in northern Italy we tried Buca from my carefully vetted list of approximate Restaurants. Her Insalata With artichokes was her best memory. I had the Bucatini Alla Amertriciana (spelling?) ubiquitous to Rome and it was excellent. All of us enjoyed all our courses and all have different tastes including one very fussy eater. I enjoyed his surprise when his dish arrived with small octopus (octopi?) with home made pasta only to devour it cleaning the plate with bread. Surprisingly reasonably priced, excellent service made our midday lunch after grueling Vatican and Saint Peters turn into another memorable Roman experience.

Best dinner we had in Rome (which I wish meant more than it does). Still, worth going to and the only place to which we returned.
Get a glass of Aglianico and any of the pasta dishes and you can’t miss.

Free word association: charming, warm, welcoming, down-​to-​earth. The place is filled with patrons both local and visitors steadily on a Tuesday evening in January. The food is very hearty and celebrates each ingredient. I had a Chief’s recommended homemade pasta in what seems like a slow stewed tomato sauce with bacon shavings. The bacon is not of UK or US sort but truly Italian: fatty, crisp and flavourful. Pasta with side of spanish, and a glass of Rosso came just about € 26 with coffee included. Other tables showcased other home style cuisine presented in a very honest way. Wonderful and friendly wait staffs, who paid close attention to everyone, speak English fluently. I shall sleep well tonight.

We had a wonderful dinner at this place, everything was just perfect: the place, the food, service and value !
The place is nice and engaging, the light is just enough to enjoy what’s on your plate and not too bright. Welcome was warm and professionnal, the waiter did well by explaining the plates, the day’s specials and recommanding a bottle of wine to go with our meal.
To start we chose the «5 stars» antipastis, one each of meat and fish. The plates are made of an assortment of 4 antipastis, all of them excellent, made of fresh products and well presented. Then we shared somes pastas, we took the day’s special: home made gnocchis with brocolis and sausage stew, the taste was very fine, well balanced and the seasonning was perfect. As main courses I had a sauté of lamb liver and my wife an osso bucco, both were a delight, the meat was melting under our palate. We finished the meal with two great desserts (home made like everything else !).
We enjoyed our meal so much that my wife asked to talk to the Chef, he is a young, friendly –and dare I say talented– Italian chef (I should note that seeing an Italian chef was a welcome sight as we’ve seen so many restaurants whose kitchens are only run by Pakistanis –not that I have anything against them but it’s just that seeing so much of them running the kitchens of Italian restaurants did surprise us). It was a pleasure to have this little chat to let him know how great a time we had.
To end this review i’ll just say that 118EUR that we spent there were well woth it for such an excellent and complete meal !
This was our best experience in Roma and we recommend you to go there to enjoy a great time whether you’re passing by Piazza del Popolo or have get out of your way to reach the place. It’s definitely worth your time and money !