Papa’s Cafe

Relaxed location off the beaten tourist path. The tomato and basil spaghetti tasted like Chef Boyardee. The ham tortellini wasn’t fresh and tasted like they just defrosted it. You won’t pay a lot here but you won’t get a lot either. Cash only.

Beautiful spot sitting on the sunny road to watch life walking by. Lovely, good value pastas (fettuccine ai fungi and spaghetti rivière were both great). Drinks at the average price but heaving with liquor. Open in the afternoon.
Tiramasu frozen in the middle but delicious nonetheless.

Almost any restaurant or bar in Rome serves good food, but affordable ones are rare. We stumbled on Papa’s after bypassing all the overpriced place’s in nearby Piazza Navona. We liked the meals so much we ate there three times in a week of Rome sightseeing. House wines were fine, desserts are inviting, staff was very friendly, and a modicum of English was spoken. Two of the times we were there, there was a cheerful group of men adjacent, singing and telling jokes. It made for a very convivial atmosphere. It’s also a full bar. The price on the menu is what you pay, no extra cover (coperto) or service charge.

This is a wonderful little café– dined there in Jan’15. Bruschetta is outstanding! Party of 6 had pizza, pastas, cheese plate, desert and espresso. Service is friendly. The owner took our special needs for food allergy attention to heart and carefully checked everything for safety. If you are at Piazza Navona, head north two short blocks to Papa’s Café at via Dell’Orso and enjoy a stress free dining experience away from the maddening crowds.

Off the beaten path. Does not have the feel of a tourist restaurant. Small restaurant where the owner «Papa» will come out and take orders, explain the menu and sit across the street on a curb smoking a cigar… no really this is what he does.
The waitress doesn’t speak much English and the owner had to come over and explain a particular drink I had never heard of called ‘Mitro’. I love this place. Cozy, friendly, not too touristy. I went there twice just to be sure it wasn’t a fluke. Super relaxed atmosphere. I had some wine, appetizers, and main course (usually a pasta dish) followed with Tartufo dessert. All delicious. I highly recommend. — Dan O

Located on one of the side streets off piazza navona. We were looking for one of the other restaurants recommended by Unilocal which we thought a little expensive when we looked at the Menu. Stumbled across papas café. At first thought it was just a café selling coffee and appetizers but when we sat down we saw the full menu. Very inexpensive. Decided to give it a try. It was wonderful. Caprese salad enough for two. Then i had tagliatelle with mushroom sauce and my husband had spaghetti with seafood sauce. He expected just seafood sauce for euro 8. But it also had seafood in it. The deserts were really good. House wine for Euro 4 and large beer for euro 5. Great value. Get to see local Italians too as you sit outdoors watching the world go by. Excellent. Would really recommend.

This cosy, friendly, familiar place has, in addition to a great service, an incredible selection of wine (for such a small place), as well as great hot chocolates, coffees, etc.
Not to be missed if you’re around piazza Navona !