Regina di Coccia T

I live and work in the neighborhood and have eaten here for years — so I know everything on the menu. Of all the restaurants around Termini, where you can easily hit and miss, I guarantee that here you’re getting quality (you’ll see the owner, his kids, his extended family and pretty much everyone who lives in the building eating here). You’re also getting the real McCoy — the Carbonara and Saltimbocca and other Roman favorites are exactly as they should be here. Everything is homemade every day. The dad (grandfather now) is in the kitchen from early in the morning until late — making gnocchi, and everything else, by hand. His wife at the register. His son (a father himself now) — they all work and run the place. This, essentially, is the model family restaurant. It’s true that not all staff are proficient in English, and they can be utilitarian, rather than schmaltzy and eager to please — but that’s part of the authenticity. Also, the bill — they won’t bring it to you until you ask. You’re welcome to linger as long you want, as it should be!

Wonderful restaurant where all the locals go! We ate here two nights in a row while staying at the Best Western Canada nearby. The place is small with simple décor and no background music (something I noticed in another restaurant in the city). Both nights several men came in alone and had dinner and seemed very friendly with the staff and owners, who were also very welcoming to us.
The first night my boyfriend ordered the lasagna and I ordered the tortellini. The tortellini was amazing; so good that my boyfriend ordered it the next night while I ordered the gnocchi, which was good, but not like the tortellini. We also had the tiramisu, which was also good.
I would definitely recommend to someone in the neighborhood.

This was a restaurant that was recommended to us by the hotel we stayed at. I am not sure what the hotel was thinking, but this was the worst meal we had during our entire trip.
While the service at this restaurant was as expected and English was handled perfectly, it was the food that caused us issue. Here are some of the highlights:
My wife ordered the seafood risotto. While the risotto aspect of the food was passable, the seafood part left a lot to be desired. While even the airport in Rome had clams and real shrimp in their version of this dish, Ristorante Regina’s definition of seafood is tuna and shrimp that typically would be used as fish bait. My wife wanted to ask the staff if they would eat this dish if they were presented with it.
I ordered the tasting menu with the following dishes:
Macaroni and cheese with chili sauce. I am not quite sure what I expected with this, but it ended up being penne pasta with a spicy tomato sauce. If there was cheese, I couldn’t taste it and overall it was really bland. This is something that a college student would throw together when they got tired of ramen noodles.
Breaded veal. I had read that veal is something worth trying when in Rome. While I know veal is a calf, it normally has a decidedly different flavor from beef every time I have had it. The best description I could say is it tasted like chicken fried steak without the gravy. There was nothing special about this dish at all.
Mixed fruit. While I am not completely familiar with Italian customs, it seemed odd that their mixed fruit (which is essentially a fruit cocktail) was soaked in white wine. This wasn’t bad with grapes, but with apples and pineapple the wine was absorbed and made it really difficult to eat.
Salad. The salad was lettuce and dressing only. There wasn’t even a slice of tomato.
I would highly discourage anyone from spending money on food here. It seems like shortcuts are taken to make the most amount of profit from the food they serve.