Salt&Spatula: Rome: the pope, piazzas and pizzas

I just returned from a five day trip to Rome, Orvieto and Tivoli.

We had a reading week for one of my courses which means I go travelling instead of studying. To be honest with you, many of the restaurants in central Rome are touristy and serve average Italian food. I was disappointed at first, I mean, it's Italy right? To get the really great places to eat, I suggest some research is in order. Here are some of my favorite places to eat in Rome:

Trattoria de Valentino
Via Cavour, 293
(Near the Coliseum)
The pastas here are inexpensive and are quite tasty. I had the lasagna and it was one of the best I had ever had.

'Gusto
Piazza Augusto Imperatore, 9
(Near Piazza del Popolo)
They have a great pizzeria. I got the pizza Romana with mozarella, black olives, capers, anchovies and oregano. 'Gusto also has a lunch buffet where you pay by the weight of the food. It was also tempting.
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Volpetti
Via Mormorata, 47
(Near Testaccio)
This was a deli with every kind of Italian cheese and meat. Right around the corner, they sell prepared food. I suggest the arancini (fried rice, ragu and cheese balls)
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00100 Pizza
Via Giovanni Branca, 88
(Near Testaccio)
My favorite Pizza al taglio (by the slice/weight) in Rome. It's named after the kind of flour they use plus Rome's postcode. Try the potato and sausage pizza, it will leave you wanting a whole kilo of the pizza. Also try the trapezinni which is kinda like a hot sandwich but WAY better.

Biscottificio Innocenti
Via Della Luce, 21
(In Trastevere)
Hole-in-the-wall cookie shop. The baker was so nice; she gave me a few for free even though I bought just over a euro's worth. I got nocciola(hazelnut) cookies, marzipan cookies, and jam cookies. They were the perfect snack after walking Rome all day.

Sant'Eustachio
Piazza Sant'Eustachio, 82
(Near the Pantheon)
This place is world famous for their espresso. I'm not a huge fan of coffee in general but I was quite surprised that I liked it so much. The New York Times said "When the need for a real espresso becomes overpowering, buy a ticket to Rome, tell the taxi driver to head straight for the Sant’Eustachio cafe. The espresso will be perfect. A little expensive, but surely worth the trouble."
There is so much precision with espresso with the grinding, pressure, and getting the frothy foam just right. It was a little pricey - about 1.40 euro for a few sips of a pick-me-up, but I think its worth a visit.
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Gelato in Rome is legendary. Although its December, we ate gelato at least once a day. We did have some Italians give us weird looks but seriously, when else are we going to have the world's best gelato. There are two famous places for gelato in Rome.

San Crispino
Via della Panetteri, 42 (Near the Trevi Fountain) OR
Piazza della Maddalena, 3 (Near Pantheon)
They offered flavours like pignoli (pine nut), basilico (basil) and a few kinds of meringue flavours along with the classics. Their gelato was packed flavour and had the perfect creaminess.

Giolitti's
Via Degli Uffici di Vicario, 40
(Near the Pantheon)
This is classic gelato from Italy. This is a MUST eat.

Rome was such a great city full of history, culture and amazing food in the right spots. Next trip, I would definitely encourage a day trip to Orvieto which is about an hour and half outside of Rome.