As one of Rome’s neighborhoods that often sees local and foreign tourists exploring its cool landmarks, finding where to eat in Ostiense is also important to add to the pleasure of your trip complete.
You will be surprised about the great range of options you will find. From traditional Roman dishes prepared and served with a modern twist to rich plant-based treats to Indian specialties, this cool neighborhood in south Rome has it all.
We have tried most restaurants in Ostiense and have always been pleasantly surprised. So now we share our faves and some of the most famous eateries in the neighborhood.
Top Ostiense Restaurants
Trattoria Pennestri
Trattoria Pennestri is a relatively new opening (2017) located near the Ostiense overpass and offers a truly pleasant experience. The concept of this restaurant is to blend modernity and tradition with a personal twist to original dishes served in an old-fashion-looking trattoria.
The dishes on the menu change with the season and according to the local produce, but traditional Roman recipes such as pasta cacio e pepe or rigatoni all’amatriciana are always available. So some of the summer ingredients will definitely include bell peppers, eggplants, and zucchini. The main dishes always include either meat or fish, while the starters and the first courses are also for vegetarians.
Prices are pretty reasonable, with the first courses being around 9 to 11 euros, while the main dishes 14 to 16 euros. Side dishes and desserts are usually in the range of 4 to 6 euros.
Much attention is devoted to the wine list that includes the excellence from Italy with extra care to the local production of the Lazio region.
- Address: Via Giovanni da Empoli 5
- Phone: +39 06 5742418
- Website.
Romeow Cat Bistrot
This is one of the favorite restaurants in Ostiense, and if you are into vegan cuisine, Romeow Cat Bistrot is for you. Plus, if you are a cat lover, you will be in heaven. The menu here is a rich choice of vegan gourmet dishes inspired by traditions that are not necessarily Italian. Along with Mediterranean delights, in fact, you can order recipes with Indian, Mexican, Thai, Greek, raw, or any type strictly in their vegan version.
On the menu are starters and appetizers as well as first courses, main dishes, and obviously scrumptious desserts. Actually, you can try their cakes all day long since the bistro is also a coffee shop. In the afternoon, you can also enjoy a nice tea, coffee, juice, or smoothie.
One of the best vegan restaurants in Rome, the ingredients they use are seasonal so the dishes on the menu change often depending on the season and the produce, usually locally sourced, fresh and organic. If you are wondering where to eat in Ostiense if you are following a plant-based diet, this is a great place
- Address: Via Francesco Negri 15
- Phone: +39 06 5728 9203
- Website.
Fuorinorma
Fuorinorma is an innovative restaurant in Ostiense that aims to serve simple, fresh, and seasonal cuisine. Open to experiments and new flavors, the only thing they are not willing to sacrifice is the quality of their ingredients.
All of the products they use are sourced directly from the producer, so skipping the middleman and strictly following seasonality. This way, their menu is ever-changing and dynamic with several vegetarian options and always a new “dish of the day”.
In winter you can find dishes such as mushrooms and berries risotto and tender pork ribs with winter veggies, while in summer, the offer includes mussels linguini with sea asparagus and cicory pesto, a summer-style amatriciana named “matricianella”, and smoked eggplant with concentrated of tomatoes and olive powder.
The wine list is a hand-picked selection of some 30 labels from close wineries they are in direct contact.
- Address: Via Giuseppe Giulietti 5
- Phone: +39 06 9436 6835
- Website.
Eataly
Right next to the Ostiense train station, one of the main hubs for Rome public transport, you will find Eataly. Here, you can combine your souvenir shopping with your mealtime, be it lunch or dinner, and even with your grocery shopping in case you have rented an apartment in Rome.
At Eataly, in fact, you will find a supermarket of fresh fruits and veggies on the ground floor as well as specialties from all the Italian regions from cheese to bread to cold cuts, wines, and more.
If you are here for lunch and dinner, you sure have a rich variety of options to choose from. Are you in for a light meal? On the second floor is Il Fritto, an eatery devoted to street food with all the fried delicacies of the Roman tradition.
If you prefer a more relaxed meal, try the restaurant Terra for grilled dishes and a complete menu from starter to dessert. Among the other places where to eat in Eataly in Ostiense are La Birreria beer shop where you can enjoy your meal with an artisan beer, Pizza & Cucina for pasta or pizza, Il Bosco Umbro for dishes of the Umbrian tradition and Mozao with specialties from the Emilia Romagna region.
For a coffee, a hot chocolate or a gelato, the ground floor is all about coffee shops, Sicilian pastries and ice creams. If you are feeling like delicious gelato and chocolate treats, your place is Cioccolateria Venchi also on the ground floor close to the cafe.
- Address: Piazzale XII Ottobre 1492
- Phone: +39 06 90279201
- Website.
Zampagna All’Ostiense
One of the favorite restaurants in Rome, Trattoria Zampagna is located near San Paolo Fuori Le Mura Basilica. Its interior is pretty simple and in a traditional style, and so it’s their cuisine, authentic, hearty and tasty.
A typical Roman trattoria, it also has an inside courtyard where customers can choose to have their meal. The homemade Roman recipes and the generous portions are some of the reasons this restaurant is frequented by locals.
The restaurant decor is quite simple and at times austere-looking, but the great value for money and the authentic taste of its dishes, including the homemade cakes, make it a favorite stop for lunch or dinner.
- Address: Via Ostiense 179.
- Phone: +39 06 574 2306
- Website.
Ristorante Angelina
This restaurant in Ostiense is located in Via del Porto Fluviale and surrounded by some of the most famous pieces of Ostiense street art. While they have some tables outdoor for an alfresco drink or snack, I always prefer sitting indoor. The interior of Angelina restaurant is lovely, a sort of mix between classic and post-modern industrial decor.
Open all day, here you can stop for breakfast, a drink and a meal. They serve all courses, from the starters to the first dishes to the main courses as well as salads if you are a vegetarian. You will find also plenty of desserts from tiramisu to cheesecake, crumble cake, Mississippi mud pie, panna cotta and more.
- Address: Via del Porto Fluviale 5F.
- Phone: +39 06 8971 5031
- Website.
Al Biondo Tevere
Restaurant and pizza place, “Al Biondo Tevere”, The Blonde Tiber, was opened in 1915 over a very suggestive view of the Tiber river and Saint Paul Outside The Walls Basilica. A favorite hangout for many Italian artists, actors and movie directors, this historic trattoria serves the dishes of the tradition, simple and rich in taste, including the pizza Roman style.
Classic decor with old photos and images of Rome’s modern history adorn the interior of this restaurant made popular when Italian director Luchino Visconti shot scenes of the famous movie “Bellissima” starring Anna Magnani and Walter Chiari. It’s here that writers like Alberto Moravia liked to have their meals and it’s here that great writer and movie director Pierpaolo Pasolini had his last dinner the night he was killed.
This is where to eat in Ostiense not far from the Garbatella district for both the flavors of the tradition and the not-so-old memories it evokes and brings back.
- Address: Via Ostiense 178.
- Phone: +39 06 574 1172
- Website.
Porto Fluviale
Cafe, bistrot, restaurant, pizza place. Open every day all day, Porto Fluviale really caters for every type of taste and preference. Set up in a former warehouse of some 900 sq meters of Ostiense industrial district, the restaurant offers a variety of experiences and dishes in four distinct areas.
Whether you prefer a pizza Naples-style, a traditional dish from all Italian regions, an aperitif, some casual street food or a cocktail, Porto Fluviale has it all and allows you to enjoy it in a comfortable spacious environment. And the summer, your dinner can be al fresco in the lovely restaurant’s dehors.
- Address: Via del Porto Fluviale 22
- Phone: +39 06 5743199
- Website.
Doppiozeroo
Rather than strictly a restaurant, Doppiozeroo is a bakery, cafe and bistro. From breakfast to brunch, lunch and dinner, here, you can stop for a coffee and croissant, a juice, a light buffet-style lunch and a complete dinner meal.
Being also a bakery, some of their strength is the fresh bread, delicious pizza, fantastic pastries and cakes.
Dishes are for every taste and preference, so whether you are a meat-eater, a vegetarian, or strictly vegan customer, at Doppiozeroo you will find your ideal foods. This is where to eat in Ostiense if you are in for a tasty casual lunch.
- Address: Via Ostiense 68.
- Phone: +39 339 207 2894
- Website.
Gandhi Indian Restaurant
This is a good Indian restaurant in Rome so if you like spicy food, curries, na’an bread, samosa, biryani rice and this sort of dishes, Gandhi Indian restaurant in Ostiense is for you.
When we went, we ordered two main dishes and bits of appetizers and side dishes. I enjoyed my palak paneer, a creamy spinach stew with paneer cheese, which is a dish from North India. Even though it wasn’t quite the same I had in India, it was pretty similar. The same for the dish my husband ordered, which was a veg biryani rice.
The mixed veggies we had for starter arrived with some pretty spicy sauces that we enjoyed also with pieces of garlic and cheese na’an.
- Address: Via Pellegrino Matteucci 124
- Phone: +39 06 6442 0047
- Website.
Andreotti
One of the most popular bars in Rome is Andreotti, right in Via Ostiense close to the Gasometer, one of the most visible relics of Rome’s industrial archaeology.
Andreotti is also a scrumptious pastry shop, cafe, and artisan gelateria, so a favorite for breakfast or coffee break among residents to start the day with some energy pastries and drinks. This is also one of the best places in Rome to have a maritozzo, a traditional Roman pastry consisting of a puffy sweet bun cut in half and filled with whipped cream. Not exactly the healthiest of the breakfasts, but a very fulfilling one.
At Andreotti, they also serve savory foods made with high-quality ingredients, perfect for a light, casual lunch or an evening aperitif.
- Address: Via Ostiense 54/56.
- Phone: +39 06 575 0773
- Website.
Marigold
A relatively new opening to the Ostiense food scene, Marigold is a hip restaurant with its own micro bakery. Sourcing their ingredients mainly from local farms, their menu is strongly seasonal.
Every day they serve breakfast and lunch, while on weekends, it’s possible to have also brunch but they don’t take reservations.
While in Italy breakfast is a pretty sweet and fast business, at Marigold they decided it was worth it to linger a little longer and get a scrumptious treat. You can opt for either sweet or savory dishes ranging from homemade pastries and cakes to eggs made in many different ways, to a simple yogurt with granola.
The weekend brunch offers what you see for breakfast plus sandwiches, pancakes, shakshuka soup, porridge, and pudding. The lunch is casual even though the dishes on the menu are original and well-refined with options such as squash gnocchi, tuscan kale and brown butter, pita with potatoes, puzzone and fontina cheese, and escarole green salad, and stuffed cabbage with rice, lentils, chickpeas, cauliflower and labneh Middle Eastern soft cheese
A choice of coffees and teas completes the luscious experience, with coffee prepared with Marigold’s own blend.
As for alcoholic drinks, the beer they serve comes from the local Rebel brewery and the wines are carefully selected from different Italian regions.
- Address: Via Giovanni da Empoli 37.
- Phone: +39 06 8772 5679
- Website.
