Practical question -- how to make reservations in Rome?

[Nermie81]

So I'm in the middle of planning my first trip to Rome at the end of October for a group of folks (rented an apartment on via Monserrato, super excited!) and though I plan to do a bit more research on where to eat, etc., I actually had a bit of a practical question for the board. Everything I'm reading on the board for dining recommends making reservations in advance for most places that are worthwhile. This might be a silly question, but how does one go about doing so? I don't speak a lick of Italian (though I hope to change that before October) and I don't know how I would make reservations. Do you call and hope there's someone who speaks English? Are the reservations online? Do you track down someone who speaks Italian and beg him/her to make the reservation for you? Only slightly tongue in cheek with the last one..

[minchilli]

As everyone said, La Pergola is the only one you need to think of very far ahead. At most other restaurants, especially on dinner on the weekends, just a few days is usually ok. Lunch I wouldn't even worry about. Most restaurants in Rome these days, even the smallest, have enough English to accept reservations. One tip: make your reservations using an easy to pronounce Italian name. Don't try to make them understand something like "Miller"! Just choose an Italian name and stick to it.

Elizabeth
___________
http://www.elizabethminchilli.com

[cristinab]

I do agree with you. Making a reservation few days before the weekend is a good advice. Week lunch is generally not an issue except for few restaurants. La Pergola is unique and should not be considered as it is the only three michelin star restaurant in Rome. For "worthwhile" restaurants I meant most of the ones Mbfant and other partecipants to this forum mentioned in other topics. Infact, I fact hard to believe you can find a spot at All'Oro, Settembrini, Antico Arco, Felice, etc on the same day, expecially if it is a weekend (it might certainly happen, but, again, when i personally tried, did not make it). Also, I find hard to believe that at La Gatta Mangiona, Bir & Fud or La Fucina (was just there last Monday and had a out-of-this-world dinner) they have no English speaker representative. I am sure that among the restaurants listed there might be a couple who refuse to accept modern communications and refuse even an answering machine, but I believe they are fortunately rare. Again, I might be wrong and my experience here in Rome (where I have been living for the last 6 years) could have been particularly lucky.

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Antico Arco
Piazzale Aurelio, 7, Roma 00151, IT

Settembrini
Via Luigi Settembrini, 25, Rome, Lazio , IT

All'Oro
Via Eleonora Duse, 1, Rome, Lazio , IT

La Gatta Mangiona
Via Federico Ozanam,30, Rome, Lazio 00152, IT

La Fucina
Via G. Lunati 25-31, Rome, Lazio , IT

[mbfant]

Answering machines! Definitely more don't have them than have them. Antico Arco, etc., might be hard to get the same day, but not the same week.

[cristinab]

I assume I either don't go to the same restaurants you do or, again, I must have been particularly lucky!

[mbfant]

Before people start posting about every restaurant with an answering machine, let me just specify that Antico Arco has one and takes reservations and calls back, but Antico Arco has always been more forward-looking than most. There must be others. Checchino answers email, so does Grano, but I find that even at restaurants where I am known, it's often difficult to get an answer to an email, and most places are not equipped for taking reservations by answering machine. I have lived in Rome a LOT longer than you and have seen improvement in this area, but the default position is still: Expect no mod cons in the communications department, especially at small, traditional places.

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Antico Arco
Piazzale Aurelio, 7, Roma 00151, IT

Grano
Piazza Rondanini, 53, Rome, Lazio 00186, IT

[cristinab]

Hi Mbfant, I don't think that people will be posting about every restaurant! But I am glad to see that 3 out of the restaurants you very often mention are advanced at least in the communications department. By the way, do you still live in Rome or moved back to, I assume, the States?

[mbfant]

I am in Rome, right here by the Colosseum.

[mbfant]

Tongue in cheek nothing, having an Italian speaker telephone is the best way. Failing that, some restaurants reply to email, some don't, some don't even have it, and some have it but don't use it for reservations. If a restaurant is organized enough to have a functioning web site, by all means use its reservations feature, assuming it has one, but be sure to follow up. If it takes too long to get an answer, telephone, and be sure to confirm your reservation a few days before. The same for email. Otherwise, phone and ask for someone who speaks English. With the exception of La Pergola, you don't have to reserve far in advance. Between now and October, you have plenty of time to learn enough Italian.

[cristinab]

In Rome, for all restaurants worthwhile visiting is generally adviced to make reservations and, for some of them, even few days in advance. La Pergola is among the many restaurants you should make reservations in advance, especially if you want to dine during the weekend. Almost all restaurants worthwhile visiting have a website and an English speaker representative who can help you out. Nowadays, all business have understood that internet and communications in a foreign language in a city whose business is based on tourism cannot survive without internet and English speaking staff. True is sometimes Italians don't answer right away to clients email (they, let's say, take their time!) and might encounter people who don't speak English, but, honestly, they are rare.

[mbfant]

Sorry, but I most strenuously disagree, although the situation is improving. Many of the restaurants people most want to visit are tiny places with no computer and a very cavalier attitude to new clients and business in general. The only sure way to make a reservation is by telephone during business hours. La Pergola is unique in requiring reservations weeks or even months in advance. Certainly it's worth trying to phone and speak English or to use email -- as I said, the situation is improving -- but plenty of "worthwhile" restaurants have neither, and since these tend to be the most typical and traditional, they are not to be dismissed.

[jen kalb]

If you are going to be there for a while, you can also try walking in a day or so ahead or even the same day to make a reservation if that feels easier than phoning

[steve h.]

That's my modus operandi.

Edited to add: When I drop in to make a reservation, I always use my first name. Makes things a lot easier.

[mnosyne]

It's always worked for us!