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Picnicking is one of my favorite Italian meals: fresh bread, creamy cheeses, spicy salami, salty prosciutto, gooey pizza or calzone, ripe fruit, tangy olives, flaky pastries, fizzy water, and a bottle of wine—you can eat like a Roman emperor for less than $10 a person.
Plus you can enjoy a picnic in Rome practically anywhere: on the steps of a medieval church, on a curb by a fountain on a piazza, on a grassy bit of lawn overlooking the Colosseum by the Roman Forum, up on the Palatine Hill or Gianicolo Hill, in the Villa Borghese park, or simply back on your hotel room balcony.
(Just steer clear of the major monuments. Many monuments in Italy are now off-limits for panino munching, gelato licking, and even just plain old sitting on the steps—including the Spanish Steps, Coloseum, and Pantheon.)
When it comes time to put together that picnic to enjoy sitting around the fountain of a piazza, on your day trip, or just back in the hotel room, you can visit a string of little Roman food shops:
The panificio or forno can provide breads and pastries, a fruttivendolo is for fresh fruit and veggies. A latteria sells cheeses, vini olii or enoteca carry bottles of wine, and an alimentari (little grocery store) is good for packaged goods, salamis, drinks, and a bit of everything else.
You can order by the kilo (2.2 pounds) or mezzo kilo (half a kilo), but most people order in their foods in grammi (grams). One hundred grams is nicknamed un etto, which is slightly less than a quarter pound.
When you're throwing together a picnic for 2–4 people, usually one etto each of two cheeses, another etto of prosciutto, and an etto of olives (or whatever)—added to a loaf of bread, bottle of vino, and some fruit—somehow ends up being just the right amount.
For the absolute best and freshest in raw ingredients, and a true Roman experience, nothing beats hitting the stalls of an outdoor food market, camera in tow.
Here are some of the best food markets in Rome's centro storico:
Markets tend to open Monday through Saturday around 7am. The best pickings are in the earliest hours, when you might bump into your trattoria owner from the night before selecting the ingredients for this evening's bounty.
By noon many stall owners are starting to pack up, the bread bins are full of only crumbs, the best bell peppers are gone, and the lettuce is wilting.
By 1pm most markets are deserted save for a few cats pawing through the leftovers.
English (Inglese) | Italian (Italiano) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
Good day | Buon giorno | bwohn JOUR-noh |
Good evening | Buona sera | BWOH-nah SAIR-rah |
Good night | Buona notte | BWOH-nah NOTE-tay |
Goodbye | Arrivederci | ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee |
Excuse me (to get attention) | Scusi | SKOO-zee |
thank you | grazie | GRAT-tzee-yay |
please | per favore | pair fa-VOHR-ray |
yes | si | see |
no | no | no |
Do you speak English? | Parla Inglese? | PAR-la een-GLAY-zay |
I don't understand | Non capisco | non ka-PEESK-koh |
I'm sorry | Mi dispiace | mee dees-pee-YAT-chay |
Where is? | Dov'é | doh-VAY |
...a restaurant | un ristorante | oon rees toh-RAHN-tay |
...a casual restaurant | una trattoria un'osteria |
oo-nah trah-toar-RHEE-yah oon ohst-air-EE-yah |
I would like to reserve... | Vorrei prenotare... | voar-RAY pray-note-ARE-eh |
a table for two | una tavola per due | oo-nah TAH-voal-lah pair DOO-way |
...for 7pm | per le sette | pair lay SET-tay |
...for 7:30pm | per le sette e mezzo | pair lay SET-tay eh MET-tzoh |
...for 8pm | per le otto | pair lay OH-toh |
I would like | Vorrei... | voar-RAY |
...some (of) | un pó (di) | oon POH (dee) |
...this | questo | KWAY-sto |
...that | quello | KWEL-loh |
chicken | pollo | POL-loh |
steak | bistecca | bee-STEAK-ah |
veal | vitello | vee-TEL-oh |
fish | pesce | PEH-shay |
meat | carne | KAR-neh |
I am vegetarian | sono vegetariano | SO-no veg-eh-tair-ee-YAH-no |
side dish [veggies always come seperately] | cotorno | kon-TOR-no |
dessert | dolce | DOAL-chay |
and | e | ay |
...a glass of | un bicchiere di | oon bee-key-YAIR-eh dee |
...a bottle of | una bottiglia di | oo-na boh-TEEL-ya dee |
...a half-liter of | mezzo litro di | MET-tzoh LEE-tro dee |
...fizzy water | acqua gassata | AH-kwah gah-SAHT-tah |
...still water | acqua non gassata | AH-kwah noan gah-SAHT-tah |
...red wine | vino rosso | VEE-noh ROH-so |
...white wine | vino bianco | VEE-noh bee-YAHN-koh |
...beer | birra | BEER-a |
Check, please | Il conto, per favore | eel COAN-toh pair fah-VOAR-eh |
Is service included? | É incluso il servizio? | ay een-CLOU-so eel sair-VEET-zee-yo |
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