as i mentioned in this post, the blue hostel's owner, ercole, hooked us up with a ton of recommendations when we arrived and we could tell how legit they were after the first restaurant we stopped in. from there, we followed the map they provided for almost our entire visit [4 days] and could not have been happier when we left. see our full rome travel guide  here.

BREAKFAST / LUNCH: panella old school bakery that prepares all types of pastries, great coffee here from a machine that is almost art | osteria della suburra a local favorite, nothing special in terms of decor but food is delicious | core de roma decorated in history of the roma futbol team, delicious traditional Italian for a ‘local’s lunch’. |  zia rosetta organic juice, espressos and gourmet sliders.

DINNER: @ ada e mario low key family style trattoria that is affordable and delicious - nothing fancy but very good. | augusto: only a few tables and one of the best meals we had (be there right before 8pm) | roscioli very buzzy and popular spot, must get a reservation for dinner. the carbonara is out of this world. |  pizzeria dar poeta, must stop here to try their pizza

DRINKS: enoteca cul de sac: one of the best wine spots in town with thousands of bottles to choose from | akbar cocktail bar to grab a drink at and maybe hear some live music. 

EXPLORE: we loved the trastevere & monti neighborhoods and spent a lot of time wandering this area. specifically via urbana [street] where we loved king size vintage, LOL moda arte design and mercato monti urban market roma. | eataly is a bit of a trek to get to but we couldn't have loved it more. an absolute must for wine and snacks, in my opinion. | sunset and a bottle of wine at gianicolo hill | for the touristy-historical things, we tried to arrive as early as possible to avoid crowds. the crowd-avoiding ended up not being possible, so we spent a lot more of our time just walking around the city and not stressing too much about seeing every single thing.