47 Circus Roof Garden — Restaurant in Rome

We were a group of four looking forward to enjoying our final dinner in Italy after a fantastic 10-day trip. We chose 47 Circus Roof Garden based on glowing recommendations, expecting an evening of great food and drinks in a beautiful setting.

Unfortunately, our experience was far from what we had hoped for. Although our table was ready upon arrival, we were immediately swarmed by dozens of wasps around our table. It became impossible to eat—we had to get up and leave the table multiple times, and eventually had to ask for our food to be replaced.

When the new dishes arrived, especially the main courses, they were dry, poorly prepared, and almost inedible. None of us were able to eat the main course—it simply wasn’t acceptable for a restaurant of this standard. Despite this, we were still charged in full and received no refund for the uneaten food.

One of our group members is allergic to wasp stings, a serious concern we brought to the staff's attention. Shockingly, we were told that the wasps were “not their problem,” and that it was something we had to deal with—that there was nothing they could do to help. The complete lack of accountability and concern for guest safety was astounding.

It’s also hard to believe that the restaurant wasn’t already aware of such a severe wasp problem—this is clearly not something that appears overnight. It seemed likely there was a wasp nest near the rooftop terrace, and yet no preventive measures had been taken. It felt negligent.

When one of us politely approached the maître d’ to express our concerns—calmly and respectfully—we were met with hostility and anger. This response left all of us shocked and upset. As a small gesture, we were offered a few complimentary drinks, but this did very little to make up for the ruined evening.

We regularly dine at high-end restaurants and have never had to complain about a meal or service before. This was the first time we’ve ever felt the need to speak up about an experience—and to be met with such a defensive and dismissive attitude was unbelievable.

If we could give 0 stars, we would. We spent €640 on what should have been a memorable farewell dinner—and instead left feeling disappointed, disrespected, and upset. The wasps, inedible food, and the staff’s poor handling of the situation completely ruined what should have been a special and...

We booked this venue for an overpriced dinner (for 14 persons) which was overpriced with poor tasting cold food and completely worthless service. The view was nice but everything else was appalling. Avoid! By far the worst dinner we had in Rome. The only good thing with the dinner was the bread.

Edit: adding some text to respond to your comment: No, we are not unhappy because we had to move because of the rain. We knew about that risk when we visited you. The problems are linked to poor service and cold and bad tasting/tasteless food. See some examples below. The service was friendly, but it felt like they didn't know how to provide service at a restaurant. Or severly understaffed?

No, the fact that some rain showed up after 2 hours did not explain why you did not serve our starters until after 1h20 minutes after we arrived, despite that we had pre-ordered everything. The kids were quite hungry by then. No, the rain was no excuse for you not to take up orders of wine until after we had received our starters and explicitly asked - perhaps we can order some wine? No, the rain was not the reason why nobody presented what was served. Plates were put on the table but with no comment about what it was, and the waiter ran off. No, we can't blame the rain for the pasta dish being cold when served. If that was the reason, you should have taken it back to the kitchen and reheated the dishes. I can't see how the rain caused that the Veal was both cold and chewy Furthermore the service was almost nonexistent, there was nobody there to help us with whatever we needed, but we started taking matters into our own hands by going into the kitchen to find salt, serving ourselves with the wine, playing music for ourselves despite you promising to fix the music. Finally I'd recommend against serving Chinotto Ice cream, or at least asking if people would want to try something which is bitter and unpleasant to mix with their dry eclair (honestly, that eclair must have been at least 2 days old when we got it). Among the group of 14, 1 person liked the Chinotto, all else would have preferred Vanilla. But it will be something to remember, at least.

These are just a few of many examples of how we were unhappy with both the service and the food. I...

V & I heard this was a great place and we heard right! Located close to the Tiber and next door to the Bocca Della Verita, the 47 Circus Rooftop Garden is a truly authentic Roman gem. Make sure you have reservations because if it’s a nice day the place will be busy and you will not get in. The view was great and in truly Roman tradition, it is located directly across from the Tempio di Portuno (built in 4th or 5th century B.C.) and Casa Dei Cresceni (11th or 12th century aristocratic home) so your view from the 6th level (7th floor for U.S.) is beautiful and dramatic. But to the food, the Roof Garden offers both appertivo and lunch/dinner service. We were there in early afternoon and elected to eat from both the appetitive and lunch menus.

We started with the vegetable platter (I.e. crudite) and it was a nice plate of roasted veggies including tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant. It also came with three shot glass sized portions of hummus all of Tona and another spread which I think was a chicory mix. We also ordered the rice and potato croquettes, which was a rice, meat and cheese mixture and a potato and ham combination of deep fried. These were outstanding. For the main, we decided to go with two traditional Roman dishes, including linguine with clams and spaghetti amatriciana. The linguine with clams was cooked perfectly and loaded with garlic and lots of baby clams (no shells!). The amatriciana was outstanding with fresh tomato sauce and guanciale. One of the best I’ve had.

We decided to forego dessert because we ordered a ton of food and we were stuffed! Never to stuffed for gelato though so we saved space for Come Il Latte close to our hotel (See separate review).

Price was on the high side but it is atop a nice hotel and the view was soooo worth it. If it’s a hot day then you will be hot. There was a nice breeze and they have large umbrellas but it can get hot depending on the time of year. Well done and Marco the maitre’d and lead was outstanding. Our servers were also super nice...