Al Ceppo — Restaurant in Rome

Excellent ambiance, kind and helpful staff, declious food, medium high end place in terms of price.

Ambiance- Feels like a fancy old town Italian joint where folks in the know, and might be friends with the owner, come to wine and dine and chat. It’s a higher end place but doesn’t feel so serious like some places where you might worry you’re messing up their precise napkin placement. When we were there we had a group of older gentlemen in jackets in the corner, a swanky couple on the side, and a cheery group of friends jesting in italian on the table behind us.

Staff- Our party had some difficulty deciding and the waiter was helpful in giving advice and recommendations. Steered me away from an expensive steak that I tried ordering which was meant for two. Recommended a nice wine for us.

Side note- Having lived in Europe for 3 years I’ve gotten used to a few things: 1. Europeans like to lounge and chill for a while and service doesn’t interrupt that much. If you need something you can just hail someone. 2. It’s not unusual to ask for check and pay at counter (bringing the bill) As an American these things were very odd to me at first.

Food- We had 7 different assorted dishes. Salads, starters, pasta, sweetbreads, sea bass. All were very good, not AMAZING but solidly good. Cuttlefish was tender and perfectly cooked. Pasta nicely al dente and seasoned on point. Sweetbread was tender and flavorful. I would return to explore more of the menu. My advice is to share and order from each section of the menu. Don’t all get pastas. The starter salad was on the smaller side for the price but it was also my favorite dish so.. I guess that makes sense then.

Price- Based on our experince I’d say you can expect to pay around €50-€75pp including wine.

Final notes- This place had a lot of authentic charm which I enjoyed. It’s a bit off the beaten path which helps keep the tourists lower. My only reservation with posting this review is that it will help to drive more (presumably english speaking) tourists here. I’d feel bad if regulars started feeling squeezed...

Dont kno what some of the other posts were whining about, our nt and dinner was fantastic...Friday nt, place packed up by 9, way outside tourist traps (thank god), well dressed locals, parties of 4-6 typical, unfortunately many w children...we had 2 waiters, 2 bus people, manager always floating...couldn't have been better service. Food was fabulous, pasta w duck ragu to start, beautiful med rare steak, cut and displayed on arrival (waiter recommendation), wife had anchovie salad, great bottle of Borollo...and a selection of delicious cream filled puff pastry w melted chocolate poured over by waiter. Old world ambiance exactly as you would expect for a night out in Rome. Not cheap (170E) but hey, looking for cheap there ARE McDonald's in Rome.

The only reason not 5 of 5 is management's approval of kids occasionally running around far from their tables...surprising for an elegant setting but hey, its Rome and the bambinos seem to run the roost at meal times.

Highly recommend (leave your kids with the hotel concierge and...

Mediocre service. Ok food. Old chairs are uncomfortable. Had to wait for 20 mins to be able to order. Only one waiter is allowed to take orders the rest are just walking around doing nothing. They brought the second dish without taking away the finished first plate so the waiter had to ask another one to remove the plates. The “seppia” is just breaded squids on top of a bunch of salad. Completely overprice. Funny enough they were so slow and service was so poor that they were not even available to bring the bill! We had to stand up and go to reception to ask them for the bill and pay. Will never come back again. Chairs are just old green chairs poorly painted. Very...