Antico Carbone — Restaurant in Rome

This is a food-heavy post…but it’s also a life lesson. Indulge me?? Or scroll on by….

Antica Carbone

This review is kind of a reflection on a love story…the love of food, passion for a career, desire to serve people….all the good stuff.

Antica Carbone is a small restaurant nestled into the Trastevere area of Rome near the Tiber River. The manager, Luigi, met us at the door with an open smile and exuberance of spirit.

Our nephew and his bride enjoyed dinner at this restaurant on their honeymoon and just swooned over their culinary and cultural experience. We took the recommendation, walked a hot mile to the restaurant and opened the door on a dinner that will be remembered forever.

Our server seated us and got us set up with waters—3 still, 1 sparkling—and took a beverage order. She brought over homemade bread. At this point, the manager, Luigi, brought a beautiful olive oil for dipping. Delicious—and some is coming home with me. Luigi brought over a special olive oil from the Puglia region. It as do bright and had a lot of herbal notes. So thoughtful.

Moving to appetizers, Luigi asked if he could make some suggestions. Of course!! We were guests in his “house”. He suggested ‘Grandma’s Mestballs’ and we also ordered Bruschetta, a fav of the nephew and sweet Claire. The meatballs absolutely MELTED in our mouths! Served with bread, every last bit of sauce could be mopped up. The Bruschetta, two crispy slices dressed with tomatoes and two dressed with ricotta and anchovies and served with arugula, were devoured!

Again, with a hopeful smile, Luigi gave his suggestion for dinner as the ravioli was FRESH!!!! I had the ravioli with a butter sage sauce, my sister-in-law had ravioli with a delicious Bolognese. Our guys enjoyed a lasagne and a mushroom pasta, I think. I was too lost in that sage and butter ravioli to really notice!!

By this time, we were just delirious with culinary joy!!!! But, true to his generous, service-oriented personality, Luigi said he was bringing us a tiramisu and four spoons. Swoon-worthy swallows!! And, as it that wasn’t the end, he brought over tiny biscuits (cookies) with a pistachio cream shot.

And at that point, we all knew that we’d been given a magical moment when not only were our tummies full, but our hearts were brimming over in gratitude for a man and a restaurant that truly cared to serve with humility. He approached menu development with research and curiosity.

Everyone in the front of house in the small restaurant seemed to be having a great time! Servers…diners…

I wonder if they all know what a special place they hold in this beautiful world. I hope you can all make it to...

We had a brilliant meal. Loved all of the food. The wine was literally hot when it got to the table, we could feel the heat coming off of it when drinking it. The server put a cold pack around it and that helped.

The limoncello spritz was tasty as was the coffee and the tiramisu was to die for, definitely the best yet.

We were very disappointed when our server (maybe he is the owner or manager?) announced his internet was “on fire” and he could not process our card for the €153 bill. We didn’t have that much cash on us. He told the other tables the same but none of us had enough €. We asked what we were supposed to do? He became a bit upset as though how dare us come in if we could not pay in cash? It was very confusing and I’m sure the language barrier didn’t help.

After getting the same or similar replies from the other patrons and after a few minutes of frustration on his part he announced his network was magically working again and he went around taking everyone’s cards.

I can’t say for sure but in retrospect it felt like an attempt to get out of paying whatever fees he has to pay for processing the cards.

Needless to say we were very disappointed with how the evening ended and felt like he was trying to take advantage of his patrons.

Again the food was fantastic and everything to that point was great, except for the hot wine.

Maybe bring some cash in case his internet is “on fire” again and he can’t or refuses to take your card.

**I am adding to this review after reading the restaurant’s unprofessional response to not only my review but also others who are critical of this restaurant.

To be perfectly clear - the wine was HOT as though it was kept outside in the 38°C+ heat. We could feel the heat coming off of it in the glass. Red wine should be served at a maximum of 18°C or at worst, room temperature.

In any event my biggest concern was the payment issue and rude behavior of the wait staff when we could not produce €153 cash for our bill.

You can see who you’ll be dining with from his reply.

My rating could have been much worse than 3 stars based on his behavior alone. Dine at your own risk, just don’t upset the staff and...

We came here for our final meal in our 13 day trip all over Italy and can definitely say it was our best. To start you can see two workers in the window passionately making raviolis before you even walk in - we were told they make 100% of the pasta and desserts for the restaurant each night. Incredible and humbling to watch. Next we were waited on by the owner himself. Vincenzo was not only hilarious but extremely friendly and the exact person you would imagine as an italian family restaurant owner. Charismatic, dramatic and made our experience incredible. So much that we wanted to get a photo with him. The atmosphere of the restaurant was so fun. Every worker had a smile and the waitresses were telling us jokes. We ordered the cacio e Pepe raviolis with Pomodoro sauce and Bolognese and it was absolutely fantastic. We also got caprese for an appetizer with the Buffalo mozzarella from Naples and it was the best cheese we ever tasted. For dessert we got Tiramisu and the house cake that day Boba? Spelling might be wrong but both were delicious. Just so fresh and made with love. We will be going to this restaurant every single time we return to Rome and I recommend you do too! Such an incredible experience. Truly the experience you read about with small family restaurants in Italy. Thank you Vincenzo...