Barzilai — Restaurant in Rome

We went here from a recommendation from a local who praised the place and told us it would be a good time. A quick search of reviews showed lots of good reviews, HOWEVER, some reviews mentioned the “tourist prices” or poor treatment of foreigners which we disregarded and decided to try anyways. Terrible idea.

The good : there was an ahi tuna which was lovely.

The terrible : I’m not too big on alcohol so I’ll normally ask for a recommendation for something light and not too strong . I have never been glared at so hard in my life by a bartender , when asking for something not too strong (maybe he was offended when I jokingly asked for something that tasted like juice? Some cocktails are delicious !!!) anyways no smile, straight up told “no” to my question and deadpanned glared at me which made me physically uncomfortable . So I ordered a Chardonnay, figuring maybe he was having a bad day.

The tiramisu was watery, and the veal meatloaf we ordered wasn’t that good . I wouldn’t say the food is terrible but nothing noteworthy either . There’s a lot of 4 star and above restaurants in Italy that I don’t feel deserves that rating (FYI for anyone reading this and just basing quality on reviews)

Probably the most awkward part about this whole experience was receiving the cheque /bill/invoice . Italy includes taxes and tip into their pricing (I read everyone is paid a fair wage so tipping isn’t customary) . Normally when the restaurant includes a service charge, they’re by law required to write that in their menu so the customer knows they’ll be charged this amount. When this note is not included in the menu, tax and tip are IN the pricing of the dishes. We asked about this, and had the most irritating conversation whereby we went in circles with two staff members (you know that conversation where they don’t answer your question directly and ask you questions back to confuse you so you’ll get too annoyed to continue ?) This all escalated and finished with the waiter getting mad and slapping this service charge back on our table before storming off somewhere . (We left this “service charge” aka double tip tourist charge on the table because of the embarrassing nature of what we’d just witnessed on the table) We were just wondering if the tip was already rolled into the price of the meal, and if the service charge was a tourist charge (which it probably was since unless otherwise noted on menu, there shouldn’t even be a service charge). I don’t know, either we were really annoying or they were annoyed we called them out on it. You decide on that.

I think it would have been a great experience if I did not have a sense of humour to joke with the staff and was stupid as a rock to pay tip on top of tip. Oh!! I’m sure if you’re a local or if you’re with a local (as some other reviewers had mentioned) you’d also be having a bopping time.

It’s too bad this was our experience . Absolutely too scared and uncomfortable to...

While the two of us were enjoying a wonderful meal next door, we saw this place popping off. We were excited to join in to the atmosphere so we decided to pop in for a few drinks afterward.

We walked up and we’re greeted with “the kitchen is closed!” to which we replied, “That’s okay, we’re only here for drinks. Where should we sit?” As we tried to walk in, a small man with a shaved head, beard,and gut, wearing jean shorts and an earring stood in the doorway in front of us, giving me a stare of pure anger directly in my eyes from about 6 inches away. A server quickly walked up and ushered us in to seat us at a table, where we were treated very well. The bartender was also great and very skilled.

I was thrown off but found it hard to be threatened by such a little guy, so I assumed he was just drunk and confused. But he continued to stand in the doorway, staring at me almost the whole time we were there. 10’minutes later, my wife became uneasy and suggested we leave.

I thought he would simply go on his way, but it turns out, he works there! He walked in and out of the back of house and was bussing tables, staring all the while. We would have stayed for more drinks since the place is listed as open til midnight, but we were so uncomfortable that we left after one round. Everyone else was so nice, so it seemed very out of place.

Did I do something? Working in the restaurant industry, I am always very very polite when I go out, so I guess the guy has a problem of his own. Not a great experience being vibed out...

I think about the cacio e pepe from Barzilai at least once a week. It haunts my dreams; it throws me into an existential crisis where I've planned out exactly how I'm quitting my job and restarting my life in Rome just so I can have this cacio e pepe regularly (are you hiring?). Is there better cacio e pepe out there? Impossible.

I stumbled upon this place originally back in 2022 while visiting from Canada with a friend. We were well into our Italian pizza and pasta diet, but this by far was the best food we had in Rome. Since then, I've made sure to stop here on all my visits since for the cacio e pepe, their daily food special, and whatever wine they tell me to drink. Whatever they recommend, get - you won't be disappointed.

I last was here April 2024, where I traveled with WestJet's flight crew and I took the pilot here for dinner. The cacio e pepe was just as I remembered it, I'm pretty sure we both licked the bowl clean before eating a tiramisu. He demanded we return here for lunch the next day. I've been told now that this pilot takes credit for finding this place, and has been telling his colleagues to go here, too, when they have overnight stays. Although he is a liar, I'm just happy that he is spreading the love for Barzilai's cacio e pepe with the world, too.

I'm counting down the days until I'm reunited with my cacio e pepe in July this year. Cheers from your biggest Canadian fan.

TLDR: Run...