Pepe | Ristorante San Giovanni — Restaurant in Rome

CRUEL AND UNUSUAL TREATMENT FOR NON ITALIANS

We were visiting Italy and a friend told us to try this restaurant because it has amazing pizza. We booked a reservation online for 19:00 and made our way there. When we arrived, we were told that even though we made a reservation, the restaurant didn’t actually open until 19:30 and we had to wait. We were pleasant and left to have drinks and wait. When we came back at 19:30 we told a different waitress that we had reservations and as she prepared to seat us, the other waitress from before spoke to her in Italian and she then asked to check our green pass. My entire family is fully vaccinated and received boosters. My parents are brother senior citizens so they received vaccines on November 10th and the waitress told us that it was seven days past six months. We told her that no other restaurant or hotel in rome had asked for our green pass and she told us that didn’t matter. She was quite rude to my mother and we decided to leave because we didn’t want to be treated poorly. On our way out I asked some Italian customers if they had been asked for their green pass and they replied that it wasn’t necessary. I truly believe that the waitresses didn’t want us there because we were not Italian and we’re trying to come up with reasons not to let us eat there. It’s truly disappointing because we had a friend tell us that it would be an amazing experience. We googled the green pass rules for Italy and it said that anyone with a booster was allowed to be served any time after April 1st. The Italian embassy clearly states that the six month rule no longer applies. These wait staff do not deserve to work there if they are going to make up excuses to turn away business and I would highly recommend that tourists avoid...

I have tried food all over Rome and this has been the best. Me and my wife have been here twice now and both times were above expectations. The first time was without a reservation (we didn't know better) and we were lucky to be seated. The staff knew an impressive amount of English (English menus optional). They were kind and patient. They recommended the carbonara pizza which was amazing. The second time we made a reservation online. I had the signature Pepe pizza which was also amazing. The wine was good. The Supplí was good. The Nutella pizza was good. The best part is the price. The prices here are the best in Rome and the quality is much higher than that of the ones closer to tourist attractions. This was one of the few restaurants that looked like a legit establishment. It is a nice place with nice lighting and music. Someone said the service was slow and I don't agree. The service was as fast as I wanted it to be both times. They are perhaps confused about Italian custom. They don't want to rush you. This place does take out and doggy bags. One...

We found this gem right round the corner from our hotel during our stay in Rome. We went twice - first time we tried the pizza and calzone which were delicious and great portion. We also shared the cacio e pepe baked potatoes (like warm crisps) the service was lovely, staff friendly and attentive and atmosphere was great. The second time we went back.. wow, the Cacio e pepe was absolutely without a doubt the best I had tried in Rome. My husband had the tonnarello alla gricia. We both never wanted it to end! Worth every cent. All in all, a fantastic experience both evenings and we would definitely return when we...