Ristorante Terme di Diocleziano — Restaurant in Rome

Would be 4 stars if not for the prices and pushiness! 🤔 Arrived in Rome from Frankfurt and after a long travel day, my husband and I were excited to dive into some Italian food right away 🍽️ This restaurant wasn’t our first choice. We had been waiting in line at Nerone (basically right next door, highly rated, and saved on our Google Maps list in advance) but the wait was long, and their Server recommended this spot ✨ We were hungry, the menu was expansive, and the outside seating area was nearly full (typically a good sign). Also - we wanted to stay near our hotel so we thought we’d give it a try 🤞

Started with cocktails—delicious and well-priced! 🍹 As for the food, my husband ordered carbonara, which was a bit sticky, slightly chunky, and on the salty side. Still decent though. I went with the chicken breast and potatoes—perfectly cooked, though €20+ for that felt steep compared to what I’d pay at home 🥲 I skipped the bread! Living in Germany for the past few years, we’re no strangers to harder bread, but when my husband wasn’t feeling the texture (not stale, just not easily edible in his opinion) I knew it wasn’t going to be in the cards for me this time around ‼️

Main downsides were the pushy servers, who were constantly trying to upsell alongside the street vendors and sellers that kept approaching our table nonstop. We understand everyone needs to earn a living, but it was overwhelming in that seating area and took away from the overall vibe 😔

For context, our total came to about €80 for two meals, two cocktails, and a lemon sorbet dessert. They did throw in two shots each of a melon aperitif, which felt like a generous and festive welcome 🎉 Overall, 3 stars feels like a fair rating—good drinks and OK meals, but a few things kept it from being truly...

So I don’t usually leave negative reviews, but I really have to here. I gave one star only because of the servers being very friendly and professional. However, here is where things take a turn. My young daughter and I ate here for dinner. I ordered a beef carpaccio and my daughter the steak. The beef carpaccio tasted okay, but was doused in A LOT of lemon. It also had started browning (picture attached), which should have indicated to me that it was not fresh, but I didn’t pay enough attention, which was my fault. My daughters steak came out and after taking 2 bites, she said it tasted bitter. I took the steak and just from the smell immediately knew this was spoiled meat. I told the waiter, who took it away and brought my daughter a pizza instead. I’m not sure if it was a server or the owner, but someone came out to apologize and acknowledge that he tasted the meat after we sent it back and it was definitely spoiled, and that he’d be speaking with the delivery person, etc. I just said that I really didn’t need all the excuses, I just did not want my young child getting sick on vacation from bad meat. The check was covered by the restaurant as an apology and we left. Well, sure enough the next day both my daughter and I are both sick with food poisoning. Today is day 3 and we are both still feeling the effects of being sick. Based on the smell of that steak alone, I am shocked it would have been served to a child. I should have made a bigger deal about it but I just wanted to leave. Please be careful if you are coming here and getting any meat. I did not eat the steak, only the carpaccio and got very sick too, so it seems all of the meat is not fresh. Be very very careful...

I recently had a very disappointing experience at Ristorante Terme di Diocleziano. My family and I decided to stop by to celebrate my mom’s birthday, and I requested a table for eight. I informed the waiter that we had brought a cake with us. The first waiter we interacted with was kind and polite, and he immediately began preparing our table.

However, things quickly took a turn for the worse. Another staff member, who I assume is the owner, approached us and informed us that if we did not have the purchasing receipt for the cake, he would not serve it to us. I understand that it is a legal requirement for restaurants to ensure that cakes brought in comply with HACCP standards and are purchased from a licensed bakery. But what was most frustrating was that we had spoken to this same person earlier, and he had assured us that he would be happy to serve the cake.

When we tried to discuss the situation and find a solution, his manner was extremely rude and condescending. There are certainly more respectful and polite ways to handle such situations with customers, especially when they are trying to celebrate a special occasion. The way he spoke to us was unnecessary and disrespectful, which was very off-putting.

Ultimately, due to this unprofessional behavior, I decided to leave the restaurant and not dine there. It was a terrible experience, and I would not recommend this establishment to anyone looking for a pleasant dining atmosphere or good...