SANTA LUCIA - Ristorante — Restaurant in Rome

Like many other people, my friends and I ended up in this restaurant after watching the film ‘Eat, Pray, Love’. Reading the reviews on here worried me though, for there are quite a lot of bad ones.

To be honest, we loved the atmosphere of the restaurant and the fact that it is extremely quiet despite being situated right near the very busy Piazza Navona.

The service was impeccable. The waiters were extremely caring and very nice to all of us, keeping an eye on our table to see whether we needed assistance but without being too intrusive: they always came to us at the exact moment. The professionalism was evident.

The food was DELICIOUS. Many reviews argued that the food was just average and overpriced, and I definitely disagree: the food was incredible. The price might be a bit high, but that’s what happens when you choose a stunning and renowned location near a very central and touristic area. There are many touristic places that let the quality of their food drop, but this was not the case in this restaurant.

Once again, I want to stress that nobody let us feel out of place in this restaurant: despite not wearing fancy clothes and being sweaty after a whole day of walking, the staff made us feel incredibly comfortable and not at all out of place: we were a party of four and despite being underdressed we all felt line royalty.

This review comes from an Italian and honestly I can’t wait to visit Rome again and come back to this restaurant. I really don’t understand the bad reviews I read before reserving a table in this pearl of...

We stumbled across Santa Lucia today. As soon as we saw the raised garden, all in the shade in a lovely quieter street just off the very touristy piazza navona, we had to go in.

This is a really beautiful spot for starters, but there were multiple things that I think they could improve to make this a great restaurant.

The tables & chairs felt very dated, and were very uncomfortable. The whole outside had this feeling to it (and the toilets inside similarly). Plates were bright blue, the 90s called it wants its take on crockery back.

I had a spritz, and the prosecco in it was flat, likely open a few days, and just very low quality (it really does matter what prosecco you use in your spritz, and this was the only bad one I had in Rome).

I ate the truffle spaghetti, which given some of the above signals (dated, tourist trap), I thought would be the safest thing to order. I was pleasantly surprised. They were generous with the truffle, and it was reasonable quality for the price, but the pasta sauce was pretty viscous and heavy – which wasn't really necessary, especially on a hot day.

Seeing a few other dishes on neighbouring tables, I think I ordered well. Service was slow, but friendly.

Ultimately, if you're in the area there and feeling repelled by Navona like we were, then this can be a welcome respite. Order carefully and you'll have an okay time. But, by no means worth seeking out.

Truffle pasta was €20-30, spritz was €10, the only thing I thought was hugely overpriced were the double...

This restaurant has been on my friend’s list of top places in Rome, so we finally went there last night. As a vegetarian who doesn’t eat eggs and isn’t the biggest fan of pasta, I can sometimes be a little tricky when it comes to choosing food. Still, we ordered a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, along with a lovely bottle of red wine.

The vegetarian options were limited, so I went with eggplant, baked potato, and a cheese platter. The food wasn’t disappointing, but it also didn’t stand out as anything exceptional. On the other hand, my friend thoroughly enjoyed his non-vegetarian dishes and was very happy with his meal.

What really made the evening special was the atmosphere. The view was beautiful, the setting was relaxed, and even with live music playing, it wasn’t noisy — we could enjoy a proper conversation. For non-vegetarians, I would definitely recommend this place. For vegetarians, it may not be the most exciting menu, but it’s still worth visiting for the experience...