Trattoria Al Gran Sasso - dal 1965 — Restaurant in Rome

In two weeks in Italy, our dinner at Al Gran Sasso was the worst. First, they could not find the wine we ordered. Not that big a deal, but a harbinger, and the wine they recommended as a substitute was tannic and took almost an hour to open up. Appetizers: fried squash blossoms were oily, mostly batter, obliterated any taste of the blossom, and overly salted--more like a funnel cake. Mussels were cold, half of them had not opened up. Dinner: the calamari were room temperature, had no taste, were almost like they were synthetic. My seabass with potatoes and zucchini was burned(potatoes and zucchini) and the fish was overcooked...tough, like fish jerky. The servers were very nice, but quickly neglected to come around to ask how we liked the food, as if they knew, the preparation had been very off, or could see by our demeanor, that nothing had gone well. Shame, it was our last night in Rome. Also a shame because so many other restaurants were outstanding. We picked this restaurant because it had so many good reviews and was close to our hotel. But, 3...

Well reading all the excellent reviews I thought this place would be a winner. Let’s start with the wine. Only one type of white wine was available per glass. I was solo so I figured how bad can Italian white wine be? 2 buck chuck anyone? The alcohol content was so high I had an immediate hangover after one glass. The appetizer was Burata. With truffle shavings. The burata was flavorless and the truffles seemed fresh frozen. No taste whatsoever The main and grilled vegetable side dish came a half hour later. So I sat there reading the NYT and chewing on the bread that came with no butter or olive oil. I guess I could’ve asked for some but I’m sure I would’ve filled up on the bread and missed the sodium sensation which was my spaghetti carbonara. Wow I think my blood pressure shot through the roof. It was so salty I threw in the soggy grilled vegetables just to give them flavor. The veggies probably sat in oil the whole time it took to make a plate of salty pasta. Yuck! Good luck with this place. May e it’s the luck of...

Lovely little restaurant offering very traditional Roman dining options alongside a small list of daily specials to compliment the standard menu items. Reasonably priced for location, and the food and wine we had was lovely. We selected the stuffed zucchini flowers, duck with mushrooms, picanha steak and closed out with the creme brulee, and apricot tart. Overall, we were very happy with the food.

The only drawback to the experience was the attitude of the younger waiter who served us for the evening. Standing hand on hip over the table, after clearing my husbands plate whilst I finished the last mouthfuls of my starter felt awkward, and unfortunately didn't set a convivial tone, slapping menus and plates down on the table when serving the meal and rolling his eyes when asked for the bill. A shame as the whole evening otherwise was one we enjoyed very much!

Bookings recommended as it's a busy little restaurant otherwise and...