The ghetto in Rome (yes, they call it that, no it’s not considered offensive there) is where you can find most of the Kosher restaurants. I’ve broken it down for you so you know what your options are and what to order while there!
Important note:
There are a few restaurants that are NOT kosher in the ghetto that can look it. Always make sure you check for Kosher certifications and make sure they’re up to your standard.
Casalino - (located in the Ghetto)
I’m starting with this one because although it’s one of the newer Kosher restaurants there, it was my favorite dairy one in Rome!
The owners have another restaurant closer to where the Jewish community is and they recently (summer 2021) opened one in the Ghetto to cater to the tourists.
We tried a variety of the dishes over the course of a few days and the flavors were always on point, the service was always excellent and the dishes looked great!
Our recommendations:
Fried Artichoke - you’ll find this dish in almost every kosher restaurant in the ghetto. They are all prepared in a similar fashion but we liked how this restaurant made it best.
Arancini
Tonnarelli - Pasta served in a bowl of Pecorino cheese, this was absolutely delicious!
Pistachio Crusted Tuna - they have a pretty extensive fish menu but this tuna just hit different in the best way. It was fresh, it was tasty, I still think about it sometimes!
We had other fish dishes but for the sake of keeping this article shorter I‘ll leave it here. You can check more on the Rome highlight on Instagram.
This is the same owners as Casalino, but the location is where most of the community lives. You can technically walk there from the Ghetto but it’s a bit of a hike. Come here if you want to experience more of what the locals eat!
Photo: the owner of Casalino & Dolce, he sweetest Italian we met for sure!
All right, here are our recommended dishes:
Concia - this is considered a Jewish delicacy, it’s fried zucchini served cold.
Little pizzas - ok this isn’t the name but I forgot what it’s called and I ordered them cuz they were cute.
Creme Patissiere - it‘s a popular dessert here!
Lasagna - it was super tasty!
Gelato - We for the one with chocolate and it was delicious.
Fonzie Burger (in the Ghetto)
Over the course of your stay in Italy, you’ll naturally be eating a ton of pizza and pasta. So this burger joint was actually and nice and welcome shift for dinner. The burgers are tasty and the prices are fair.
Cremeria Romano (in the Ghetto)
Located right next to Casalino, this is a Cholov Yisroel gelato place where you can try a bunch of flavors.
This isn’t in the ghetto, it caters more to the locals. it’s a nice bakery and cafe that serves pizza, pastries and more!
We had a good time sampling a variety of the Pâtisseries. I recommend anything that they have with pistachio!
Bona Pizza - (in the Ghetto)
This is the best place to order pizza in Rome. The thin looking cracker pizzas are Roman and they are phenomenal! You must try them. We also got a variety of other flavors in thin slices so we can sample them.
This is a Libyan Tunisian restaurant also located out of the ghetto. They serve Mediterranean dishes like Brik and Mafrum and Moroccan tea. (I’m obsessed with Moroccan tea.)
There’s about 3 restaurants with the same owner in Rome alone and they have a branch in Florence as well. You can tell which is which because they have the name Ghetto in all of their restaurants. You can use the insta link to find the others.
We got the artichoke here too as well as some gnocchi and pasta. I enjoyed the gnocchi but I wasn’t wowed by any of the dishes.
We only got one dish here (there is only so much we can eat). The Spaghetti Bolognese — it was really tasty.
This restaurant offers dine-in Shabbat meals. Just make sure to obviously book it in advance!
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That‘s all I have on Rome folks! Next up > Florence / Tuscany.
Hello, where can we stay for shabath meal ? There is beth chabad ?