It seems that I am on a whole Roscioli series here. Having just reviewed the Roscioli New York City restaurant, here is my review of Rome’s Roscioli Salumeria in the heart of Campo d’Fiori, Roma! I love, love, love this restaurant, and this Christmas visit with my husband and my mother did not disappoint. This post reviews our recent visit in late December 2023.

For those unfamiliar with Roscioli, Roscioli is a Roman brand synonymous with great food. The Roscioli brand has been around for decades, and it is very well known to those who love Rome. Roscioli has several restaurants in Rome, including the instant Salumeria, a tasty wine-focused restaurant called Rimessa Riscioli (that often has openings if the Salumeria is full), a pizza and bread take away and a coffee/pastry shop (that I have never visited!), plus a New York City outpost that opened last year (2023). Dan and I have visited Roscioli’s main restaurant, Roscioli Salumeria, in Rome several times, most recently just before Christmas last year.

ROSCIOLI SALUMERIA – LOCATION & RESERVATIONS

Roscioli Salumeria is located in the centro storcio (or historical center) Rome, very close to Campo de’Fiori. From the outside, Roscioli Salumeria looks like a photogenic specialty food shop, which it is, but it is also a legitimate Italian food store (great for souvenirs, although pricer than a grocery store), a takeaway meat and cheese counter, and an extremely popular restaurant serving lunch and dinner daily.

Reservations at Roscioli Salumeria are essential and should be made on Roscioli Salumeria’s website. I recommend booking as far in advance as possible, especially for busy periods. I just checked the website – its currently mid-August and the restaurant is fully booked through the first week in October, with October and November open for booking. For online bookings, you select both a time and an area of the restaurant to eat in. Each area of the restaurant is described on the website, but know that if you sit in the wine cellar, its down steep stairs.  Otherwise, I don’t see a big difference in the various seating areas. The restaurant will also tell you when it needs the table back (uncommon for Italy), and they do follow this pretty strictly. Select the last seating if you like to linger.

COCKTAILS AND WINE AT ROSCIOLI

Roscioli Salumeria has both well-made cocktails and fantastic wine, all almost exclusively Italian. Don’t be afraid to ask your waiter for assistance in selecting a beverage. We started this pre-Christmas dinner with cocktails, as usual, and then selected a Sagrantino de Montefalco from the wine menu (which is basically a thick book of Italian wines, as seen in the above photo) to pair with our food. And if you like Sagrantino, Roscioli usually has one on its menu.

FIRST COURSE AT ROSCIOLI – PRIMI

Contrary to popular belief, ordering multiple courses is not mandatory at Roman restaurants, but we always make it a point to do so at great ones like Roscioli. Since there were three of us dining, we selected two starters, or “primi”, to begin our meal. The first was a seasonal special made of zucchini over thin crispy bread, Burrata cheese, a tasty orange sauce and more Italian white cheese. This was really, really good!

The second primi, however, was absolutely, absolutely amazing – definitely the highlight of this meal and possibly our entire trip (which spanned Umbria and back to Rome!). This dish is called Maialino del Chianti and consists of pulled suckling pig “slowly cooked” served on a crispy piece of bread and topped with pickled vegetables, with a side of local olives on the side. The combination of the dish was incredible, and its still on the menu under Appetizers! Pleaseeeee order this if you visit Roscioli.

SECOND COURSE – ROSCIOLI PASTA

Roscioli Salumeria makes great pasta (not the best in Rome IMO, but really, really solidly good every visit). And it particularly does a fantastic job with Rome’s 4 pastas – Cacio e Pepe, Amatriciana, Carbonara, and Gricia. This visit, I selected the Amatriciana, which, here, is served on short pasta with sauce made from Camapania tomatoes, crispy pork cheek and Pecorino Romano cheese. As always, this dish was totally fantastic. Dan opted for gnocchi done in the Amatriciana style, so basically my dish with gnocchi (round pasta made from potatoes) in lieu of traditional pasta. As the Italians say, it was fantastico!

My mother broke the pasta tradition and ordered a slab of pork served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. She said it was really great!

THIRD COURSE – ROSCIOLI DOLCE

Our final course was, of course, dessert. But before ordering dessert, know that most meals at Roscioli Salumeria include a complimentary dessert of Ciambelle al Vino (or “wine cookies”) with a side of chocolate sauce for dipping. For those unfamiliar, wine cookies are circular cookies with a hole in the middle that Italians from the Rome area (and a few others, but NOT everywhere) dunk in wine after dinner. The cookies are pretty tasty, though they are not really sweet. I believe the story is that there were invented as substance for Romans without a lot of food back in the day. These cookies are tasty and good for a quick after dinner bite when dipped in chocolate, but they will typically not satisfy an American dessert craving.

In true American fashion, we also ordered a cannolo dipped in pistacchio on one side and chocolate on the other. This was also really, really delicious. Despite hailing from further south, Roscioli does a nice job with its cannoli.

ROSCIOLI AFTER DINNER DRINKS

While we don’t usually do this in US, we often have an after dinner drink in Rome, and Roscioli has a wonderful selection of grappa and amaro, including their own labels. Dan enjoyed a grappa and I had one of Roscioli’s amaros. We also purchased 3 bottles of amari to bring home…

STEAL OUR DINNER

Roscioli Salumeria: Via dei Giubbonari, 21, 00186 Roma RM, Italy. Open 12:30 PM – 4:00 PM & 7:00 PM – 11:30 PM. Reservations mandatory.