Ivo A Trastevere - Rome

The beauty of the Trastevere neighborhood in Rome is that you have these narrow, windy cobblestone streets. If you explore among these streets there are so many restaurants, caffes, gelaterias, shops, little markets and more. We strayed away from our airBNB and went to a less busy section of Trastevere to dine at Ivo. The street was actually paved and the sidewalk was big enuf to place tables and accommodate walkers. Mija had been here before I arrived in Rome and recommended the pizze. I ordered a napoli (anchovies), and we also shared carciofi alla giudia (fried artichoke heart), fried zucca, roasted eggplant and a local wine. Mija ITC ordered their own pizzi one of which was mushroom. The pizze in Rome is so basic, its fantastic. It is nothing like the States where you try to load as many toppings as possible. Often times the toppings in the States lead to a mushy crust bc of all the water in the veggies. The napoli was so good. The crust was nice and crispy and you could taste the subtle hint of anchovies: Everything was in balance. Secondarily, the carciofi was as the restaurant owner in Stanley Tucci's show described it, simple Roman food and a taste of history. In addition, the roasted eggplant was so fresh, it was a nice change of pace vs the veggies we get drowned in butter in the States. Lastly, the wine was so inexpensive and basic, it washed all the great food down. Regarding the ambiance, its al fresco as almost all places are in Italy. It was nice to people watch while we enjoyed our food wine. The staff is super cool. For example, the guy who served our wine asked where we are from. When I said Los Angeles, he immediately corrected me and said, LA. He has been to NYC before, but wants to go to LA. The same goes for the owner who has been to LA, San Diego, Vegas Miami at a minimum. If you are looking for good pizze carciofi in the Trastevere neighborhood, look no further than Ivo. It is away from the real busy section, and the ambiance staff are really nice.

Great appetizers (not normally found at home) great service, very friendly, welcoming, excellent service, food very good, pasta dishes delicious. Great spot to sit outside people watch. Very busy for middle of the week night.

Our worst meal in Rome. Hardly a step up from a tourist trap.

Our taxi driver suggested this place since he lives in Trastevere and our apartment for the week was there. We arrived close to 11pm and the place was full of life! The waiters immediately told us no problem 15-20 mins. Was more like 40 but the wait was worth it. More when you are people watching the beautiful people, locals and not. The food was just right, nothing too spectacular, we had basically every appetizer and Napoli and margarita pizza, Chianti and Prosecco. The service was sympathetic and allowed us to stay super late !

While in Rome, we found it harder than expected to find real, legit Roman food. Ivo a Trastevere was recommended by a friend of a friend who had lived in the neighborhood for a number of years. We said we wanted a spot where no one was speaking English and the food was authentic and we got exactly that! The aperol spritz I was served left much to be desired (not enough aperol in my opinion) but everything after that was superb. We started with the fried zucchini blossoms which were stuffed with ricotta cheese and a sardine. It was an incredible combination of flavors. Next, we each got spaghetti a carbonara. This was probably in the top three pastas I ate my entire two weeks in Italy. The sauce was so perfect, robust in flavor but not too heavy. The guanciale was full of flavor and nicely cooked into the sauce. I cleaned my whole plate. The red wine served with the pasta was a delicious pairing as well. The service was friendly and fast despite there being an everflowing crowd of people coming through for dinner. As soon as you walk in, you see a giant pizza oven so I'm sure you can't go wrong with one of their pizzas too.