When in Romeā¦make sure to bring an extra suitcase, because after visiting the best food shops in Rome youāll be coming back home with a lot of delicious goodies.
Rome is a food shopping paradise for both locals and visitors. At markets like San Giovanni di Dio, Testaccio, Circo Massimo youāll find:
- greengrocers trimming artichokesā¦
- fishmongers lovingly scaling fishā¦
- butchers boasting whole lambs and pig headsā¦
- stalls selling cheese, pasta, oil, and dozens of other delightsā¦
Whether youāre at the market or a small mom-and-pop-shop, there are lots of great spots to find premium italian gourmet foods in Rome. Letās dive in.
Some of the best food shops in Rome
Antica Caciara
The name tells you everything you need to know (it loosely means āold cheese shop,ā but thereās more than just that here). At this Trastevere institution, you can find cured meats, dried pasta and even baccala (salt cod). Remember this is Rome, where cacio refers to the king of cheeses: Pecorino Romano DOP.Ā
Walking into Antica Caciara (Via San Francesco a Ripa, 140), youāre almost knocked over by the aroma of wheels of sharp, sheepy pecorino.Ā This is the real stuff, produced on small farms outside of Rome as it has been for thousands of years.Ā
Roberto, the proprietor, has dedicated his life to procuring, storing and selling Romeās most beloved cheese. Heāll gladly shrink-wrap a piece of it for you to take home, and maybe throw in a wild-boar salame in.
If you feel like you need to learn more about Italian cheeses before your trip, check out our crash course in Italian cheeses.
BernabeiĀ Ā
Pecorino needs wine, and right across the Viale Trastevere from Antica Caciara is Bernabei.Ā
One of the most prominent wine merchants and undoubtedly one of the best food shops in Rome, Bernabei has several locations around Rome (most notably, in Testaccio), as well as an extensive online store.Ā
Bernabei combines quality, variety and affordability. The store is divided by regions of Italy.Ā
Want to try an Emilian Lambrusco? A real Venetian Prosecco? Or maybe a classic Roman Frascati? Itās all there, and can even be shipped. Make sure to take your time to enjoy the experience of Bernabei.
VolpettiĀ Ā
No one who walks by Volpetti can resist going in. The window is like a Renaissance still life, where hanging prosciutti cast a shadow on piles of peppercorn-studded cheeses the color of hay.Ā
Volpetti, located in Testaccio, is perhaps the cityās most famous food store, and easily one of the best food shops in Rome. Its shelves and fridges are vast, full of everything from made-that-morning burrata to dried pasta in a dozen shapes.Ā
Weād recommend getting the thing which was designed to survive a long voyage: cured meat. In particular, the individual salami made of cinta senese pork, an ancient Tuscan breed prized for the incredible flavor of its fat.Ā
One of those, shrink-wrapped by the helpful staff, will be a hit for the dinner party you throw when you get home.
InnocentiĀ
The majority of pastries found in Roman pastry shops arenāt meant for on-the-go consumption. Whether itās a freshly baked cornetto or a decadent rum baba, these treats are best savored right there in the shop.Ā
Cookies are different. At Innocenti (Via della Luce, 21), in the picturesque Trastevere, you can and should get a box of cookies to bring home.Ā
These arenāt the giant, gooey disks of an American bakery. Here, the cookies are small and refined.Ā Buttery shortbreads are dotted with jam or dipped in chocolate. Classic biscotti are rich with almonds and grains of sugar.Ā
Kept in a jar, these treats will last for weeks. That is, unless you eat them all the day you get back.
Pascarella
A kosher butcher doesnāt seem like an obvious place to go food shopping in Rome, but weāre not sending you to this south Trastevere spot to pick up a shabbat chicken.Ā
Over the last millennium, Romeās historic Jewish population has developed an Italian cuisine of its own, which means kosher cured meat.Ā
At Pascarella, they make two traditional products that you can easily bring home: salame kasher and carne secca.
- The former is salami, made with kosher beef rather than pork, which gives it a stronger, leaner flavor.
- The latter is air-dried beef, with a texture that recalls prosciutto, which Roman Jews mix with pasta and vegetables.Ā
Either way, these will be something uniquely Roman that guests at home will surely never have tasted.
Sapor DāOlio
You didnāt think weād forgotten oil, right? In Italy, oil is as regional as cheese or wine.Ā
Someone from Puglia might love their own spicy, throat-tickling olio, and think that the buttery, mild stuff produced outside Rome is inedible, and vice versa.Ā
At Sapor DāOlio, Italy is united in one store. They have every olive oil you can imagine.Ā
Varieties from Sicily, Tuscany and Liguria, small bottles and huge cans, stuff harvested a week ago or a year ago, oil to cook with and oil that should only ever be used raw. And, of course, you can taste it all before deciding.Ā
A bottle of the really good stuff will not only be cheaper than what you buy back home, but itās quality is undoubtedly much better.
Join us on our Testaccio Neighborhood Food & Market Tour. From morning pastries to traditional Roman pasta, discover what locals in the neighborhood are eating while meeting passionate local artisans who embody its rich history and culture, offering a true taste of Roman life off the beaten path. Youāll also take a visit one of our favorite gourmet shops in town (hint: itās one of these!).
Update Notice: This post was updated on January 17, 2023.