Cesare al Casaletto
Leonardo Vignoli fries gnocchi nuggets and drops them onto a thick cacio e pepe sauce.
Why go
Start with the fried things. Katie Parla calls them some of the lightest fried foods you will ever encounter
and lists them: cod fillets, anchovies, baby squid, stuffed squash blossoms, all in paper cones, plus golden gnocchi nuggets dropped onto a thick cacio e pepe sauce (Katie Parla). Her top of that genre is the polpette di bollito, spheres of pulled braised veal, and the eggplant croquettes. The pizza rossa is rolled thin, sauced lightly and baked in a wood oven, and it is on at dinner only.
The pasta comes next. Parla says to stick with the gricia and never skip the mezze maniche with sugo di coda, the oxtail sauce. Gambero Rosso made the room a Campione della tradizione in its 2024 Rome edition, and the dish it held up was the trippa alla romana (Gambero Rosso). The same guide ranked the carbonara fourth equal of twenty-one Roman versions and did not love it: the egg ran and sat at the bottom of the plate (Gambero Rosso, 2020). Order the gricia.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the mixed fritti, then tonnarelli with gricia and mezze maniche with the oxtail. Katie Parla: "The primi menu at Cesare can be extensive and overwhelming so stick with the gricia and never ever skip the pasta with sugo di coda(oxtail sauce)."1
- Avoid: the carbonara. Gambero Rosso's taster found the egg
rather liquid
and pooling at the bottom.4
What locals & experts say
- Katie Parla (30 August 2024):
Over the past dozen and a half years, I have made it a habit to dine at Cesare at least monthly and it is my go-to destination for just about any occasion.
She sells paid walking tours in Rome and says on the same site that she pays for her own meals.1 - Katie Parla, on the flaw:
the service can be a bit off or confused, or stressed–or all of the above–depending on the day.
1 - Time Out Rome (Livia Hengel):
This casual trattoria is the go-to for Rome's many food writers, bloggers and passionate eaters, thanks to its familial atmosphere and delicious dishes.
2 - Gambero Rosso (2024 Rome edition):
The trippa alla romana is exceptional, a dish not to be missed by anyone who loves the genre.
3
Good to know
- Getting there: the number 8 tram from the centre or Trastevere runs to its last stop, Casaletto, and Parla puts the room a hundred yards from it.
- Price: Time Out put a meal at around 30 to 40 euros a head without drinks in May 2025.
- The other door: the same owners took over Settimio al Pellegrino near Campo de' Fiori in 2023 and renamed it Cesare al Pellegrino. Different menu, different room.
Verdict
should-visit — Katie Parla eats here monthly and has for eighteen years, and she publishes what she does not like about it as well as what she does. Gambero Rosso made it a Campione della tradizione for the trippa alla romana in its 2024 Rome edition, and ranked the carbonara fourth equal of twenty-one while saying the egg ran. Time Out puts it fourth in the city and says Rome's own food writers eat here. The fritti and the oxtail pasta are the reason to make the tram ride. It stops short of must-visit because nobody has published a scored review of the cooking.