"Cash, paper tablecloths, no menu: a family-run Trastevere trattoria barely changed since the 1950s, where cacio e pepe runs about €30 a head."
Trattoria da Augusto sits on Piazza de' Renzi 15 in Trastevere, in Rome, with a handful of paper-topped tables that spill into the little piazza. It anchors part of our Rome coverage and our Italian guide as the quarter's most stubbornly traditional table.
It is family-run — Augusto, his wife and their grown children work the floor — and has barely changed since the 1950s. There is no printed menu and no card machine; this is old Rome, intact.
The cooking is the Roman canon, done plainly and well. Regulars start with cacio e pepe (spaghetti with pecorino and cracked black pepper) or the lightly spiced rigatoni all'amatriciana, with stracciatella soup, tripe, rabbit and veal stew among the mains. The menu changes daily — gnocchi on Thursdays, as Roman tradition dictates.
A full meal with a carafe of house wine and bread lands around €30 a head. The waiters expect you to know what you want; there is no menu to study.
The room is tiny and the real action is outside, where wax paper goes down on the tables in the piazza and a carafe of house wine arrives without fanfare. Service is brisk and brusque but efficient — part of the charm.
It runs first-come, first-served, and the piazza fills fast at lunch and dinner. Arrive early or expect to wait, and bring cash.
Trattoria da Augusto suits a no-frills solo lunch, a low-key first date or a casual business lunch. For other Trastevere tables, compare Da Enzo al 29, Roma Sparita or La Gensola.
Not for diners who want table service, card payment, a printed menu or a quiet seat — it is a brisk, cash-only, first-come trattoria that fills fast.
Old-school Roman cooking on paper-topped tables in a Trastevere piazza, little changed since the 1950s. Regulars order cacio e pepe and rigatoni all'amatriciana, with tripe, rabbit and Thursday gnocchi among the daily dishes.
On Piazza de' Renzi 15 in Trastevere, Rome, with a handful of tables inside and more out in the small square.
No — it is cash-only and runs first-come, first-served, with no bookings. Arrive early, especially at peak lunch and dinner times.
Around €30 a head for a full meal with a carafe of house wine and bread — excellent value for central Rome.
Not really — the daily dishes change and the waiters expect you to order without a printed menu. Knowing a few Roman classics helps.
No reservations and cash only — arrive early for a table in the piazza. Find it at Piazza de' Renzi 15 in Trastevere.
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Trattoria da Augusto anchors part of our Rome guide — a cash-only, family-run Roman trattoria on Piazza de' Renzi, serving cacio e pepe and amatriciana barely changed since the 1950s.
See the Rome guide →