The Kitchen
The cooking is Roman and Roman-Jewish to the core. The artichokes come both ways — alla giudia, flattened and twice-fried until the leaves crackle, and alla romana, braised with mint — and the carbonara is among the better versions in the quarter. Beyond the classics there is a kitchen with range: fettuccine with pistachio and smoked mozzarella, risottos, grilled vegetables, well-handled meat and fish.
A signature flourish is the spread that changes with the season: a generous antipasto and salad bar of fourteen or so vegetable dishes in summer, a hot polenta bar in winter, both made fresh daily. A full meal generally runs around €40–60 per person before serious wine — trattoria cooking at a piazza-terrace setting.
The Room
Vecchia Roma has anchored Piazza Campitelli, in one form or another, since the late nineteenth century, making it one of the longest-running tables in Rome's Sant'Angelo rione — the old Jewish Ghetto. The square is one of the most theatrical in the city, framed by the Baroque church of Santa Maria in Campitelli and ringed by palazzi.
Inside are frescoed dining rooms; outside, white umbrellas spill across the cobbles with the campanile and the church façade above you. It is the kind of Roman terrace that justifies its own visit, and the service is the steady, professional kind a century-old room develops.
Why Vecchia Roma Works for a First Date
Few first-date settings in Rome beat a summer table on Piazza Campitelli — a quiet, beautiful square just off the Ghetto's main run, with the Baroque church lit above the umbrellas. The food is recognisably, reassuringly Roman, the menu has range for any appetite, and the terrace supplies romance without needing a special occasion to justify it.
It rises easily to an anniversary or a relaxed birthday too. See the first-date guide, more Italian tables, or the wider Rome restaurants guide.