We recently went to Italy for our honeymoon and we started our adventure in Rome. We ate at quite a few amazing restaurants, and I took a lot of food pictures, so I’ll be doing individual posts for all the different places of note that we went to. The first one is the one place I knew we had to go to no matter what else we were doing in Rome. The second day we were there we decided to walk around the city and went to Vatican City and walked through Saint Peter’s Square and then decided we were ready for lunch. That’s when we decided it was the perfect time to find Pizzarium and grab a bite. I had some research and since everyone said that Pizzarium was the place to go for Pizza, I decided that we needed to check it out. We worked out how we were going to get there ( take a bus then walk about 1/2 a mile from there) and went about our adventure. I wish I had known it was just off the Cipro Metro stop, because that would have made us getting there a lot quicker but then we wouldn’t have been there to meet Bobby Flay ( more on that soon).
We made it to Pizzarium and it’s a small Place in a non assuming part of the city and it doesn’t have any seating except for a bench or two outside. You walk in and take a number and wait for it to be called. This the chance for you to peruse their options, which is plentiful, all in long sheet pans behind glass. This is pizza al taglio, which is pizza by the cut. You go up, make your decision and the person will put their scissors over where you want them to cut so you can pick your size, and you pay by the kg. I suggest smaller pieces and try a few. We got a couple of choices in, what we considered , regular size.
So, while we’re waiting to order and trying to figure how we order, lol, i see someone and turn to Andy and say ” That’s bobby Flay”. Andy didn’t believe me until he went up to listen to him order and then came back and said ” it is him’. I then started freaking out. It didn’t look like anyone else recognized him in the busy place and I didn’t want to pass up my chance to say hi and try to get a pic. I also don’t like bothering people while they are out and trying to enjoy their day and anonymity, but I approached him and he was super nice. We got a pic and then talked a little while he waited for his food. I asked him what to get and he said it was his first time there and he had only hear good things about it and that’s why he was there.
We decided on the basic Margherita pizza each, and then a white pizza with onion and bufalo mozzarella and another one with potato. We also got a carbonara aracini and a risotto and mushroom aracini. I can not, I mean CAN NOT, express how much I loved the carbonara aracini. It was hot, gooey, yolky, and the bits of bacon were heavenly. The noodles inside still had a bit of bite to them and they were perfectly fried so that when you bit down you heard a nice crunch. The Mushroom one was comforting and warm and had a really nice flavor. The pizzas were unbelievable and I can say with certainty that through all the pizzas we ate, these were my favorite. The crust had a crunch while also being suitably chewy, the sauce was bursting with flavor, and I love potato pizza and this was by far my favorite I’ve ever tried.
Like I said, there’s no seating here except for a few benches outside but there are a few counters for you to stand and eat at. It can be tough to find space to squeeze into, especially on busy days, but If you’re going to be in Rome ou then need to make time to get out to Pizzarium. While we were stuffing our faces, Bobby Flay swung by to ask what we thought and gave us a recommendation for the best Gelato in the city, be on the lookout for that one.
We would love to hear from you!