Restaurant in Rome: Ristorante Giovanni ai Bozzi

Looking for a restaurant in Rome on Ferragosto (August 15th) is almost a mission impossible.  We got back from our trip to Marche that afternoon and as we didn’t have much in the fridge, we decided to go out for dinner.

I was actually looking forward to having some meat and called up Bisteak but no one answered.  That meant they were closed.  We decided then to just head to Testaccio and see what was open.  When we got there, only a handful of restaurants were open but mainly pizzeria. Not something I was looking for.

As we were on the motorino (scooter), we headed next to Trastevere.  We found more restaurants opened here but when we saw they had a tourist menu, my husband was not keen to eat there.  I asked him to drive pass Taverna Trilussa as I have heard good things about it.   They too were closed.

Finally, we saw a restaurant that had outdoor seating and I hopped off the motorino to check out the menu.

It was decent and there was a wide variety (plus I was getting hungry).

Restaurant in Rome: Review of Ristorante Giovanni ai Bozzi

They did ask us if we had reservations but fortunately, as it was barely 8pm, there was still an outdoor table for 2.  They also had indoor seating but as it was summer, people were opting to sit outside.  They were telling guests that there is air-conditioning indoors.  I don’t have photos of the interior but you can get a glimpse of it from their website.

When looking at the menu I was tempted to order seafood instead.  But the meat craving persisted and so I ordered a steak.  Originally I wanted a chianina but that was not available.

After the dinner, I went to check their website and was impressed they had a menu available for download.  However, it didn’t work! The menu above gives you an indication of what they offer and the prices you may be expected to pay.

So what did we order?  Before going to that, this restaurant serves you some pizza bread (foccacia) which are very good!  As we were hungry, we finished it all up even before my appetizer came. No, we didn’t ask for another plate as we didn’t want to fill up before our orders arrived. (I would have loved to!)

Starting with the appetizers, I ordered fiori di zucca. It was decent.

I didn’t order a pasta dish (primo piatto) but my husband did.  He got the cacio e pepper. He said it was good.

As I had mentioned earlier, we ordered the steak (bistecca).  The serving was huge and we could have just easily shared one.  It was cooked the right way and tender.

After all that food, we really didn’t have room for dessert but from the menu above you can see that this restaurant in Rome offers a good variety.  Trust me, it’s not easy for me to forgo dessert but I was really stuffed. (I would have ordered the panna cotta!)

Restaurant in Rome: The Verdict

The Pros:

I liked the variety in their menu and the outdoor setting.  Also the prices are very reasonable and the food was good.  It was good value for money.

The Cons:

This is a huge con to the point I don’t think I would want to go back there again.  I am a service freak and there were really testing my patience.

I ordered another bottle of water but it never came.  I saw that the service at about 9pm went downhill.  Our meat orders were slow to come out and the waiters were literally running.  It was so packed that even at 10pm, there were still people waiting to be seated.

Ok, it’s Ferragosto and since most restaurants were closed, they were particularly busy and couldn’t cope with the crowd.

I was relatively calm when they didn’t bring the bottle of water but when we asked for the check, it took them more than 15 minutes to bring it to us.

This was after asking them for it twice and as my husband got tired of waiting, he went directly to the cashier to request for the check.  Even then we didn’t get it as he was told that it will be sent to our table.  Only after asking for it another time did we finally get the check!

So with all that said would I go back to this restaurant in Rome?

Based on that first experience no but because it was Ferragosto, I will cut them some slack and give then another chance.  I did enjoy the food and also they were coming out with delicious looking plates of freshly-made potato chips which I wished I had ordered.  (I had to zoom in onto another table’s order – apologies for the low quality image)

If I do go back, I will go right when it opens for dinner which is 7pm.  Just to make sure that if they get this type of crowd every night, we won’t have to encounter another round of poor service.

To be  honest, I have never heard about this restaurant in Rome and food-wise, I am glad I bumped into it!  Here’s their address:

Ristorante Giovanni ai Bozzi
Piazza G. T. Arquati, 107
00153 Roma
Tel. +39 06.58.16.640
https://www.aibozzidagiovanni.it/

For other restaurants in Rome, here is a list of some I have been to.

Have you been to Ai Bozzi?  If you have been to this restaurant in Rome, share your experience in the comments below.