Der Pallaro, Rome

I just adored everything at the Pallaro: excellent service , genuine food, nice family feeling and a lot of "amicizia" . Who said that there weren't going "genuine" italians? Perhaps they don't speak italian well enough to distinguish italians from tourists. As an italian teacher living in Belgium and a wife of an italian, I can confirm hat all the negative reviews are a lot of bullshit! Everytime I am in Roma, I will visit this family restaurant. Paula is adorable and Giovanni the best family cook ever. Love from Tongeren( Belgium) Lieve

I felt the need to write a review due to some poor reviews I read. This restaurant is wonderful. I go here everytime I'm in Roma. The menu is set. Normally they bring the food right out, and within 5 minutes you're staring at 6 different dishes, a bottle of wine, your family and friends, enjoying a true authentic Italian meal. The food is delicious for what it is. If you want a specialty dish go to another restaurant. This is an EXPERIENCE you will remember for a long time. Mi piace questo ristorante.

You may say that in Del Pallaro price and quality goes hand in hand. Low price, poor food together with combinations as veal with potao chips. If your only aim is to fill your stomach this could be the right place, other wise you may consider better alternatives.

Paula's is a gem! The reviewer who wrote that only tourists eat here is wrong. A relative lived nearby for a year and ate at der Pallaro regularly. Senators queue up for a table. Don't be put off , you will have the best food you have ever eaten.

Upon arriving at Der Pallaro we were escorted in through the back door - the place was packed - we were a party of eight - took about 20-30 minutes for the waiter to wait on us, and we had to keep asking for additional wine, but after that everything was uphill. All of the courses were delicious and the dessert was great. Some of the best pasta we have ever eaten. Would definitely return when in Rome again. The price was very reasonable and worth the visit. When we were leaving at 11:30 p.m. people were still coming in to eat. I think that speaks volumes. Kathy C.

Here's the key point: Italians do not eat at Der Pallaro. No Italian would tolerate the sort of cuisine offered there. The clientele is made up entirely of tourists from abroad, who pay handsomely for the substandard fare that the signora cynically serves up to them. A recent dinner there began with antipasti that included two heavily breaded, cold and soggy slices of eggplant. The primo was simply a bowl of penne pasta with sauce and a sprinkling of parmesan: this was unobjectionable if uninspiring. The secondo was a cold, salty slice of veal accompanied by limp greens, two small and chewy balls of mozzarella, and a plate of potato chips. My meal was not an aberration: other reviews on this site describe much the same menu. Der Pallaro may once have been an excellent restaurant. Now, however, the signora has evidently realized that it's simpler to serve bad food to travelers who know no better. 20+ Euro can buy you an _excellent_ meal in Rome. Do not spend your money at this tourist trap.

I can't believe that anyone can go to this restaurant and not enjoy the food. It was outstanding. Beautiful tastes simply served by Giovanni who was a gift from central casting. Absolutely delicious and delightful and one of my favourite meals in Rome a must venue to return to.

We were first time visitors to Rome (February 2008) and we very much looking forward to eating authentic Italian food so we surfed the Internet & came across so many excellent reviews of Der Pallaro that we thought it was a 'must'. It took us a good 45 minutes to find the restaurant, down a very inconspicuous backstreet off the Campo Del Fiori, but we didn't mind as we were looking forward to the culinary delights awaiting us! We were taken to a table & advised that they offered only a set menu. We said we knew this and had come a long way for it! Didn't really get a reaction from the waiter except to ask whether we wanted red or white wine. We asked for red. Instantaneously, the wine arrived in a carafe, along with olives and a bread basket. So far so good! Shortly our first 'antipasti' course arrived. This consisted of 4 side plates: slices of parma ham & salami on one; on another was cold slices of aniseed flavoured chicory, as though it had been soaked in Pernod; on another was lentils in a thick dark brown sauce, cold; and on the fourth plate were 4 small potato dough balls in breadcrumbs and 2 meatballs in breadcrumbs - these were warm. Together with the olives and bread, our table was now looking pretty busy, with a menagerie of odd food stuffs which didn't really go together but we ate most of it - although the cold hard aniseed chicory was not the best and nor were the cold lentils in gravy. However we remained open minded at this point, and still excitedly curious about what was to follow. Second course was pasta - a bowl of large penne in tomato sauce, which was tasty if not rather salty. At least it was warm! And so to the main.... this consisted of 4 side plates - dumped on our table in haste (as were all the courses). The first side plate had the meat - 2 small slices of veal - between them they'd be just enough to make a sandwich. They were warm and had obviously been in gravy as there was still gravy on them. And to accompany the slices of veal - hmmm.... well on the next side plate were four small mozzarella balls - straight out the fridge, and looking a little lost in the middle of the plate; on the third plate we had some bright green mashed/pureed broccoli - again straight out the fridge (just as broccoli should be, don't you think) and the piece de resistance, the crowning glory..... a plate of crisps!!! They weren't just any crisps though - they were handcooked - bit like kettle crisps except they hadn't been cooked for long enough so they were bendy and floppy in the middle. A fine accompaniment to any meal. We each ate our slice of veal, I tried to make an indent in the portion of cold pureed broccoli whilst popping in the mozzarella balls. Once the plates were cleared, desert promptly followed: two cold slices of custard flan - more flan that custard & the flan was quite heavy and to be honest a bit stale. The final gastro-delight of the evening - as we chomped on our stale flan, the waitress dropped off a couple of shot glasses of orange coloured liquid. I wasn't sure if perhaps they were to go on the flan to moisten it up but they weren't. Instead, what they were, or certainly what they tasted of was slightly diluted orange cordial! Definitely no alcohol involved! It kind of summed up the whole dining experience - completely weird and unsatisfying. We got the bill, paid and left - the whole event had cost us about 50 Euros and taken about an hour as the courses had been hurried out with no waiting time in between. We simply can't justify how any cuisine anywhere in the world can put together the components of that meal and enjoy it. It was truly BIZARRE. So what is going on? How come previous reviewers of this restaurant have stated that their meal was the highlight of their trip to Rome causing them to return again and again??

Der Pallaro is a must each time I go to Rome. The food doesn't change much but then neither does the quality nor the fantastic taste - really the tasteful simplicity of Italian cooking at its best! "Mamma" Paola adds a touch of character to the place and gives the impression you're taking part in some commedia dell'arte. Just don't start her off on politics as you'd have to stay for breakfast!

Although the ambiance under the outdoors curtain was not the nicest the food got me to forget everything else. The food was EXCELLENT!!! I've never eaten so well. 10 points!!!