La Montecarlo

Everyone will argue for hours over where the best pizza in Rome (or New York for that matter) is, but this restaurant needs to be somewhere in the conversation. One of my arguments for its quality is that it's around the corner from the ever crowded Da Buffetto, which is perpetually full of tourists but hardly a single Italian to be found. All the Italians are around the corner at La Montecarlo where there is usually a wait, but not nearly as long it can be at Da Buffetto.

For starters they do a great fritto misto that comes with fiori di zucca (stuffed squash blossom), suppli (ball of fried rice) and either balls of fried mozzarella or stuffed olives. Those start at 6 euros for one person and go up 3 euros per person. The pizzas are reasonably priced (6-8 euros) and incredibly large, but so thin that one person can quite easily finish them. They are served on metal plates, which confused me at first, but then some explained to me that the metal keeps the crust warmer for longer, good enough explanation for me.

The kicker here is the service, which is so aloof its entertaining. A typical night there starts out when one of the waiters finds you a table, but then his boss comes out and says you can't sit there and he sits a group of attractive women who arrived 5 minutes after you. Once you are finally seated, it doesn't take that long, you order pizza and the waiter practically forces you to order the fritto misto, suggesting you split an order for half as many of you as there are, so an order for 2 for 4 people. As soon as the pizzas are ready they bring them out to the table, regardless of whether you have finished your round of starters or not. And as soon as your pizzas are finished they ask if you want anything for dessert. If the answer is no, the waiter will disappear for about 2 minutes and return to write the amount you owe on the paper table cloth.

Even with all that you never complain because the pizza is fantastic and price, especially for the center of town, is great. You should get some change back on 15 euros and walk away full and feeling the house wine.