Best Burgers in Rome: Trastevere to Pigneto

The best burgers in Rome are in the neighbourhoods where Romans go out at night: Trastevere and Testaccio south of the centre, Pigneto and San Lorenzo to the east, and Prati near the Vatican. Look for a hamburgeria, the Italian name for a burger bar, and for kitchens that build the burger around Roman ingredients.

Testaccio grew up around the city’s old slaughterhouse, the Mattatoio, and its trattorias still cook the quinto quarto, the offal cuts left once the prime meat was sold. That butcher culture carries over to the bun. Roman menus often list guanciale, the cured pork cheek of carbonara and amatriciana, and pecorino romano, the sharp sheep’s cheese of cacio e pepe. San Lorenzo, next to the Sapienza university campus, is where students eat late and cheap.

Burgers in Rome: key facts

• Neighbourhoods to explore: Trastevere, Testaccio, Pigneto, San Lorenzo and Prati.
• Roman toppings to look for: guanciale and pecorino romano, the base of carbonara and cacio e pepe.
• Local word: a burger bar is a hamburgeria, plural hamburgerie.
• When locals eat: dinner rarely starts before 20:00.
• Currency: the euro (EUR), used in Rome as across Italy.
• Getting around: metro lines A, B and C cross the city, and tram 8 runs to Trastevere.

Every guide we publish on Rome is dated and lists only venues, addresses, prices and ratings we could verify. Our burger restaurant guides, city by city, collect every destination we cover.