40 EATS | PIZZA AL TAGLIO

Yesterday, I shared a little bit about our experience in Rome and today I’m going to kick-off my 40 EATS series with a fun food experience we had while touring Rome.  After several hours at the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica, we were starving and asked our tour guide if he had any recommendations in the area.  Since we were in a really “touristy” area, most of the good restaurants were further away so we were hoping to find something decent close by.  The tour guide mentioned a little pizza place that he said was really good but he didn’t know the name of the place (which we thought was really strange!).  We followed his directions on how to get there and found this cute little hole-in-the-wall place that was packed with people.  We walked up a few steps and were greeted by someone behind a long counter.  We placed our order and they cut the pizza into rectangular pieces and then sold it to us by weight.  It was super cheap and absolutely delicious!

The place didn’t have anywhere to sit so we joined the rest of the crowd and sat on the steps or stood outside to eat.  While we were standing around, we looked up and saw the sign that said “Pizza al Taglio” and thought “oh, that must be the name of the place”.  As we made our way back to our hotel, we saw other places also called “Pizza al Taglio” and for a few minutes wondered if it was a chain.  Later that night, I was reading through one of our Rome guide books and learned that “Pizza al Taglio” means “pizza by the slice”.  My husband and I both started laughing since we were obviously so clueless and finally understood why our tour guide didn’t know the name of the place!

If you’re ever in Rome in the vicinity of the Vatican, you should definitely try out this hidden little gem.  When you exit St. Peter’s Basilica into Piazza San Pietro, walk to your left and through the large columns.  Then walk straight and turn right at the fourth street.  There will be a free-standing news stand on the corner.   Walk a few feet and you’ll see the little “Pizza al Taglio” storefront on the right!