Meal Times and Closures

Breakfast (la colazione) is usually served 7 am–10:30 am, lunch (il pranzo) 12:30 pm–2:30 pm, dinner (la cena) 7:30 pm–11 pm. Peak times are around 1:30 pm for lunch and 9 pm for dinner.

Enoteche are sometimes open in the morning and late afternoon for snacks. Most pizzerie open at 8 pm and close around midnight or 1 am. Most bars and caffè are open 7 am–8 or 9 pm.

Almost all restaurants close one day a week (in most cases Sunday or Monday) and for at least two weeks in August. The city is zoned, however, so that there are always some restaurants in each zone that remain open.

Local regulations are in the process of changing in Rome to give proprietors greater leeway in setting their hours. This is meant to allow establishments to stay open later and make more money in a down economy, and to offer patrons longer hours and more time to eat, drink, and be merry. It has yet to be seen whether Italians will find the law "flexible" and use it as an excuse to close early when they feel like it. Tutto è possibile: anything’s possible in Rome.