Short answer: the kitchen is already running at 8am, so the eggs are cooked when you order them. Savoury breakfast from 8:00 to 11:30 Monday to Friday, from 10:00 to 11:30 at the weekend, three minutes from the Circus Maximus.
At eight in the morning, in most places in Rome, there is no kitchen running: there is a display case. You get what is already inside it, and that is why Italian breakfast is eaten standing up in three minutes.
Here, at that hour, the kitchen is already working — and that is the only thing in this article that really matters. It means the eggs are made now, the yogurt is assembled now, and the avocado toast is built when you order it. It is not a display case with more choice: it is a different service.
Why a kitchen open at breakfast changes everything
You notice the difference in three things. Eggs, which are either cooked to order or not cooked at all — there is no way to keep them ready. Toast, which has to be made on the spot or it serves no purpose. And anything assembled raw — avocado, salmon, tomato — where the gap between made now and made earlier is visible.
It is the same principle by which at lunch and dinner you have a kitchen in front of you and not a chilled counter. Only at eight in the morning, in Rome, very few places do.
If you are visiting Rome, read this part
Italian breakfast is sweet and it is quick: a coffee and a cornetto, standing at the bar. It is a real tradition and worth trying once. But if you come from northern Europe, the United States or Australia, starting the day with a pastry is not a cultural discovery — it is skipping breakfast.
Two practical consequences. First, savoury breakfast is genuinely hard to find in the centre of Rome, so it is worth planning rather than hoping. Second, almost nowhere lets you sit down for it: a counter breakfast lasts three minutes, this one lasts as long as you want, with the plates coming out of the kitchen while you wait for them.
The FAO headquarters is directly opposite — you cross the road — so the room in the morning is full of people from all over the world for whom eggs and toast are normal and not an exception. There is wifi, and nobody will move you on.
The English Breakfast, 11 euro
This is the full savoury breakfast as it is actually understood: scrambled eggs with bacon and toast, 11 euro. The eggs come out of the kitchen freshly made, not from a warming tray.
It solves two situations: arriving from a country where the morning is savoury and finding nothing of the sort in Rome, and having a long day ahead and wanting to start with something that lasts until the evening.
Avocado toast, three versions and three prices
We do it in three grades, which is the honest way to handle it. With tomato, 9 euro — avocado, tomato and teriyaki sauce. With boiled eggs, 11. With salmon, 13, with crescenza added.
The price difference is entirely in the ingredient that changes, not in the portion: the 9 euro version is not a smaller plate.
Greek yogurt, 8 euro
Two versions, both 8 euro: with berries and muesli, or with Nutella, caramel cream and muesli. The alternative for a morning when you want neither savoury nor a pastry: it holds until lunch without weighing you down.
If you are short of time
The classic toastie — cooked ham and cheese — is 5 euro. Sandwiches are 6, in four versions: raw ham and mozzarella, cooked ham and mozzarella, tomato and mozzarella, tomato and tuna.
There is the full coffee bar too. One useful thing to know: every coffee drink can be made with soy, barley, decaf or ginseng, for 70 cents more. It is not a line hidden at the bottom of the list — it is a variant on every row.
Allergens are listed dish by dish on the breakfast menu page.
The hours, which is where people get caught out
Breakfast is served from 8:00 to 11:30 Monday to Friday. On Saturday and Sunday it starts at 10:00, still until 11:30: at the weekend the window is ninety minutes.
This ruins more breakfasts than you would think, especially for travellers who turn up at eight on a Sunday. After 11:30 the kitchen does not close: it moves on to the lunch menu.
Juices and cold-pressed, until 4:30pm
Fresh orange juice at 4.50 and the two cold-pressed juices can be ordered until 4:30pm, not only in the morning. The cold-pressed are 6 euro: Kimberly with orange, apple, blueberry and mint; Sandy with pineapple, carrot, lemon and ginger.
From May to September the cold drinks arrive — iced coffee, iced cappuccino, shaken coffee and the lemon iced tea we make in house. They are genuinely seasonal: in winter they are not there.
Where we are
- Address: Viale Aventino 32, 00153 Rome — three minutes on foot from the Circus Maximus, four from the metro B stop
- Breakfast: 8:00–11:30 Monday to Friday · 10:00–11:30 Saturday and Sunday
- Open: 365 days a year, public holidays included, until 1am — 2am on Friday and Saturday
The morning is when this part of Rome is at its best, with the streets still empty — if you want to build a day around it, we set it out in the practical guide to the Circus Maximus area. Later on the day carries on: aperitivo runs from 6 to 7:30pm, and there is pizza on three different doughs in the evening.
Frequently asked questions
Can you get a savoury breakfast in Rome?
Rarely, and that is the honest answer. Italian breakfast is sweet and quick — a coffee and a cornetto at the bar. Here you can have scrambled eggs with bacon and toast for 11 euro, avocado toast from 9 to 13, or Greek yogurt for 8, sitting down, cooked to order.
What time is breakfast served?
From 8:00 to 11:30 Monday to Friday, and from 10:00 to 11:30 on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend start is two hours later, which catches out a lot of travellers: if you are planning an early Sunday, check before you set off.
Are the eggs cooked to order?
Yes. The kitchen is open from 8am, so the eggs are made when you order them and the bread is toasted on the spot. That is the main difference from a counter breakfast, where everything is already sitting in the display case.
How much does breakfast cost?
From 5 euro for the classic toastie and 6 for a sandwich, up to 11 for the English Breakfast and 13 for avocado toast with salmon. Greek yogurt is 8. Fresh orange juice is 4.50, cold-pressed juices 6.
Do you have plant-based milk?
Yes, on any coffee drink: soy, barley, decaf or ginseng, for 70 cents more. It is a variant available on every item, not a separate short list.
Is there wifi, and can I work at the table?
Yes to both. The FAO is directly opposite, so the room in the morning is used exactly that way — people cross the road, sit down and stay. Nobody will hurry you out.
More practical questions — hours, parking, dogs, accessibility — in our FAQ.
