Short answer: the Circus Maximus lawn begins about 200 metres from Viale Aventino 32 — three minutes on the flat, and you can see it from our door. The Circo Massimo stop on metro line B is four minutes away, four stops from Termini.
“Near the Circus Maximus” is a stretchy phrase in Rome. Some use it for a place two hundred metres away, others for one on the far side of the Tiber, twenty minutes and a bridge apart. This guide is for anyone putting an evening together around here — before a concert, after a visit, or simply because you are in the area and do not know where to stop. Real distances, real hours, and the two or three things worth checking before you book anywhere, ourselves included.
How near is “near”, in minutes
You can cross this area on foot in under fifteen minutes, but the gradient changes things: the Aventino is a hill, and the five minutes up to the Giardino degli Aranci are all uphill. Walking from Viale Aventino 32:
- Circus Maximus — 3 minutes, flat
- FAO headquarters — directly opposite, across the road
- Circo Massimo metro station, line B — 4 minutes
- Roseto Comunale (municipal rose garden) — 8 minutes, open only in spring while the roses are in bloom
- Terme di Caracalla — 9 minutes along the tree-lined avenue
- Bocca della Verità and the Foro Boario — 10 minutes
- Giardino degli Aranci (Orange Garden) — 12 minutes, uphill
- Piramide Cestia and Testaccio — 12 minutes
- Palatino and Colosseum — 15 minutes
Metro line B is the detail that simplifies everything: Termini is four stops away, so if you arrive by train you need neither a taxi nor a parking space — and parking is the real problem here on concert nights.
The Circus Maximus is not just a lawn
Worth knowing, because it changes how you look at it. What today looks like a grassy hollow was the largest stadium of the Roman Empire: chariot races were run here, and it held more than 250,000 spectators — a figure no modern arena comes close to. It sits between the Palatino and the Aventino, and the elongated shape you still see is the original outline of the track.
For some years now it has taken up a similar job: in summer it becomes the stage for the biggest concerts in Italy, and in the other seasons it is where half of Rome goes running at sunset. It is one of the few areas in the centre where the flow of people never stops — which, if you are looking for something to eat, means the conventional dinner hour matters less than you would think.
What is around, in order of distance
First-time visitors usually head for the Colosseum and miss the rest. Around the Circus Maximus there is a concentration of things to see that you can cover on foot in half a day.
The Terme di Caracalla are the most impressive ruins you can visit without a queue: vast, quiet, and in summer they host the Rome Opera open-air season. You get there along Viale Aventino, which is a walk in itself — a tree-lined avenue connecting Piazza di Porta Capena to the Baths.
The Giardino degli Aranci gives you the best view over Rome from this side of the city, and it sits next to the keyhole of the Priorato di Malta, where through a small opening you frame the dome of St Peter at the end of a hedge-lined path. Ten minutes uphill on foot.
The Roseto Comunale, on the Circus Maximus side, opens only during the flowering season and is free. In May it is probably the loveliest spot in the centre of Rome.
The Bocca della Verità sits in the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, ten minutes towards the Tiber, and beside it the Foro Boario keeps two Roman temples standing almost intact.
The Palatino is the least crowded entrance to the central archaeological area, and from above you look down on the Circus Maximus from the emperors’ point of view — their box was right there.
Before a concert and after a concert are two different problems
People with an event at the Circus Maximus usually go wrong by treating dinner as one thing. It is not.
Before, the constraint is time: you have to be out by a fixed hour, and a kitchen that brings the first course after forty minutes ruins the evening. You need a kitchen that moves quickly and a menu where you can order something substantial but not heavy — with three hours on your feet ahead of you, an 800-gram T-bone is not a good idea.
After, the constraint is the opposite: it is half past eleven, you are properly hungry again, and almost everything nearby has already closed the kitchen. The question here is not what to eat but who is still open.
A place that works at both moments solves the problem in advance, because you only book once. If you want to plan around the dates, we keep a piece on the Circus Maximus concert calendar and one on dinner before or after an event.
How to choose a restaurant in this area
Three things to check. They apply to anyone, us included.
The kitchen hours, not the venue hours. They are two different things and websites show the second. Plenty of places in the centre close the kitchen at 10:30pm even if the bar stays open until midnight. On event nights that is the difference between having dinner and not.
Distance in minutes, not in metres. Maps measure as the crow flies and the Aventino is a hill: six hundred metres uphill is twelve minutes, not seven.
Watch the value for money in high-turnover areas. A place that lives on customers who come once has fewer reasons to look after the kitchen than one that lives on people from the neighbourhood. A good clue is to look at who is sitting down for lunch on an ordinary Thursday. The same logic applies to judging the quality of the meat, which is the other thing people get wrong around here.
In August, and on the other dates when Rome shuts
August is when the question becomes concrete, because half the city pulls the shutters down for three weeks and whoever stays finds few options. The same goes for 15 August, Christmas, New Year’s Day and Easter Monday: these are the days when finding a table in the centre turns into a hunt.
The Circus Maximus area holds up better than others, because the flow of visitors never stops. Even so, it is worth checking in advance rather than walking around in forty-degree heat.
We are open 365 days a year, August and public holidays included, with the usual hours. We never close: it is the reason a good share of the people who find us on 15 August or on Boxing Day were looking for exactly that.
At our place, Viale Aventino 32
We are 400 square metres that change job through the day: restaurant, grill, pizzeria, cocktail bar, and a butcher counter in full view in the middle of the room.
That counter is what really sets us apart, and it is a practical thing: you can walk up, look at the cuts and have the one you choose sliced to the size you want, before you order. On the grill we work two selections — Prussian beef from Mazury, in northern Poland, sweet and already tender, and Danish, with a stronger flavour — and they cost exactly the same on every cut: T-bone and rib steak by weight, fillet and tagliata by the portion. The choice is a matter of taste, not of price.
The pizza is three different doughs, all risen for at least 72 hours. The pasta — mezze maniche and tonnarelli — we roll in house every morning.
Practical details
- Address: Viale Aventino 32, 00153 Rome — 200 metres from the Circus Maximus
- Getting here: Circo Massimo station, metro line B, 4 minutes on foot; four stops from Termini
- Opening hours: from 8am Monday to Friday, from 10am Saturday and Sunday; we close at 1am, 2am on Friday and Saturday
- Breakfast until 11:30am · aperitivo from 6 to 7:30pm · lounge bar after dinner
- Booking: online or on +39 342 189 9629 — worth doing on concert nights
Between one meal and the next you can eat anyway: the kitchen does not shut in the afternoon. Everything is listed allergen by allergen on the menu pages — dinner and grill, lunch, pizza, breakfast and aperitivo.
Frequently asked questions
How far is the Circus Maximus from the restaurants on Viale Aventino?
Two hundred metres, three minutes on foot on the flat. The Circo Massimo metro station on line B is four minutes away, and from there Termini is four stops. It is the simplest way to get here on concert nights, when parking in the area is difficult.
Where can you eat after a concert at the Circus Maximus?
The problem is not choice but timing: after 11pm most kitchens in the area have already closed. Check the kitchen hours — not the venue hours — before you leave, and say when you book that you will arrive late. We serve until late, closing at 1am and at 2am on Friday and Saturday.
What is there to see around the Circus Maximus?
On foot, in order of distance: the Roseto Comunale (8 minutes, open only during the flowering season), the Terme di Caracalla (9), the Bocca della Verità and the Foro Boario (10), the Giardino degli Aranci with the Priorato di Malta keyhole (12, uphill), the Piramide and Testaccio (12), the Palatino and the Colosseum (15).
Are restaurants near the Circus Maximus open in August and on public holidays?
Many close for two or three weeks in August, and several stay shut at Christmas, New Year and Easter. The area holds up better than the rest of the centre because visitor numbers never drop, but it is worth checking rather than turning up. We are open 365 days a year, public holidays included, with the usual hours.
Is the food good near the Circus Maximus, or is it a tourist area?
There is everything, as in any high-traffic part of Rome. The test that works best is to look at who is sitting down for lunch on a weekday: if people who work nearby come back, the kitchen holds up. Reviews collected in an area with high turnover tell you less than they seem to, because almost nobody returns a second time.
What is the difference between the Aventino and the Circus Maximus?
The Circus Maximus is the archaeological site in the valley floor, between the Palatino and the Aventino. The Aventino is the hill above it: one of the seven hills of Rome, residential and quiet, with the Giardino degli Aranci at the top. Viale Aventino is the road running down from the hill towards the Terme di Caracalla, and it connects the two.
More practical questions — hours, parking, dogs, accessibility — in our FAQ.
