If you’re looking for the best seaside restaurants near Rome, you’ve come to the right place. This guide to seaside and beach restaurants near Rome includes dining options for every budget in central Lazio’s most popular beach resorts, Fregene, Ostia and Fiumicino.
If you’re looking for something casual but high quality, or are in search of fine dining at a beach restaurant near Rome, there’s something for everyone on this list! Meanwhile, for more information on the best beaches near Rome, don’t miss this post.
So, without further ado, read on for the best seaside restaurants near Rome today. And if you are looking to up your Italian swimsuit game, here’s my quick fashion guide to hitting the beach in Italy!
Beach restaurants near Rome: Ostia
While Ostia has traditionally had a cheap and cheerful vibe, the restaurant scene has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. These suggestions for the best seaside restaurants near Rome in the town of Ostia include everything from fine dining in the Port of Ostia to the best beach pizzeria in Ostia.
Lux Restaurant: fine dining in the Port of Ostia
Located in the Port of Ostia, at the chic end of Rome’s beach resort, Lux Restaurant is a timeless way to enjoy excellent local seafood, while trying a fish restaurant that isn’t afraid to offer something a little different.
While Lux Restaurant in Ostia isn’t a brand new restaurant – it opened a couple of years ago – a new chef as of February 2021 has injected fresh vitality into the place, making it one of the best beach restaurants near Rome.
Micaela Di Cola is an eloquent and engaging chef with several strings to her bow. She regularly appears on Rai TV as an expert tutor, and has worked extensively in the world of cinema and TV as a food stylist, including ads for Italian megabrands such as Nutella, Uliveto and Road House.
The first course menu is dominated by pasta dishes, priced between €12-22. Choices include risotto made with prawns and lime; spaghettone with butter and anchovies; and a mezzo pacchero dish combining tartare of the catch of the day with confit tomatoes and thyme. For second course, try the catch of the day, and don’t miss the lemon meringue tart for dessert! Full review of Lux Restaurant in Ostia here.
Lux Restaurant | Lungomare Duca degli Abruzzi, 84 Ostia (RM) Porto turistico di Roma | Tel +39 06 5674184
TAC pizzeria from Pier Daniele Seu in Ostia
Pier Daniele Seu has been rightly distinguished as pizza royalty in Rome for his imaginative toppings and maniacal approach to preparing and firing pizza dough. Seu has became so renowned, indeed, that last year he was invited to open a pizzeria in the exclusive Bulgari Resort in Dubai. While you may be more familiar with Seu Pizza Illuminati in Trastevere, his latest opening, TAC, or Thin And Crunchy, is an easy, beach-based pizzeria perfect for lunch on the fly.
Located at Il Capanno beach club, TAC is the beachfront centrepiece of the casual dining offer here. On the rooftop of Il Capanno, meanwhile, we find Molo Diciasette. Read on for that review as well!
The defining characteristic of TAC is extremely high quality ingredients, but the vibe is more casual and designed for a quick bite at a beach table, or a takeaway slice of pizza. For this formula, Seu has created what he calls the ‘baciata’, literally, two very thin wafers of pizza dough ‘kissing’ one another, with sumptuous fillings in between. The fillings change daily; I really enjoyed the moist chicken salad and another version with tuna, burrata, pistachio and lime. Prices start at around €5 for a couple of slices which are more than ample for lunch. Highly recommended and one of the cheapest beach restaurants near Rome!
TAC | Il Capanno | Piazzale Magellano, Ostia Lido, Lazio
Molo 17 Ostia: beach restaurants near Rome
Sharing a berth with TAC in Ostia – quite literally – is Molo Diciasette, a gourmet restaurant on the rooftop of the Capanno beach club where Pier Daniele’s pizzeria is also housed. Perfect for sunset dining in Ostia, Molo 17 offers robust flavours with seafood at the heart of the menu.
On my visit to Molo 17, lunch started with beef carpaccio in a sea of tangy gazpacho. We then went on to try one of Molo 17’s signature pasta dishes, linguini with red prawns, tomatoes, lime and vanilla. While this was extremely tasty, I found the essence of lime a little overwhelming at times. Come to Molo 17 for the catch of the day, a lovely plate of mixed fried fish, and some impressive cocktails too. Put it on your list for beach restaurants near Rome.
Molo Diciasette | Il Capanno | Piazzale Magellano, Ostia Lido, Lazio
Seaside restaurants near Rome: Fregene
Fregene isn’t as easy to get to as Ostia from the centre of Rome, as public transport options are poor, but it’s worth the car ride for its long and wide sandy beaches and fashionable beach clubs. While most beach clubs offer lunchtime dining and cocktails after dark, we’d like to suggest a rather special seaside restaurant near Rome that you should try!
Casa Carmen
Casa Carmen opened in 2020 but has quickly won hearts and minds in Fregene and beyond. The owners also have restaurants in Formentera and Casa Carmen has a lovely Spanish island vibe, from driftwood tables to raffia screens and the overhead fans.
Featuring a clean, bright open kitchen with a roaring wood fire, Casa Carmen sets out its stall to offer a personal, homely touch, while the food is top end without ever being intimidating. Expect a range of raw fishes dishes – with a focus on the small and sustainable, think catch of the day – plus some superbly executed classics.
Dinner started with a tartare selection including a delicate raw seabass with cucumber and marinated radish. We moved on to a scallop kebab, baked oysters with fried leek, and baccala croquettes – plus some cured ‘sea hams’. All delicious.
I had to try the house fisherman’s risotto, which has won awards in the past: fresh red prawns, red prawn bisque and lime combine for fresh, sweet and savoury flavours. We couldn’t miss a grilled mixed platter – freshly passed over the coals before our eyes in the open kitchen. This featured seared tuna, octopus, squid and char grilled garden vegetables. All wonderful.
I prefer savoury to sweet, but Casa Carmen also has a small but choice dessert menu: you must try the almond crunch semifreddo and the layered tiramisu, featuring coffee cream, dulce de leche and chocolate crumble. They also serve fresh, summery cocktails featuring tropical fruit. The perfect holiday vibe and one of my favourite beach restaurants near Rome!
Casa Carmen | Lungomare di Ponente, 123 | Fregene | Tel +39 06 69341945
Seaside restaurants near Rome: Fiumicino
QuarantunoDodici (4112) restaurant review in Fiumicino
While not strictly on the beach, QuarantunoDodici is a relaxed, garden restaurant with a beautiful waterfront setting just a couple of miles from the sea in Fiumicino. Fronting a picturesque estuary of the River Tiber, 4112 Ristorante is located in the same building as sister restaurant Il Tino, a Michelin-starred dining project which excels in serving the freshest fish. Chef Daniele Usai, along with his business partners Stefano Loreti and the Stillitano family are the names behind this high quality project.
Like Il Tino, fish is at the heart of the menu at QuarantunoDodici, although this is a slightly more relaxed ‘pop’ dining experience. So it’s perfect if you’re looking for a pleasant lunch near Rome Airport on your way into town, or a good way to spend those last euros at the end of your Roman holiday. Full food review here.
QuarantunoDodici | Via Monte Cadria, 127 | Fiumicino | Italy | 0039 06 562 2778
Il Tino: Michelin-starred dining in Fiumicino
On the banks of the same charming river estuary as 4112 Restaurant in Fiumicino, Il Tino is where chef Daniele Usai shows-off his Michelin-star rated cuisine.
The Michelin star arrived in 2015. A year after, thanks also to the input of partners Stefano Loreti and Domenico Stillitano, Il Tino transferred from Ostia to Fiumicino, taking up its present home at the historic Nautilus boatyard.
Usai’s restaurant is a mystical place, but the food is full of common references. One dish, panunta bread, with lamb offal, prawns and caramelized onion, is a nod to grandmother’s kitchen with bread scraped through oil from the pan, served with Roman offal. The prawns hold their own in this bright box of flavour. Let this magical garden with flavours of the sea bewitch you. Full food review here.
Il Tino | Via Monte Cadria, 127 | Fiumicino | Italy | 0039 06 562 2778
Nativo Champagne, Food & Drink
Nativo Restaurant is an eatery on the roof of a sports centre just set back from the sea in Fiumicino. While that doesn’t sound very glamourous, Nativo Ristorante is oozing with elegance and charm, dazzling at the sunset hour in Fiumicino.
This recently built complex features manicured lawns, three padel courts, beach tennis facilities and a semi-Olympic pool, which can be used by members of the exclusive Thuja sports club. The restaurant, however, is open to everyone, and really comes into its own at sundown, when its different levels come into play.
On the highest rooftop, a champagne and cocktail bar overlooking the pool presents the perfect setting for a sunset aperitivo. But it’s also worth staying for dinner, which is served downstairs by the manicured lawns.
Expect a menu focusing on fresh fish, including tartares and pasta classics such as spaghetti alle vongole. Try freshly filleted fish with vegetables and enjoy a wine list with strong roots in the Lazio region. Definitely one of the most original beach restaurants near Rome!
Nativo Restaurant Fiumicino | Via di Villa Guglielmi, 33 | Fiumicino | Tel +39 392 837 7731
If you have enjoyed this guide to the best beach restaurants near Rome, don’t miss my other neighbourhood guides to the best restaurants and bars in the Eternal City! These include my guide to where to eat near the Trevi Fountain, the best restaurants near Circus Maximus, the best restaurants and bars in Trastevere, and my Tiber Island guide.
