With over 270 stalls selling every manner of produce imaginable, the Mercato Trionfale is the largest - and most mouth-watering food market in Rome. The market has been on the go since the 19th century, when the now bustling Prati district - where the Trionfale is located - was still open countryside. The Trionfale was thus the perfect spot for farmers to sell their wares and a regular stopping-off point for travelers arriving in the city.
As Rome rapidly expanded in the early decades of the 20th century, the market expanded, and moved to its current site on Via Andrea Doria in the 1930s. In 2009, a sparkling new bespoke building was finally completed to house the market, and since then it’s become a prime foodie destination for locals and visitors to the city alike. Located just a short walk away from the Vatican, it's the perfect foodie stop-off before or after a tour of the Vatican Museums.
Here’s what you need to know about visiting the Trionfale Market.
Finding Your Way Around the Trionfale Market
Boasting an excellent location in the heart of the bustling Prati district and not far from the Vatican, the Trionfale Market is an ideal spot to stock up on provisions for a picnic, home cooked dinner or on-the-go lunch. You’ll find pretty much anything you can imagine on offer here, from a wide variety of meat, locally sourced vegetables, cheeses, eggs, cured meat, freshly caught fish, superlative bread and much more besides.
The market is open from 7am to 2.30pm every day of the week apart from Sunday, but if you want your pick of the produce it’s best to come as early as you can - you’ll be competing with the city’s most demanding restaurateurs and home cooks for the choicest options!
To help you navigate your way around, the market is divided into color-coded corridors that delineate the type of produce being sold by the stalls: green stalls sell fruit and vegetables (light green indicates farmers selling their own home-grown produce), blue signifies fishmongers, red denotes butchers and yellow awnings tell you that you can buy pasta and bread. The central aisle is reserved for the longest-running stallholders, many of whom have been operating at the Trionfale since the 1930s.
Our Favorite Stalls in the Trionfale Market
There’s really an embarrassment of riches at the Trionfale, and to be honest whichever stalls you happen to stop at you’re likely to find some fabulous produce. But we do have some favorites!
Perfect Porchetta from Ariccia
First stop is Box 102, where the now elderly childhood chums Arsenio and Ivo serve up the superb and inimitable porchetta from their home town of Ariccia in the nearby Castelli Romani, a group of lovely hill towns just to the south of Rome. Porchetta is one of the great delicacies of the Lazio region, a slow-roasted pork made with aromatic herbs and wild fennel kept beautifully tender by a thick ribbon of fat and crackling.
Arsenio and Ivo really know their porchetta - look out for a black and white photo above their stand of the duo slicing up porchetta in Ariccia way back in 1975 - almost 50 years ago! They are also great at explaining their produce - a welcome change in a world ever more characterized by anonymous supermarkets and industrial food production.
The owners’ passion and commitment to quality extends to the bread they use in their superb porchetta sandwiches, too. The bread they sell is baked in a wood oven, and the chestnut wood that they use in their oven is on display next to the bread. To demonstrate the bread’s freshness, we were invited to come close and listen, that’s right, listen, to the loaf. When we did so, Arsenio lightly squeezed the bread, and we could hear it crackle - a sure sign that beneath a lovely crispy outer layer, a soft and chewy inside awaits.
Beppe and his Magnificent Cheese
Next stop on our food tour of the Trionfale Market takes us to box number 227, where the famous Beppe Giovale holds the fort with his extraordinary range of artisan cheeses. From fresh ricotta to aged sheep, goat, buffalo and cow’s cheese, whatever your cheesy weakness you’ll find it here. Much of what you see on offer is made by Beppe himself, and the rest comes from selected farms in his native Piedmont.
Peppino’s Drinking Eggs
Born in Massachusetts to Italian immigrants from Lazio in 1911, Peppino returned to Rome with his family not long afterwards, where his father began raising chickens and turkeys. The two opened up a stall in the Trionfale market to sell their eggs in 1926, and today almost 100 years later Peppino’s grandson Angelo (who everyone also calls Peppino) continues the family trade.
Here you’ll find eggs of every variety imaginable: super fresh eggs suitable for eating raw or making zabaione (a drink or cream similar to eggnog made with raw eggs, sugar, and marsala wine that’s often used in desserts); organic hen eggs, quail eggs, and depending on the season, goose and even ostrich eggs.
Gustavino’s Vino Sfuso
One of the great things about living in Italy is that there are great wines available for every budget. Whilst the country produces some of the world’s most renowned (and expensive) appellations, wine is an everyday pleasure rather than a luxury for Italians, and much of the wine drunk on a daily basis at tables across the peninsula are simple but delicious local productions.
This kind of wine is often sold sfuso, or directly from metal tanks, rather than bottled - don’t turn your nose up at it though! It can be shockingly cheap for the quality. That’s certainly the case at Gustavino, resident at box 148, where you’ll be paying between €2 and €3 for a liter of more than passable wine - Lazio varietal Cesanese is our favorite.
What to Eat at the Trionfale Market
You can also have an excellent sit-down lunch in the Mercato Trionfale. Look out for Ristopescheria Duca, a fishmonger that also serves up delectable hot meals from their own fresh fish and seafood.
Another good option is the recently opened ChefBox (stall number 49), where gourmet street food is the order of the day. If you’re looking for something more substantial, ChefBox offer up some excellent pasta dishes, too.
What are the Opening Hours of the Mercato Trionfale?
The market is open from Monday to Saturday from 7am to 2pm. On Tuesdays and Fridays the market is open later, until 7pm. Closed on Sundays. Come early for the pick of the produce!
How Do I Get to the Mercato Trionfale?
The Trionfale Market is easily accessible by public transport. Take the A line of the Metro to Cipro station. From there it’s just a 5 minute walk to the market on Via Andrea Doria.
If you are coming from the Vatican / St. Peter’s, the market is easy to reach on foot. Head northwest along Via Leone IV, then turn left onto Via Andrea Doria - it’s about a 15 minute walk.
We hope you enjoyed our guide to the Trionfale Market! It's the perfect spot for some foodie fun before or after a visit of the Vatican Museums. Through Eternity Tours offer a range of guided tours of St. Peter’s and the Vatican museums – join us and experience their splendor in company of our friendly expert guides!
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