One of my favorites things in the winter in Italy is hot chocolate (cioccolato caldo), and one of my favorite places to get it in Rome is in the university neighborhood of San Lorenzo, a bit northeast of Termini Station in Rome, at S.A.I.D.
Originally a chocolate factory in 1923 in a blue collar part of town, it’s now a restaurant, made fashionable by keeping most of the original industrial machinery. Not exactly my first choice for a proper meal (just around the corner there’s Tram Tram which I recommend for dinner), but it’s one of the few places where you can go outside of meal times and just have something sweet.
The front part of the restaurant is the chocolate shop, where they have great gift boxes – lots of different combinations at various prices and the option of choosing a fancy box and filling it as you wish.
Farther in there are some loungey sofas and tables and chairs for those having dinner.
Prices aren’t low, but when you’re unique, and good, that’s kind of par for the course. Check it out on Via Tiburtina, 135 and if it’s in the winter, get a cioccolato caldo with panna (whipped cream).
