Il Pizzicotto (Original Location)
On it’s day Il Pizzicotto is easily as good as any of Rome’s world renowned Pizza al Taglio joints (their potato and truffle cream & mortadella and stracciatella are notably good) and on other days simply has a good selection of tasty bites. It sometimes suffers from thinking it’s a little bit better than it really is. However, all of the staff are super helpful and speak several languages and will talk you through all the toppings. Sometimes they’re not forthright about which was the pizza that most recently came out of the oven, or if it was cooked that day, so you have to use your eyes to judge.
Mezzo Quinto
Mezzo Quinto sits in the middle of Via Degli Ammirati, which is a great little road to know about as you'll also find Il Pizzicotto, Bar Moro, and ‘00’ here.
If you want a fast bite of hearty local food, you literally couldn't find a better local spot. The core menu: polpette (meatballs), pezzi di cavallo (horsemeat stew), and parmigiana (aubergine) are the classics that generations of salentini have survived on. You can get a panino for 5€ or a plate for around 7.50€, there won't be any frilly bits, just rustic flavour and plenty of it.
If you can't be bothered messing around with restaurants, getting a table, waiting to be served, waiting in general, in Mezzo Quinto you have a quality, local, authentic, and cheap option- what more could you want.
Il Salumaio La Massaia
A stone's throw from Porta San Biagio is Il Salumaio La Massaia. From the outside it's pretty easy to miss so do have a look at the picture above if you can't find it.
We had no idea what to make of the place the first time we went, and I've been back several times since and still don't know either. What I do know, is that their food is freakin tasty, and though it's not quite on my walk to work, I often take a detour, just to grab a Panino - they're soo good!