Cheap Pizza, Expensive Cab

A few days ago a cab ride home cost twice as much my dinner. It was a Thursday night in San Lorenzo, a generally gritty (or "authentically Roman" for those who haven't lived here that long) university quarter with a legacy of left-leaning politics. While coolification began some years ago, and a handful of radical chic restaurants and wine bars moved in, San Lorenzo is still the kind of place where high heels get scuffed, hems gets dusty, and food should be cheap.


Pizzeria L'Economica - Via Tiburtina, 48. No phone.

This place was designed with students in mind. The service is languid and lazy, the menu is short, and most importantly, pizza runs about €5 average. Yet the sad state of the economy has the place packed with all sorts, from the young and grungy to the graying and baby-bearing. We were a famished group of eight, still sweating after a Tribal Fusion dance workshop at nearby San Lo' School of Ethnic Dance. We ordered and drained four or five liter-bottles of Moretti beer, and everyone but me ordered a pizza. I opted for a plate of scamorza cheese, bubbling and crusty from the broiler and topped with spicy fresh arugula. We could have shared it in three (with bread), but I was famished and feeling momentarily inclined to a no-carb couple of hours. As the cheese cooled, the edges hardened slightly, sealing in the juicy melted interior. A few shakes of dried peperoncino and I wasn't even tempted to nab a slice from anyone. Not that the pizza wasn't divine. The pies were wafer-thin and crispy, with a smudge of tomato sauce and an unexpected heaping of toppings.

The staff couldn't be bothered to call me cab, but emphatically suggested I call one from a nearby hotel. The 10-minute ride came to roughly €15 (after the tariffa rosa 10% discount for women alone from 9pm–1am, from a jovial female cabbie), which was a little hard to digest.