Where to Drink in Rome

The most Roman bar in Trastevere — no tourists would come here if it weren't so good that they can't stay away. Plastic chairs, formica tables, locals who've been drinking here for 30 years. No-frills Campari Soda and house Spritz served cheap and fast. The outdoor piazza fills up completely by 7:30pm in summer.

Known primarily as Rome's best craft beer bar, but the aperitivo selection is outstanding — rotating Italian bitter liqueurs on draft, serious vermouth list, and a kitchen that understands what stuzzichini are supposed to be. Tiny inside, spills onto the street. The kind of place regulars don't mention in reviews because they don't want it to get more crowded.

Set in a former mechanic's garage — "brakes and clutches" — with a famous outdoor terrace on a small piazza overlooking the Tiber bend. Rome's aperitivo scene landmark. The buffet spread (included with your drink) is more generous than most: bruschetta, pizza bianca, cheeses, olives, and rotating hot dishes. Packed 7–9pm. Arrive early for a table outside.

One of Rome's oldest bars, still trading since 1924 in the Pigneto neighbourhood that Pasolini once called home. Long outdoor terrace, excellent Negroni, and the kind of kitchen that takes aperitivo food seriously — their supplì al telefono are among the best in the city. Weekend aperitivo hour draws a local creative crowd. Not a tourist in sight.

The pizza concept here is serious — Neapolitan-inspired, long fermentation, seasonal toppings — but the aperitivo hour from 6:30pm is when it really shines. A rotating selection of Italian natural wines, craft Negroni variants, and pizza bianca with various toppings cut into small squares for the counter. Proper Roman bar culture with slightly more kitchen ambition.

A wine bar that has barely changed since the 1970s, tucked in a narrow street near Campo de' Fiori. Hundreds of bottles covering every wall, regulars who have been coming for decades, and cicchetti served without fuss — good bread, reasonable cheese, whatever the owner felt like putting out. Order a glass of whatever he recommends and trust him completely.

Rome's most celebrated cocktail bar — serious, reservation-only on weekends, with a changing menu inspired by pre-Prohibition American cocktail culture filtered through Italian ingredients. Not cheap, not casual. But if you want the best Negroni you've ever had in your life, this is where it's made. They use Italian vermouths you've never heard of and bitters they produce in-house.

Rome's best all-day wine bar and aperitivo destination. Enormous natural wine list, exceptional cured meats from small Italian producers, and a kitchen that runs from 9am to midnight without a break. The Saturday aperitivo from 6pm draws a sophisticated local crowd. Their amaro selection behind the bar is arguably the best in central Rome.

Not technically a bar, but the best aperitivo experience in Testaccio. Sergio Esposito's legendary stall inside the covered Testaccio market serves Roman sandwiches (bollito, trippa, coda alla vaccinara) from late morning, and by 4–6pm the market winds down and becomes an informal aperitivo spot. Grab a glass of house white from the neighbouring wine stall and eat standing up like a local.

Set in a converted printing press building (hence "REC") just across from Testaccio on the Ostiense bank. The most designed-feeling bar on this list — excellent cocktail program, generous aperitivo spread included with drinks from 6–9pm, and a young Roman professional crowd who take their Negroni seriously. The terrace on the Tiber is particularly good in spring and early autumn.