Best Coffee in Rome {Five Favorite Places}
Inspired by this recent post and my own love of making lists, I have rounded up my five favorite places for the best coffee in Rome.
This is my neighborhood bar. It use to be an old fashioned, kind of grimy hodgepodge of a place that sold lottery tickets and cigarettes and lunch. I loved it. When they underwent a bright and shiny renovation, I despaired that it would become a soulless place for the tourist traffic on their way to the Colosseum. Thankfully I was wrong and it is still the friendly neighborhood place it has always been, filled with the same faces and morning cappuccinos.
via dei Serpenti
Monday-Saturday from 6:00 am
closed Sunday
Bar Balduina
I am now rarely in this part of town, north of the Vatican (except to go to the dentist.) Which is a shame. This was the bar where I learned about Italian bar culture. This is where the teenager was dropped off by the school bus every afternoon. The rather fierce Senora at the cassa was very slow to warm to this strange foreigner in her very Roman neighborhood. After almost a year of me doggedly returning (and some occasional gifts of chocolate chip cookies) she warmed up and I finally became a regular. This meant I was given the honor of skipping the queue, no matter how busy it was and always saving a chicken salad sandwich for my boy to collect after school.
Via Mario Romagnoli 2
Monday-Sunday from 7:00am
I know this is on every "best of" list. That's for a reason. When I am in need of some coffee indulgence, I head to this pretty, frescoed piazza near the Pantheon and order a Monachella. This special coffee is made with a sweetened shot of espresso, liquid dark chocolate and is topped with whipped cream. It's tiny size makes it an easily justifiable treat.
Piazza Sant’Eustachio, 82
Monday -Sunday from 8:30
Sciascia
When I lived in Balduina at least once a week I would would walk down the steep slope of the Monte Mario towards Prati and for a morning cappuccino at the wood-paneled bar. This elegant bar also serves the prettiest cup of afternoon espresso. Before your espresso gets pulled a generous dollop of dark chocolate is put in the bottom of your thin, limoge-like, porcelain cup.
I come for an early morning cappuccino with a big spoonful of “crema” (zabiglione) before a grocery trip to Mercato Piazza Vittorio or a Rome for Expats Walking Tour. I have heard that the Roman director Paolo Sorrentino comes here every morning. I haven't seen him yet.
Via Merulana 54
Sciascia
When I lived in Balduina at least once a week I would would walk down the steep slope of the Monte Mario towards Prati and for a morning cappuccino at the wood-paneled bar. This elegant bar also serves the prettiest cup of afternoon espresso. Before your espresso gets pulled a generous dollop of dark chocolate is put in the bottom of your thin, limoge-like, porcelain cup.
Via Fabio Massimo 80/A
Monday-Saturday from 7:30am
I come for an early morning cappuccino with a big spoonful of “crema” (zabiglione) before a grocery trip to Mercato Piazza Vittorio or a Rome for Expats Walking Tour. I have heard that the Roman director Paolo Sorrentino comes here every morning. I haven't seen him yet.
Via Merulana 54
Monday -Sunday from 8:00am
Great list! I will need to give Bar La Licata a try as it's a stone's throw from my flat.
ReplyDeleteTried Panella the other day as well, loved the coffee and my cornetto but the place was absolutely mad and seemed a bit disorganised. We initially paid for 2 cappuccini and 2 cornetti ... when we went to pick up our cornetti we asked for cornetti alla crema and were told we had only paid the price for the 'semplici' (yet the cashier had not pointed out to us that, unusually for Rome, different prices applied to different types). Rather than offer us the cornetti alla crema 'on the house' as a nice gesture, she told us we could either wait for fresh cornetti semplici (which were still in the oven) or go and pay the difference for the others. Not wanting to wait we begrudgingly paid the 60 cent difference to have the filled cornetti. Oh and don't get me started on the fact that they have a "no self service sign" in an area of the cafe that is decidedly 'self service only'! Lol.
@ real simple food. yes. friendly service is not a strong suit at Panella. Though the last 2 times I have been pleasantly surprised. Yesterday they were very cheery and helpful. We should meet for coffee at Licata. We must be neighbors!
ReplyDeletePanella is where we went a few times and I remember being so intimidated when we first walked in, lot's of stares from the staff. It doesn't help that we are chunky touristy Americans and sorta bumbled in all elbows, knees and backpacks. Somehow we managed to get our food and coffee but not without picking up the wrong items, picking up the right items incorrectly and causing a stir at the coffee counter (we didn't order it right). Oh well! we went a few times anyways because it was so good!! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat list of places! I went to Sciascia back in 2006 while I was backpacking through Europe... Such a wonderful cafe.
ReplyDeleteYou should check out TapIn (http://www.mytapin.com), great way to save the places you love all over the world. You can also make collections of places like these automatically with maps etc.
Lovely list! And I had no idea one could get a thin layer of chocolate lining your coffee cup in Rome... Mmmm...
ReplyDeleteSo pleased you included San Eustachio. I know it is touristy but boy, the coffee is good!! Sciascia is my absolute favourite - just love the china cups
ReplyDelete