Aperitif in Rome: the coolest clubs to spend time together, meet new people and listen to good music

You can’t renounce to the aperitif in Rome: Roman people made it a relaxing moment, in which you can enjoy your life, socialize and admire the outstanding beauties of the capital.

Nowadays you can have an aperitif everywhere in Rome, from Testaccio district to Trastevere’, from Ponte Milvio’ to San Giovanni’, up to the heart of the historical tourists centre of the capital.
But only in the best bars and bistros, aperitif has become something much more than a basic Prosecco with snacks, getting the expression of Made in Italy and of the food and wine research.
Tradition and innovation, a perfect blend for the aperitif, as the quality of ingredients melts with style research among the great bartenders inventions. You can’t visit Rome if you don’t have a break, tasting an aperitif, comfortably sitting outside, admiring the Colosseum, Navona square and the Pantheon beauty.
That’s Rome: it enchants, it paralyzes, it makes you dreaming, making you feel free, and the aperitif is perfectly matched with admiration and loss of senses.

Gourmet aperitif in the south of Rome, discovering taste artisans
Nowadays, the southern area in Rome is the representative of entertaining and young people, of culture and Roman avant-garde, where the aperitif perfectly fits among the experimental and innovative places along districts as Garbatella, Testaccio and Ostiense. A few steps from Cestia Pyramid, you find Doppio Zero, a club who made the aperitif a reason to live, making it an apericena - a mix of aperitif and dinner – and becoming a benchmark for the whole city.
It is a modern bar, very big and always crowdy, full of people of any age, open since 7am up to the night. Its masterpiece is a big desk where you can get served with no limits, eating pizza, pasta and other snacks, served with traditional cocktails and a rich selection of wines.
Among the news in southern Rome, you can find the new Latteria Garbatella, situated in Geremia Bonomelli square, in one of the principal areas of this historical Roman district. The bar-bistrot offers a personal creation selection of drinks, entitled with the names of the streets and the lanes nearby. You can find soft drinks and alcoholic drinks, well characterized by an outstanding and innovative style, to mix taste and beauty. You can also find some wines such as Pinot Grigio, Ribolla Gialla, Refosco and Merlot and the best breweries Italian products.
All these drinks, served with delicate and refined gourmet dishes, cold cuts and PDO cheese, raw meat and very high quality fish.
In Testaccio district, in Galvani street 24, organic food lovers can feel at home at the Ketumbar, a modern club that made Italian excellence its philosophy of life. From 6.30pm, you can enjoy an organic aperitif for a 10€ fixed price - drink included – where there are no snacks but vegetables, cheese, focaccia bread and vegetable dishes for all the tastes. You can obviously drink handmade beers, even more typical in the capital, together with wines by the glass and classical cocktails, enriched by a young and quite atmosphere, great to start the night.

Aperitif in the city centre: innovation and millenary Art
The city centre in Rome is the heart of the city, thanks to his millenary history that seems to refuse modernity. Aperitif here is a recurring date now, among clubs offering Martini and Spritz you can sip, quietly sitting outside, admiring Bernini’s beauties and great ancient Roman works.
Among the best clubs in the city centre, near Navona square, you can find Etablì, a fascinating restaurant wine bar serving modern gourmet aperitifs in an ancient style location, furnished by iron lamps and walls made of stones.
You can choose a buffet menu or jump on a flavours trip, among many different types of cheese and cold cuts, typical of the Italian tradition.
There is also a wine list coming from the best Italian factories or, if you prefer, you can have a refined cocktail made of amaretto di Saronno, or the ever-present Spritz. Surrounded by the great framework of the Colosseum, there is Caffè Propaganda, historical club lately restored. It is a restaurant-bar with two detached areas, to offer an exclusive service to everybody, by an expert staff.
The chef Fabio Pecelli makes refined gourmet dishes, served with a list of natural great wines, accurately presented by Valerio Capriotti, the sommelier. Cocktails? Of course, traditional and innovative ones by the best Rome bartenders, ranging from spirits to blendings, from Martini to the Roman Negroni.
Between San Luigi dei Francesi church and the eternal Trevi fountain there is Salotto 42, in the great location of Pietra square, where the Adrian temple reigns, in front of your eyes, sitting at the tables outside. The small club offers a refined and cool ambient, very young and trendy, with its buffet menu rich in finger food served from 7pm to 10pm. In addition to the great wine list and beer tasting, you can find peculiar cocktails, personal creations of Salotto 24, made for astonishing and pleasing tastes.
The very gem is Dispensa Cibo Urbano un Bar, situated in the area of the Roman Ghetto, that serves high quality organic dishes and wines, rich in gluten free proposals for people suffering celiac disease.

Aperitif in northern Rome: investigation and experimentation
Aperitif goes on changing in the north, where it meets jazz and great art cocktails, such as Passus in Volsci street 133, in the neighbourhood of San Lorenzo, historical district between Termini Station and La Sapienza University, rich in students and tourists looking for entertainment. Here you can find outstanding tastes of cold cuts and mini-bruschette – small grilled and dressed slices of bread – for the 5-9pm aperitif at the table.
There is no shortage of great handmade on tap beers, such as Pils, Ipa and Lager and the club bartenders cocktails, made of an interesting homemade syrups selection.
Along the likewise historical Monti district, there is Fafiuché, a wine house that has mixed Roman food with the owners Piedmont traditions. The aperitif is served from 6.30pm to 9pm and it is characterized by a long desk full of cheese, cold cuts, toasts, pasta and vegetables, where you can get served with no hurry. Equipped with an internal and an external area, it makes you appreciate the selection of wines of this bar-bistrot, that takes great care of its customers.
If you want to discover the most modern aperitif in Rome, you must visit Pigneto district, protagonist of an incredible rebirth, getting a real benchmark of the night in Rome. Popular prices and rural locations are the representative brand of this area, as at Magnebevo and Sto al Pigneto, in Macerata street 3. Everyday, from 6pm to 9pm, it offers a rural aperitif for just 8€, served with everyday new snacks, according to the seasonal ingredients available.
And finally, if you are looking for something new, the APT in Monti offers a location furnished as a living room, where you can have an aperitif reading a book or listening to good music, easily sitting on one of the sofas at the bar.


So, if you visit Rome, you can’t miss an aperitif somewhere in the capital, to discover the different features of each neighbourhood and the innovations of a city that doesn’t want to stop, going on astonishing us.

Do you want to stay in Rome?

For this location we recommend Hotel Panama Garden, ideal for discovering Rome thanks to its strategic location.