Fab Five: My 5 Favorite Places for Coffee in Rome

Despite being the granddaughter of coffee farmers, I never liked coffee until I moved to Rome. My first cappuccino here started a love affair that has yet to end. Besides my own home and The Beehive, here are five places in Rome where I enjoy going for a bit of atmosphere, people-watching and a great cup of that magical elixir.

Spinelli

Located just a block away from The Beehive, this is a typical, non-designer, no-frills Italian coffee bar. In the morning you’ll find everyone from the local city garbage collectors to the suits from the Banca d’Italia jockeying for position at the counter for their morning fix. There are countless bars like this throughout Rome, and Spinelli happens to be one of the better ones with delicious, bitter-free coffee.  Unfortunately, my only complaint is their pastries which can be tasteless or too sugary. Despite this, they are still one of my favorites because bars like this hold a special nostalgic place in my heart and I hope they never go away.

Spinelli (Termini)
via dei Mille, 58

Faro – Luminari del Caffè

I was so excited when I first walked into Faro.  Now here was the kind of coffee shop I had been dreaming I would find in Rome:  huge windows, lots of tables to sit and chat or work on a laptop (and yes, wifi!), delicious pastries (made by their in-house pastry chef) and excellent coffee. Faro ticks all the boxes. There’s a slight whiff of coffee pretentiousness which their very friendly staff doesn’t insist upon if it’s not your thing. After several times of telling me to drink their coffee without sugar and me politely declining to do this, they now have left me alone to my sweet coffee drinking ways.

Faro – Luminari del Caffè (Porta Pia)
via Piave, 55

Santi Sebastiano e Valentini

I’m all about the pastries. Okay, yes, it’s coffee of course, but the pastries are also very important. If I’m going to stray from my usual healthy oatmeal at home or eggs at The Beehive, the typical Italian sweet breakfast had better be a good one. Enter Santi Sebastiano e Valentini, which is a bakery, but also open for lunch and dinner.  Their danish is light, tasty and not overly sweet – butter was definitely used in its creation – hallelujah!  And the coffee, the coffee is good too.

Santo Sebastiano e Valentini (Parioli/Salario)
Via Tirso, 107

Panella

I’ll admit straight away that I have a soft spot for Panella. The original Beehive was located just a stone’s throw from here. I used to have my morning coffee here with our daughters when they were babies and then toddlers and this was when they had no seating. (I would have killed for a place to sit back then!) Panella has one of the prettiest coffee machines in town. Their prices are on the high side, but I blissfully ignore this because a couple of their longtime staff remember my daughters and me. They ask how the girls are doing every single time despite the fact that they haven’t seen them in years. That’s Rome – a small town vibe in a huge bustling city, and one of the many reasons I love it here.

Panella (Esquilino)
Via Merulana, 59

Roscioli Caffè

I resisted Roscioli Caffè when they first opened. A lot of people mooned over it, and perhaps it’s my punk rock tendencies held over from my 20’s, but I have an initial general resistance to the hype. One day I stopped in to have a coffee break and was disappointed, and in that strange way, I felt vindicated for my resistance.  The coffee was bitter, and the staff seemed distracted and so weren’t very efficient.  If there’s one thing that works amazingly well in Italy, it’s the coffee bar. Therefore, when one is deficient in even the slightest way, I become critical.

Recently, I’ve had opportunities to give them another try, and my opinion has changed. For starters, they make a mean maritozzo which is something you must try when you are in Rome. It’s a type of sweet brioche filled with fresh whipped cream. The ones at Roscioli are small and incredibly light tasting. I could easily eat two of them in one go.  You may not see these behind the counter, so be sure to ask for one. My afternoon cappuccino (yes, I’m one of those) the last several times have been creamy and non-bitter or burnt tasting. I’m going to continue to stop by here when I’m in the area, but I’ll make sure it’s later in the afternoon. At peak times (morning, lunchtime), it’s a bit of a crush. Since it’s a tight space, you get better service when they are not so mobbed.

Roscioli Caffè (Centro Storico)
Piazza Benedetto Cairoli,16

Special mention:  Tram Depot

A special mention goes out to Tram Depot. I didn’t include it above because unfortunately, it isn’t open year round being an outdoors only bar.  However, in the warm weather months, it’s one of the places I like to go for a coffee al fresco. It’s near one of my favorite areas of Rome – the Testaccio neighborhood which has the Pyramid of Caius Cestius and the beautiful Non-Catholic Cemetary. And how can you not love a kiosk made from a vintage Roman tram from 1903?

Tram Depot (Testaccio)
Via Marmorata, 13

Which is your favorite place to get a coffee in Rome or in your own city? Let me know below in the comments.

Fab Five is a series bringing you a quick list of my Rome favorites.