Bar Locarno
Bar Locarno's first cocktail, the Roma-Bracciano, shakes Campari and Antica Formula vermouth with Rabarbaro Zucca, a rhubarb amaro.
Why go
A Swiss family opened the Hotel Locarno near Piazza del Popolo in 1925 and named it after their home town (Puntarella Rossa, 2025). MICHELIN notes that Jack Kerouac and Gregory Corso were regulars at its bar
(MICHELIN Guide).
Nicholas Pinna has run the bar since 2009. He grew up in Bracciano, on the lake north of Rome, and told Glenn Belverio in 2015 that when I was 17, I got an after-school job working as a bar back at a beach bar on the lake in Bracciano
(A Shaded View on Fashion, 2015). He told Puntarella Rossa in 2023 what he wants a visitor to drink: The aim is to break the clichés, so I avoid offering the Spritz,
and he would rather they try the Roma-Bracciano, my take on the Milano-Torino, playing on my origins
(Puntarella Rossa, 2023). You can still order a Spritz.
Order the Roma-Bracciano. It is still the bar's best seller (Puntarella Rossa, 2025). Pinna shakes it with orange bitter as well. It cost 23 euros on the 2026 evening list (Hotel Locarno). Belverio called it the perfect aperitivo
in 2015, when Pinna still made it with rhubarb juice. Pinna explains the idea behind his list: I think it is just as good to play on simplicity without ever becoming banal, combining common ingredients so that they surprise
(Puntarella Rossa, 2025).
Pina Sozio of Gambero Rosso chose the Rosario in 2019, an amusing twist on the Margarita with mezcal and orange liqueur, served with a shot of sangrita (tomato and orange juice)
(Gambero Rosso, 2019). It is still on the list. For the hotel's hundredth year in 2025, Pinna made a drink he named Grande Dame
from Champagne, gin, laurel, lemon and sour-cherry powder, with a wisteria perfume taken from the garden (Puntarella Rossa, 2025). Lavinia Martini and Carolina Pozzi of RomaToday found a mixology that takes no wild risks and can please a wide public
in 2023 (RomaToday).
Where you drink depends on the month. The courtyard garden behind the ground-floor bar is covered and heated, perfect in winter too,
Viola Parentelli wrote in 2023 (Puntarella Rossa). Sozio felt she was in a corner of paradise in the Hotel Locarno's flowering courtyard
(2019). In season the Terrazza Locarno opens on the roof, with Pinna's cocktails and a view over the domes of the twin churches on Piazza del Popolo (Puntarella Rossa, 2024). Daria Reina, the founder of the Roman boutique Chez Dede, went up in 2024: The beloved Hotel Locarno now has a stunning rooftop terrace with an open bar and breathtaking views of the domes of Piazza del Popolo. But once you try their signature Roma-Bracciano cocktail, tempura shrimp with spicy sauce, and mini-burgers, you'll realize there's much more to it than just the view
(The Relisher, 2024).
Order this / avoid
- Drink: the Roma-Bracciano, for Glenn Belverio (2015) and Daria Reina (2024).4
- Drink: the Rosario, Pina Sozio's choice for Gambero Rosso (2019).6
What locals & experts say
- Glenn Belverio, A Shaded View on Fashion (2015):
Their potent potions are imaginative yet unpretentious, the complimentary snacks are toothsome, and the ambiance of the lush garden and dimly lit lounge is at once lively and soothing.
5 - Lavinia Martini and Carolina Pozzi, RomaToday (2023):
A historic reference point for hotel mixology.
7 - Barawards, Bargiornale (2025): a finalist for Bar d'albergo dell'anno (hotel bar of the year).9
- Puntarella Rossa (2022): one of the ten cocktail bars in its Rome rankings.10
Good to know
- The roof: the Terrazza Locarno opens Tuesday to Saturday evenings, from mid-May to late July and again from early September to late October. Outside those weeks, drink in the garden.
- Hours: the ground-floor bar opens every day from early morning until after midnight.
- Food: Domenico Smargiassi's kitchen serves all day. Parentelli named the amatriciana its most-ordered dish in 2023. A Bloody Mary brunch runs at weekends (Puntarella Rossa, 2023).
- Booking: the second roof terrace, the Terrazza Canossa, takes small groups by reservation.
- Where: Via della Penna 22, near Piazza del Popolo. Phone 06 3610841.
Verdict
should-visit — Sit at Nicholas Pinna's bar for the Roma-Bracciano, in the heated garden in winter or on the roof in season. A signature cost 23 euros on the 2026 list.