Caffè Ciampini
The fourth generation of the Ciampini family makes the gelato for Caffè Ciampini in a glass-fronted lab on Via del Leone, to their grandfather's recipes.
Why go
Giuseppe Ciampini opened the Bar Tre Scalini on Piazza Navona in 1943. His son Angelo put the Ciampini name on a café of his own on Via Frattina in 1958. Angelo's children Giuseppe, Maura and Andrea moved it to Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina in 1989 (Turismo Roma, 2024). Daria Reina, the founder of Chez Dede, calls it a Roman institution. Whether it's a coffee, a hot chocolate in winter, a sandwich at lunch, or gelato in summer, this is where Romans come for a proper break
(The Relisher, 2024). Ludovico Bonaccorsi, the restaurateur behind LùBar, wrote that a Roman friend will invariably say, 'Let's go to Ciampini.'
He sends readers to this door: Locals also know to go to the less touristy Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina location
(Airmail, 2021).
Have a tramezzino at lunch. Bonaccorsi describes tramezzini as crustless sandwiches filled with cheese, tuna, chicken, ham or vegetables. Reina's order is the tramezzino tonno e carciofini, with tuna and artichokes: it's a must order.
Gambero Rosso found the tramezzini always good
in 2023, with seasonal fillings beside the classics, such as asparagus and egg (Gambero Rosso, 2023).
Gambero Rosso also called the gelato the pride of the business.
The lab sits ten steps from the café and supplies it (Puntarella Rossa, 2017). The family uses natural ingredients and no preservatives. It also patented an easily digestible gelato made with lactase (Turismo Roma, 2024). Katie Parla had a chocolate and hazelnut cup here in 2009, before the lab opened, and called it some of the best I have ever had,
the hazelnut particularly spectacular
(Katie Parla, 2009).
In 2014, before the 2017 refit, Puntarella Rossa praised the fresh cornetti and the cappuccino. It counted the croissant with visciole (sour-cherry) jam among the musts (Puntarella Rossa, 2014). Bonaccorsi says Romans flock here for aperitivo at golden hour. Gambero Rosso called the café's place on the basilica's piazza an enviable position
in 2023.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the tramezzino tonno e carciofini, for Daria Reina (The Relisher, 2024).1
- Order: a chocolate and hazelnut gelato, for Katie Parla (2009).7
Good to know
- Not to confuse: the Caffè Ristorante Ciampini on Viale Trinità dei Monti is Marco Ciampini's separate business (Turismo Roma).
- Phone: 06 687 6606.
- Where: Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina 29, facing the basilica.
Verdict
should-visit — Go to this family café facing the basilica of San Lorenzo in Lucina for a tuna and artichoke tramezzino at lunch or a drink as the light goes.