Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè
The barmen at Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè turn their backs while they whip a cup, so nobody watching learns the recipe.
Why go
Gabriele Gervasi, chef de cuisine of Il Ristorante Niko Romito at the Bvlgari Hotel, takes his coffee here: a historic coffee bar and roastery that has been here since the 1930s. It's one of the few coffee bars in Rome that still has the atmosphere of an old Italian café
(The Relisher, 2026). It opened in 1938 as a wood-fired roastery (Italia.it). Katie Parla calls it technically the oldest coffee roaster in Rome's historic center
(Katie Parla, 2026). The Ricci brothers have run it since 1999. They import organic, fair-trade coffee directly from Slow Food Presidia (producer groups backed by Slow Food) in South America (Sant'Eustachio).
Gervasi explains why that matters in the cup: Italian coffee is traditionally roasted very dark, sometimes to the point that you lose the flavor of the coffee itself. Sant'Eustachio uses a 100% Arabica blend from South America that is still roasted in the Italian style but is much more balanced. I order the espresso
(The Relisher, 2026).
The house cup is the gran caffè, made from a blend whose proportions stay secret and served a little larger than an espresso, already sweetened, with a light crema (Italia.it). Time Out's editors called the coffee quite extraordinary, if pricier than elsewhere
and told readers to try the gran caffè: the schiuma (froth) can be slurped out with a spoon or finger afterwards
(Time Out, 2018). Be ready for the sugar. Unless you specify (amaro means 'no sugar'; poco zucchero means 'a little sugar'), it comes very sweet,
Time Out warned (Time Out, 2018). Camilla Micheletti of Dissapore reported what coffee purists say of it: Gentrified, to hear them, too sweet and in substance transformed by too much crema
(Dissapore, 2014). In summer the bar makes granita al caffè. Raimondo Ricci told Dissapore that the granita made with espresso stays in the freezer for a whole day and every hour we stir the coffee by hand
(Dissapore, 2014).
The bar keeps its original fittings and its blue and yellow sign (Italia.it). Drink standing at the bar inside, or pay extra for a table on the piazza facing the dome of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza (Katie Parla, 2026). It fills up. Gervasi says it's very famous, but Italians still go,
and his advice is to go early, before 8 a.m., when it's quiet
(The Relisher, 2026).
Order this / avoid
- Drink: the espresso, Gabriele Gervasi's order (2026).1
- Drink: the gran caffè, with its froth to slurp out with a spoon afterwards (Time Out, 2018).3
- Avoid: the default sugar if you do not want it very sweet. Say amaro or poco zucchero (Time Out, 2018).3
What locals & experts say
- Gilles Pudlowski, the French critic (2021):
Since 1938 this exquisite little den devoted to good, slowly roasted coffee has hardly ever been empty.
6 - Time Out (2018):
This is one of the city's most famous coffee bars, and its walls are plastered with celebrity testimonials.
3
Good to know
- Hours: Parla wrote in May 2026 that it "is only open until early afternoon (hours vary; see website)". Gilles Pudlowski found it open until very late in 2021.
- Price: pricier than elsewhere (Time Out, 2018). A table on the piazza costs extra (Parla, 2026).
- To take home: beans, ground coffee and capsules (Parla, 2026), also sold through the bar's online shop.
- The other door: the Emporio Sant'Eustachio is a separate shop. The 1938 bar is at Piazza di Sant'Eustachio 82, between Piazza Navona and the Pantheon.
Verdict
should-visit — Stand at the bar of the 1938 roastery between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona for an espresso of South American Arabica that the Bvlgari's chef de cuisine calls more balanced than the usual dark Italian roast. Ask for it without sugar, and go early.