Where Rome Drinks Now: The Five Bars Defining the Eternal City’s Nightlife

Rome at night has always been magic — but now it’s alchemy. Beneath the ancient stones and glowing street lamps, a new generation of bartenders is reshaping the city’s drinking culture with bold flavors, boundary-pushing menus, and rooms that feel as cinematic as the city itself. These five bars sit at the center of the movement, defining how — and where — Rome drinks right now.

DRINK KONG

Photo Credit: Alberto Blasetti

In a city defined by ruins, romance, and Renaissance grandeur, Drink Kong is something entirely different: a neon-lit portal into the future of mixology. Helmed by the visionary Patrick Pistolesi and currently ranked No. 40 on The World’s 50 Best Bars, it stands as Rome’s most progressive cocktail institution — a place where restraint, philosophy, and graphic futurism converge in a way that feels both cerebral and deeply sensual.

Its newest menu, Flux, is the bar’s most ambitious undertaking yet. Conceived not simply as a list of cocktails but as a manifesto, Flux draws from metaphysics, vibration theory, and minimalism to create a “liquid symphony” of 29 cocktails that explore the invisible frequencies binding the universe. It’s presented in a 60-page hardback book — part contemporary art catalog, part philosophical text — that traces the idea of “Substract,” a fusion of substrate and subtraction. Here, less is revelation: silence amplifies sound, simplicity exposes depth, and the removal of excess reveals the essence of each drink.

Flux unfolds in three conceptual chapters.
*Fundamental Source traces vibration back to stillness, with cocktails that spotlight clarity and purity — think Eminente rum with fig leaf soda and nutmeg in the elegant Shibui.
*Harmonic Modulation explores how tradition meets innovation, where strawberries, pink vermouth, tomato, and red jalapeño find perfect equilibrium in Sublime, or tequila, peach, and basil come alive in In(peach)ment.
*Transcendent Crossover pushes into the “unheard,” with daring combinations like Silent Pool gin, ginger, sour mustard, and beetroot milk in Be(e)true(t), or the brilliant chaos of Fear & Loathing in Oaxaca, blending Espolón tequila, mezcal, jalapeño, and Kong’s signature Midori redistillate.

The experience is heightened by the bar’s now-iconic visual identity, crafted by Alessandro Gianvenuti at Studio Lord Z, whose electronic-inspired graphic language draws from Warp Records aesthetics and IDM soundwaves. The menu’s artwork mirrors the concept — distorted visuals, bold geometric abstractions, and vibrant color fields that feel like they pulse with the drinks themselves. Inside, Drink Kong remains unmistakably itself: clean lines, Japanese-meets-cyberpunk design, lightboxes illuminating the bar’s angular contours, and a vibe that feels part Tokyo arcade, part Blade Runner dream sequence. Yet the soul of the place is unmistakably Roman — warm, instinctive, human. Pistolesi calls it an “Instinct Bar,” and the drinks reflect that: sophisticated yet emotional, structured yet free, futuristic yet grounded in craftsmanship.

Photo Credit: Alberto Blasetti

JERRY THOMAS SPEAKEASY

Photo Credit: Alberto Blasetti  

Hidden behind an unmarked door and accessible only with a password, the Jerry Thomas Speakeasy remains one of Rome’s most influential cocktail institutions — the bar that quietly ignited the city’s craft-cocktail renaissance and still sets the benchmark for excellence. It’s intimate, dimly lit, and steeped in vintage charm, with velvet textures, warm amber light, jazz drifting through the air, and an atmosphere that feels more like a private club than a public bar.

The genius of Jerry Thomas is its deep respect for tradition. Here, the classics aren’t simply reproduced; they are studied, revived, and reimagined with scholarly precision. Their newest menu is a celebration of Forgotten Spirits, a tribute to bygone ingredients and lost recipes that shaped the early art of mixology. It is equal parts history, craftsmanship, and imagination — a curated window into the cocktails that once defined the craft.

Every drink is anchored in research. Every ingredient serves a purpose. Cocktails like the Martinez and Gold Rush are executed with timeless elegance, while other creations reinterpret historical formulas through a modern lens — offering guests drinks that feel both nostalgic and newly alive. Here, bartending is treated not as performance, but as a form of preservation. The bar’s visual identity mirrors its ethos: moody, precise, intentionally old-world. The room glows softly, inviting conversation, contemplation, and lingering nights that stretch longer than planned.

Photo Credit: Alberto Blasetti

FRENZI E FRIZIONI

Photo Credit: Freni e Frizioni

Once a mechanic’s workshop tucked into the heart of Trastevere, Freni e Frizioni has evolved into one of Rome’s defining drinking destinations — an address where the city’s creative energy gathers nightly and spills out across the piazza in true Roman fashion. What makes it special is its ability to retain that raw, unvarnished charm while stepping confidently into the modern cocktail conversation. It’s cool without being contrived, contemporary without sacrificing soul — and a major force behind the bar’s evolution is Riccardo Rossi, one of Italy’s most respected bartenders and a creative engine within the country’s modern cocktail movement.

Inside, you’ll find a rustic, deliberately lived-in interior: reclaimed furniture, mismatched chairs, graphic posters plastered across the walls, and an almost studio-like atmosphere that nods to the neighborhood’s bohemian roots. It feels like the kind of place where a painter might set up a corner table, or where a filmmaker could storyboard with a negroni in hand. That balance — creative, informal, unpretentiously stylish — is what keeps locals coming back year after year, even as the bar increasingly draws global attention.

Ultimately, Freni e Frizioni isn’t just a bar; it’s a Roman ritual. A place where locals and travelers meet, where evenings begin and sometimes end, and where aperitivo still feels like a cultural moment rather than a trend. In a city full of “must-visit” addresses, this one truly earns the title.

Photo Credit: Freni e Frizioni

LA PUNTA EXPENDIO DE AGAVE 

Photo Credit: Alberto Blasetti

There are great agave bars, and then there is La Punta Expendio de Agave — Rome’s definitive, transportive homage to Mexico, built not on borrowed aesthetics but on genuine expertise, reverence, and lived experience. Much of that authenticity comes from co-founder Roberto Artusio, whose connection to Mexico extends far beyond the surface-level fascination driving today’s global agave wave.

Roberto has spent years traveling throughout Mexico — not only through well-known mezcal regions, but deep into remote, overlooked, and untapped corners of the country where ancestral traditions remain intact. He has walked rural palenques, shared meals with maestros mezcaleros, witnessed historic production methods firsthand, and forged relationships with families who have been distilling for generations. His travels, research, and respect for agave culture form the beating heart of La Punta. It’s why the bar holds one of Europe’s most impressive and meticulously sourced collections of Mexican spirits. From wild agaves to terroir-driven mezcals, rare tequilas, and small-batch, regional distillations rarely seen outside Mexico, Roberto has curated a selection that feels more like a cultural archive than a bar shelf. His encyclopedic knowledge of agave—its geography, its traditions, its people—shapes every pour and every cocktail.

Inside, La Punta is an aesthetic triumph: terracotta hues, handwoven textures, clay vessels, sun-washed wood, and thoughtful details that evoke the warmth of Mexico without ever slipping into caricature. The design is tactile, soulful, and rooted in authenticity. The bar’s latest menu, “Guida de Viaje,” deepens that storytelling. Conceived as a travel guide through the team’s most meaningful Mexican experiences, it captures the landscapes, flavors, and emotions of their journeys. Each cocktail reflects a place and a memory — Oaxaca’s smoke, Baja’s brightness, Jalisco’s heritage, CDMX’s electric pulse—rendered with technical precision and deep cultural respect. Standouts include the impeccably balanced Margarita Classica, the smoky-elegant Oaxacan Negroni, and seasonal Paloma variations that highlight Rome’s best citrus.

Photo Credit: Alberto Blasetti

JERRY THOMAS BAR ROOM

Photo Credit: Laura Schreffler

If The Jerry Thomas Speakeasy is the hidden heart of Rome’s cocktail scene, then Jerry Thomas Bar Room is its refined, more expansive counterpart — a place where the same dedication to craft unfolds in a slightly brighter, more sociable setting. The Bar Room is elegant but approachable, polished yet warm, and crafted with an eye toward timeless European glamour.

The bar’s latest menu draws inspiration from the golden age of 1950s–60s travel, specifically the velvet-lined romance of the Orient Express. It embraces the nostalgia of a bygone era — the hushed sophistication, the lacquered woods, the glint of brass, the whisper of conversations between travelers crossing borders by rail. That aesthetic sensibility carries through the cocktails: refined, modernized classics designed to evoke the charm of slow, luxurious travel.

Inside, the Bar Room is bathed in flattering, golden light, with a bar counter that invites lingering, intimate conversation. Rare spirits line the shelves, and the bartenders move with a practiced confidence that speaks to the Jerry Thomas lineage. The cocktails are clean, confident, and quietly glamorous. Martini variations are executed with razor-sharp precision; Old Fashioned riffs reveal subtle complexities; and champagne-based creations highlight the bar’s commitment to European elegance. The experience feels classic but not conservative — nostalgic but not antiquated.

Photo Credit: Alberto Blasetti