Testaccio & Ostiense – Local tips (bars & cafes)

If you’re a clubber and you want to meet young Romans, this is the place to be: in fact this historical club in Testaccio is always overcrowded by people from 18 till 30 years old.

Once you are inside, you have 2 rooms and a covered garden to decide where to dance: in the garden in the ground floor there’s house music, in the upper floor commercial and happy music and in the lower floor r’n'b and hip hop.

The covered garden at the entrance is perfect for smoking people who like warm nights and hotter evenings. The lower floor is a cave, with simple furniture evoking the typical stones and earthenware fragments typically found in Monte Testaccio, enriched by innovative and elegant vip lounges. Last but not the least, the upper floor has new styles in concept design and keeps a minimal atmosphere all around.

In 2006 the club was restyled and enlarged with the garden, that allows to the club to switch from disco-bar to dance club or art space in the blink of an eye.

Akab’s strength is to have an eclectic style and to change program every week, while every year it changes settings and trends to always be avant-garde with other clubs of Rome.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Akab | Bars, Music | Entrance ladies free, boys € 15.00
Via di Monte Testaccio 69 | Testaccio & Ostiense | +390657250585
Wed – Sun from 22:00

Coyote, this is a club located in the Testaccio area, the ambiance is very detailed and informal at the same time and the atmosphere gives an idea of being on an eternal vacation, as the enormous balcony faces the Monte dei Cocci and you can enjoy the view of Rome by night. You will find a wide range of people from their 20’s to their 40’s.

The club has an open space during the summer months and it is closed during the winter months but you can still go in the area as it has something to cover the roof. It has two internal rooms and a patio that goes all around the club. Once you go in, you can enjoy a drink or two in their patio. They have a vast menu of drinks, and during summer your drinks will be served with a bowl of fresh fruit such as pieces of melon, watermelon and chunks of pineapple. Yummy!

I like to go a little early and sit on the patio and sip a Bellini, before they move all the tables to create a dance floor, as this is one of favorite drinks but sometimes especially during those warmer months I switch to a refreshing mojito. Then I like to hit the dance floor inside, and dance till dawn. Coyote plays a mix of music mainly pop, hip-hop and disco music and on Sundays they play only house music.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Coyote | Bars, Music | Mojto € 6.00
Via di Monte Testaccio 48B | Testaccio & Ostiense | +393394639667
23:00 – 05:00 daily

To describe this spot I wanna start from its name, Doppio ZerOo, which must be written as I did because it’s a kind of flour used to make the bread. In fact this spot was born as a bakery and then year after year became a polyhedric place opened all the day, where you can have breakfast, lunch buffet, have a tea in the early afternoon, take aperitivo in late afternoon, have dinner or a drink during the night…

Despite the fact that you can go here whenever you want during the day, Doppio ZerOo is very famous for its “aperitivo”, one of the most fashionable in Rome. When you can have so much food that it becomes almost a dinner.

The cost of every drink is 9 euros, so pay attention to what you order, and then you can eat as much as you want from the amazing food that is on the bar: from “pasta fredda” till several kinds of pizza just oven-cooked….and if you see that there’s no more food on the bar don’t worry: in less than one minute an empty plate will be replaced with full plate.

Some tips before you go: first of all, even if the spot has a fashionable and cool furniture, it’s quite small and the biggest table is for 7 people, so it’s better if you aren’t a big group; and then, if you wanna have “aperitivo” during the weekend, I really suggest to go before 6.30 pm or you’ll spend your time outside waiting for a free table!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Doppio ZerOo | Bars, Snacks | Drinks (aperativo) € 9.00
Via Ostiense 68 | Testaccio & Ostiense | +390657301961
Aperitivo 18:00 – 21:00 & Dinner 21:00 – 23:00 daily

Tucked away below street level, hidden by the flashy light of a kebab store on via Massaia, Il Melograno is Garbatella’s only “enoteca”. ‘Enoteca’ is an odd term in Italian because it means both a wine retail shop and a place where you can sit down and drink some quality wine rightly combined with the appropriate foods.

Il Melograno is mainly this second type of enoteca. It is run by two brothers whose kind manners, together with the excellent wine they serve, will gently ease you into a relaxed mood for the evening. Both brothers have a degree from AIS (Italian Association of Sommelier) which would normally means that you are a stuck-up ?$%&$ who looks down on people who don’t know anything about wine. This is absolutely not the case with them. They will gladly suggest the best wines and explain subtle differences while never being condescending and while communicating their love for the subject matter.

You can opt to have dinner there or simply go after hours for a drink. Every day, there is a €20 special dinner menu. Otherwise, you can choose your dishes à la carte. Last time I went, I had bruschettine with mozzarella and bottarga, crostini ai pesti vegetali, and swordfish tartare. All this while enjoying an excellent glass of Vieris Sauvignon Vie de Romans. Il Melograno also has a good selection of home-made desserts and these are sublimely accompanied by great dessert wines. I had cantuccini with a Muffato Castello della Sala Antinori.

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Il Melograno | Bars, Restaurants (Italian) | Main Meal € 30.00
Via Guglielmo Massaia 9 | Testaccio & Ostiense | +39065115609
Mon – Fri 10:30 – 15:30 & 19:00 – 00:00, Sat 19:00 – 00:00

The Joia is one of the most popular clubs in the Testaccio area. The elegant and chic style, as demonstrated especially by the restaurant and lounge bar, where every evening we are likely to meet characters from the world of entertainment, footballers and celebrities.

The main colour of the club is white, but some small details of design and exotic plants scattered throughout the restaurant make the atmosphere very particular.

The club is on three floors: the lower hall is the largest room dedicated to the real disco for those who love dance.

The central hall, named “Vintage Room” is dedicated to all those who love the music of the years 70/80.

The upper room, called “Joiello” (a word game between Joia and Gioiello,which in Italian means gem), is dedicated mainly to the restaurant (15 euros with drinks and dinner buffet), opening at 21:00. After dinner at 00:00 it turns into a disco hall and becomes the coolest floor of the club, where only those who reserved the private room at the table or selected clients can enter.

This is the most beautiful room of the club: in fact the area reserved for piano is finely furnished with sofas and tables. The atmosphere is carefully guarded in all details, from the location of the air condition to sound, and wants to create a state of mental and physical relaxation, a fun necessary to clear the everyday working stress.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Joia | Bars, Music, Relaxing, Restaurants (Oriental) | Drinks € 10.00
Via Galvani 20 | Testaccio & Ostiense | +39065740802
Tue – Sun 21:00 – 04:00