Bar San Calisto
Marcellino Forti still sells coffee under a euro off the same seventies counter in Trastevere.
Why go
Marcellino Forti opened on the square and nobody has restyled the room since. Gambero Rosso International counts '70s furnishings, coffee under a euro, bottled beer, and a handful of ice cream flavours
, with the prices holding while the rest of Trastevere reinvented itself for visitors. Gambero Rosso calls the Sanca
a second home for Trastevere regulars, and says the visitors who arrive expecting something unique find a bare-bones bar instead. In 2018 the police shut it over its clientele and the night noise. It reopened three days later and carried on (Gambero Rosso International).
Order this / avoid
- Order: a coffee at the till, a bottled beer to drink standing, and a sgroppino if the afternoon is going that way. The gelato runs to a handful of flavors and is the whole dessert list.
- Avoid: planning a meal around it. There is no kitchen here, and a seat outside is a competition rather than a booking.
What locals & experts say
- Gambero Rosso International (2025):
'70s furnishings, coffee under a euro, bottled beer, and a handful of ice cream flavours. No restyling, no nods to trends. Yet it works.
1 - The same piece, on what it is like inside:
a bare-bones, often overcrowded and noisy bar, with basic service and an unusual crowd. A venue that doesn't try to please.
1
Good to know
- Timing: all day and into the night. Sunset is when the square fills.
- Booking: none. You order at the till and find a chair or you stand.
- Where: Piazza di San Calisto, a minute from Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Verdict
could-visit — Nothing here is cooked and that is the point, so it is judged on what it is: a Trastevere bar that has sold coffee under a euro and bottled beer off a counter nobody has restyled, with the founder still at the till. Gambero Rosso's own framing is that the neighborhood around it has turned into a stage set and this room has refused to join in, which is a rarer thing in central Rome than any dish. Jeff has it saved. It sits at could-visit because there is no cooking to judge, and because the same piece is honest that the room is often overcrowded, noisy and served briskly. Go for a coffee and the square, not for dinner.