Cafeography
Rome · Ostiense & Garbatella

Cafés in Ostiense & Garbatella

Via Ostiense's gasholder and old industry, and Garbatella's courtyard housing from 1920.

Photo: Mattia Sinisi, Pexels License

Ostiense is Rome's old industrial strip along the road to Ostia, south of the Aurelian Walls. Its landmark is the Gazometro, a steel gasholder that went into service on 13 July 1937: almost 90 meters high and 63 meters across, built by Ansaldo with Klönne of Dortmund.1

Garbatella, on the slope to the east, was built as a planned district for the workers of those industries. King Vittorio Emanuele III laid its first stone in Piazza Benedetto Brin on 18 February 1920, and it is divided into lotti, blocks of flats set around courtyards and gardens.2 There are 62 of them.3

Local tip: Cafè Merenda by the Gazometro is closed on Mondays; on other days go before 15:00, when it shuts on weekdays.6

At a glance

62Cafés listed
7With opening hours
06:00Earliest opening
03:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: il Bistrot di Mary Anne, from 06:00 (Daily 06:00–21:00).
  • Closes latest: T-Bar Ostiense, until 03:00 (Mon–Wed 08:00–02:00 · Thu–Fri 08:00–03:00 · Sat 10:00–03:00 · Sun 10:00–02:00).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (21%), bakery café (10%), wheelchair access (5%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Rome.

Coffee chains in Ostiense & Garbatella

Via Ostiense and Andreotti

Via Ostiense has more cafés than any other street in the area, with Circonvallazione Ostiense next. Pasticceria Andreotti, at Via Ostiense 54b, was opened in 1931 by Bruno Andreotti and his wife Ada as a pizzeria and pastry shop; it concentrated on pastry from the 1950s, added a café and deli in 1998, and was named a historic shop by the city in 2011.4

Further down, Gran Caffè Violante is at Via Ostiense 104, beside the Centrale Montemartini museum, and T-Bar Ostiense, at 182/a, stays open until 02:00, and until 03:00 from Thursday to Saturday.

Cafè Merenda by the Gazometro

Cafè Merenda, at Via del Gazometro 5a, uses a house blend from Torrefazione 68 and single origins from Aliena Coffee Roasters; in October 2025 a croissant cost €2.50 and a slice of cake €3.50.5 Filter coffee is brewed in a Moccamaster, and the specialty coffees rotate, from Ethiopia to Brazil.6 Its yeasted pastries are often filled with pastry cream, and the flat white comes with a double espresso.6 It opens Tuesday to Friday 08:00–15:00 and weekends 08:30–15:30, and is closed on Mondays.

Garbatella's piazzas

Bar Foschi, on Piazza Bartolomeo Romano facing the Teatro Palladium, has been Garbatella's favorite coffee bar since the 1950s, known for cornetti filled with jam or honey.3 The bar on Piazza Giovanni da Triora that viewers know from the TV series I Cesaroni is being turned into a restaurant, the Osteria Garbata e Bella.7

For an early coffee, il Bistrot di Mary Anne, on Largo Giovanni Chiarini, opens daily at 06:00; Eden on Via Cornelio Magni and Caffè Guadagnino on Via Caffaro follow at 06:30. In the lotti's small squares, Bartali on Via Giovannipoli and La Bottega di Merlino on Piazza Oderico da Pordenone put tables outside.

Getting there and the Porto Fluviale walls

Garbatella has its own station on Line B, one stop from Piramide at the top of Via Ostiense.2 Don't go looking for Blu's mural on the former barracks on Via del Porto Fluviale: it was removed by agreement with the artist once the residents had been given homes. New works under the Connecting Ostiense project, among them a wall by Geometric Bang on the same street, now run between the Piramide and the Porto Fluviale.8

Sources

  1. The Gasometro (or Gazometro), Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale), accessed October 2026
  2. Garbatella, Wikipedia (Italian), accessed October 2026
  3. Rome's Garbatella Neighborhood, An American in Rome (November 20, 2019), accessed October 2026
  4. Andreotti dal 1931, Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale), accessed October 2026
  5. Dove bere caffè specialty a Roma, gli indirizzi per il 2025 (Luca Pucci), Puntarella Rossa (October 23, 2025), accessed October 2026
  6. Cafè Merenda, Turismo Roma (Roma Capitale), accessed October 2026
  7. Chiude il bar dei Cesaroni: l'iconico set alla Garbatella diventerà un'osteria (Rebecca Manzi), GreenMe (April 7, 2026), accessed October 2026
  8. Street art nel quartiere Ostiense di Roma. I nuovi lavori nell'area del Porto Fluviale cambiano la mappa (Livia Montagnoli), Artribune (December 14, 2025), accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

More of Rome

Testaccio & Aventino

28 cafés

Trastevere

33 cafés

Monti & Celio

57 cafés

Esquilino & Termini

118 cafés

Spagna & Trevi

73 cafés

Prati & Vatican

169 cafés

Centro Storico

131 cafés

In Ostiense & Garbatella, also browse: Outdoor seating Pasticcerie Open by 6am Open late Wi-Fi

FAQ

Ostiense & Garbatella cafés: questions

When was Garbatella in Rome built?

Garbatella was begun as a planned district for workers in the Ostiense industries: King Vittorio Emanuele III laid the first stone in Piazza Benedetto Brin on 18 February 1920. It is divided into 62 lotti, blocks of flats around courtyards and gardens. Bar Foschi, facing the Teatro Palladium, has been its favorite coffee bar since the 1950s.

What is Pasticceria Andreotti on Via Ostiense in Rome?

Andreotti, at Via Ostiense 54b, was opened in 1931 by Bruno Andreotti and his wife Ada as a pizzeria and pastry shop. It focused on pastry from the 1950s, added a café and deli in 1998, and was named a historic shop by the city of Rome in 2011.

Is the Blu mural on Via del Porto Fluviale in Rome's Ostiense still there?

No. Blu's mural on the former barracks on Via del Porto Fluviale was removed by agreement with the artist. New works under the Connecting Ostiense project, including a wall by Geometric Bang on the same street, now run between the Piramide and the Porto Fluviale.

For café owners

Own a café in Ostiense & Garbatella?

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design