Gatsby Cafè occupies a two-floor corner at Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II 106 in Esquilino, the large arcaded square east of Termini that has spent the last decade shaking off a rough reputation. The room runs from morning espresso through to late cocktails, an all-day format wrapped in art deco styling and a regular live jazz programme.
The bar suits drinkers who want a single address that carries a whole day, coffee and a pastry early, a plate at lunch, and a proper cocktail with music after dark. It works less well for anyone chasing a hidden speakeasy or a quiet date, because the ground floor opens to the square and the upstairs room leans social, especially on jazz nights.
The local guide Testaccina credited Gatsby Cafè with helping start the renaissance of the Piazza Vittorio district, framing it as one of the first places to bet on the square turning around. The interior plays the Jazz Age theme straight, with deco lines, a marble-topped bar and a soundtrack that moves to live sets later in the week. The two floors split the day, with the street level working as a cafe and bistro and the upper room holding the evening drinking.
What to order shifts with the hour, an espresso and cornetto in the morning, an aperitivo spritz or negroni in the early evening, and a properly built cocktail once the bar staff take over the night. Cocktails sit in the low-teens in euros, standard for a central Rome bar of this style, and the kitchen runs a bistro menu for anyone settling in. The move is to time a visit to a jazz set and drink off the cocktail list rather than the daytime menu.
The crowd is a Piazza Vittorio mix of neighbourhood regulars, a younger after-work set and visitors staying near Termini, and it changes character as the day turns. Mornings are quiet and local, evenings fill with the aperitivo crowd, and jazz nights bring the busiest, most music-led rooms. The outdoor seating on the square is the draw in warm weather.
Best time to go is the early evening aperitivo window on a night with live music booked, when the upstairs room is at its best. Weekends run later, to 2am on Friday and Saturday, while the rest of the week winds down by midnight. Arriving before a jazz set secures a seat with a view of the players.
Tripadvisor and Restaurant Guru reviews single out the live jazz and the deco room as the reasons to book, with the music nights drawing the warmest notes and the daytime cafe treated as solid rather than special. That split is the point of an all-day venue, and it lets a single address suit very different visits. The outdoor tables on Piazza Vittorio are the prize in spring and autumn, when the square is at its most pleasant. Booking ahead for a weekend jazz set is the move, since the upstairs room is small and fills once the players start.
What sets Gatsby Cafè apart is its range and its timing, an all-day cafe-bar that helped pull a once-avoided square back onto Rome's map and still anchors its evenings. The jazz programme gives the cocktail hours a focus that most all-day venues lack, and the deco room ties the whole thing together. For a drink on Piazza Vittorio it is the standout. Start with the Rome bar guide, see how it places among the city's cocktail bars, and set it beside the best cocktail bars in Rome.
Sources: Testaccina; Tripadvisor; Restaurant Guru; Gatsby Cafe Instagram (2026); Yelp.
