What Caffè Sant'Eustachio is known for
Rome's other great coffee institution, roasting near the Pantheon since 1938. The Ricci brothers, running it since 1999, still whip the Gran Caffè Speciale to order.
Caffè Sant'Eustachio has stood at Piazza Sant'Eustachio 82, a few steps from the Pantheon, since 1938, when it opened as a wood-fired roastery on a site that had housed a café called Caffè e Latte back in the 1800s. The Ricci brothers have run it since 1999, continuing a sourcing policy that leans on organic, fair-trade coffee bought through Slow Food presidiums, with beans imported directly from South America into a blend the shop calls 100% superior Arabica.
The signature is the Gran Caffè Speciale: a shot whipped by hand into a dense, almost mousse-like foam that holds together longer than a standard crema. The exact technique — how the baristas whip it, and how they keep the foam from collapsing — is not something the shop publishes or explains to customers, and regulars treat that reticence as part of the ritual. It has made Sant'Eustachio the rival camp to Rome's other storied roaster, argued over by locals the way football clubs are.
How ORBIS reads this city
Best for — The Gran Caffè Speciale, whipped since 1938, Ricci brothers since 1999.
Roasted in-house using their secret blend.
More in Rome
- Antica Manifattura Cappelli — Rome
- Antico Caffè Greco — Rome
- Barilla — Rome
- Battistoni — Rome
- Benetton — Rome
- Blunauta — Rome
- Braccialini — Rome
- Brioni — Rome
Where next
- Tazza d'Oro — Rome
- Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè — Rome
- Antico Caffè Greco — Rome
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