11 Best Bars in Italy

This backstreet birroteca ("beer bar") has been dispensing distinguished brews for the last 40 years, and is a favorite haunt of students and beer aficionados of all ages. Local Sardinian craft beers and lagers and ales from around the world feature on its extensive and changing menu, many of them hand-pulled. The list of panini is almost equally long and equally impressive, and nachos are also served.

A friendly, family-run Irish pub opened since 1980, overseen by two labradors named Guinness and Gin, serves an ample selection of beers, spirits (excellent gin choice, naturally), and cocktails (mojito by the jug). They also do decent food (classic pasta and pizza are mainstays) and show live televised sports.

Just a few steps from Porta Soprana and the Childhood Home of Christopher Columbus, this cavernous basement space offers cocktails, a selection of draught beers, and live entertainment in the evenings, including cabaret, karaoke, and (on Friday and Saturday evening) local bands. There are succulent hamburgers, Ligurian pasta dishes, and other hot snacks on the menu, and the place makes a handy stop for a sightseeing pause during the day, too.

This chummy, no-frills pub is too nice to be considered a true dive bar, but the dim lighting, rock playlist, and locals-only vibe make it a reliable spot for a night out. The outdoor tables are so close together that making friends with neighboring revelers is essentially required.

This traditional Irish pub, the oldest in Rome, probably hasn't changed much since it first installed its rustic wooden features in 1976. Expect raucous nights of beer and singing.

The popular Italo-Irish pub Inishark, located midway between San Marco and Rialto, is known for its variety of international beers, live music, and live sports on the TV.

Guinness and gab flow freely from 5 pm to 1 am at this pub, a favorite expat and student hangout since the 1990s. There are Irish, Italian, and Belgian brews plus cider on tap, as well as sports on TV and occasional live music, either Irish or rock. Small sandwiches are available until late.

A long menu of imported brews makes this a true beer oasis, although there are also good wines available by the bottle or the glass. Locals love the generous happy-hour buffet that runs from about 6 pm to 8 pm every day, but come early to snag one of the outdoor picnic tables that overlook the piazza. Best known as a low-key drinking spot, the bar also doubles as a specialty food store that stocks Italian jams, chocolates, and pastas.

Affectionately shortened to “Makke” by Romans, this tiny pub can’t contain the number of beer lovers who flock here at all hours to indulge in a craft pint, or three. Patrons spill out onto the sidewalk behind Piazza Trilussa, sipping the carefully selected artisan brews that arrive from around the world. There is a rotating selection on the 16 taps, and an impressive list of bottled beer.

In the backstreets of the upper town, this pub offers a warm and welcoming atmosphere, energetic jazz music (sometimes live), and a range of international draft and bottled beers as well as aperitifs and cocktails. Service is fast and cheerful, and there's seating indoors and out. Snacks are available, too.

If you want to escape from the noise and bustle of Ortigia during high tourist season, this well-hidden courtyard pub in one of the island's backstreets will feel like an oasis of calm. Sit in the secluded garden and finish off your night with a drink and a bruschetta or something more substantial from the reasonably priced menu.