NOTORIOUS Rome

Notorious sits at Via di S. Nicola da Tolentino, 22. It offers Italian and Mediterranean small plates before the music shifts to dance, house, and hip-hop.

Most venues in this part of Rome rely on proximity to the Spanish Steps to pull in a transient crowd, but Notorious does the opposite. By keeping itself a twenty-minute walk from the main tourist thoroughfares, the room attracts a local following that avoids the nightly surge of visitors near the Trevi Fountain. The bar is dressier than the casual trattorias found on the neighboring blocks, and the layout prioritizes booth seating for those who want to stake out a table for the night. You choose this over the historic center’s packed basements because it is a deliberate choice rather than an accidental stop for a passerby.