Cafe Risorgimento

right off piazza del risorgimento, where the vatican walls meet the rest of the city and the streets do that roman thing of being simultaneously hectic and completely unbothered. cafe risorgimento has built something real in that particular pocket of rome, the kind of local standing that doesn't come from foot traffic alone. if you're moving through the prati neighborhood or crossing from castel sant'angelo, this is worth a deliberate stop, not just a convenient one. the square itself is loud, pigeons and tour groups and buses, but that contrast tends to make a good espresso feel even more earned. go in the morning, before the day gets away from you, and order a coffee at the bar the way rome has always done it.