Argot tucks a cavernous downstairs room into the back streets behind Campo de' Fiori, run by three Roman owners as a salotto di casa with dim lighting, kitsch furniture and a weekend live music slot alongside the cocktail programme.
Tip: Annual membership card required at the door; the live music runs weekends and pushes the room past 02:00. No kitchen so eat first.
Address: Via dei Cappellari 93, 00186 Roma, Rome
La Punta is the Trastevere agaveria from the Jerry Thomas Project team, with one of Italy's deepest tequila and mezcal back bars paired with a tight Mexican-inspired food menu, and a tucked-in feel that reads more speakeasy than bar.
Tip: Small room, no street signage, reservations advised on weekends. Ask the bartender to walk you through the agave list; the back bar is the whole point.
Freni e Frizioni has run a Trastevere ex-garage at Via del Politeama since 2007, with a small inside room, an aperitivo buffet from 19:00 and the river-side piazza outside that fills with a young Roman crowd well past midnight.
Tip: Six euro cocktails through aperitivo include the vegetarian buffet, the cheapest way to drink in Trastevere. The piazza in front is the room past 22:00.
Coming Out opened in 2001 across the street from the Colosseum and anchors the Via di San Giovanni in Laterano gay strip, with a cafe-bar that runs from morning coffee through late-night karaoke and drag programming that fills the small dance floor on weekends.
Tip: Almost never closes, with a 07:00 to 05:30 daily cycle that makes it the go-to after-hours on the strip. Drag on Sundays and occasional Wednesdays.
L'Alibi opened on the slopes of Monte Testaccio at the end of the 1970s and is Italy's longest-running gay club, with three rooms, a rooftop terrace and a programme that swings between drag, house and commercial nights through the weekend.
Tip: The terrace runs through the warm months and is the reason to come; the inside rooms can be hot and packed past 02:00. Tessera at the door.
Garbo runs a small Trastevere cocktail room a couple of corners from Piazza Santa Maria, with a cozy bar layout, a mixed crowd and a thirty-something feel that pushes hardest from Thursday through Saturday past midnight.
Tip: Tuesday through Sunday only; the room fills by midnight on Friday and Saturday so plan an earlier arrival if you want a banquette.
My Bar shares the Via di San Giovanni in Laterano gay strip with Coming Out, with sidewalk seating across from the Colosseum, a small inside dance floor and a resident DJ rotating commercial house alongside karaoke and go-go nights.
Tip: The terrace tables are the seats to get if you want the Colosseum sightline; the inside dance floor is small and fills after midnight on weekends.