La Maison (the bar in the Esquilino quarter of Rome, the zone between the Termini station and the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, the most ethnically varied residential neighborhood in the city center) is representative of the specific Esquilino cultural ecology: the neighborhood that surrounds Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (the large 19th-century piazza with its colonnaded porticoes, the daily food market in the covered market hall, and the specific mix of Chinese, Bangladeshi, Ethiopian, South Asian, and Eastern European residents and businesses that makes the Esquilino the most genuinely multicultural Italian urban neighborhood) has developed a bar and cultural program that reflects this diversity without being reducible to any single cultural reference. La Maison (the name itself. French, in a Roman neighborhood that isn't French, signals the specific Esquilino eclecticism) hosts cocktails, live music (jazz, world music, electronic), spoken word events, and the specific informal cultural programming that the Esquilino creative community produces.
The Esquilino context: the neighborhood (built in the post-unification period as a middle-class residential area around the new Termini station, now the most economically and ethnically varied central Roman neighborhood) is the specific counter-narrative to the monumental tourist Rome of the Colosseum and the Vatican. Piazza Vittorio market (the largest covered daily food market in Rome, with the specific selection of Asian, African, and Middle Eastern ingredients alongside the standard Roman market products), the Esquilino Chinese quarter (Via Principe Amedeo and Via Carlo Alberto area, the oldest Chinese community in Rome, established in the 1920s), and the Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurants on Via Merulana are the specific Esquilino food experiences that no standard Rome guidebook covers.
How do you want to see it?
Lazio, ItalyCompare the same experience on GetYourGuide and Viator, save what you like to My Trip, share it, and book when you’re sure. Nearest to this page first.
La Maison: Bar and Neighborhood
The Bar Program
La Maison's specific program (the live music calendar, the cocktail selection oriented toward the international spirits tradition, the rum from the Caribbean connections of the Esquilino community, the Asian spirits that the neighborhood's diversity makes available, the Italian craft spirits that the Rome bar scene has developed) positions it as the most culturally specific bar in the Esquilino zone: not the tourist bar near Termini (which serves the transient hotel population), not the upscale cocktail destination of the Prati or Parioli zones, but the specific neighborhood bar of a multicultural Roman community that takes its drink seriously.
Rome: food tours & cooking classes
Compare food tours, market visits and pasta-making classes with local chefs in Rome.
See availability & prices →Compare tours on Viator →We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.The Esquilino Nightlife
The Esquilino nightlife (the bars and restaurants around Piazza Vittorio, Via Merulana Ethiopian-Eritrean restaurants, the Chinese restaurants on Via Carlo Alberto, and the Indian-Bangladeshi restaurants on Via Turati) is the most genuinely international food and drink experience in central Rome, a neighborhood where the world's cuisines are available within a 500m radius of the main piazza, at the prices of the neighborhood's working-class clientele rather than the tourist markup of the centro storico (historic center).
Q&A: La Maison Esquilino
Is the Esquilino safe to visit at night?
Yes, the Esquilino is safe for normal tourist activity at any hour. The neighborhood has a reputation (among middle-class Romans who don't live there) for being "rough" that is significantly overstated: Piazza Vittorio and the surrounding streets are busy, well-lit, and active in the evening, and the specific criminality concerns (petty theft, pickpocketing near Termini) are no greater than in any other major transit hub in Italy. The specific caution: the immediate Termini station area (the first 200m around the station exits) has the standard Italian transit hub characteristics (opportunistic theft, irregular vendors), walk an additional 200-300m into the Esquilino and the character changes completely to a functioning residential neighborhood.
Internal Links
- Esquilino Nightlife: Il Multiculturalismo Romano
- Mercato Esquilino: Il Cibo del Mondo a Roma
- Roma Autentica: Esquilino Fuori dalla Mappa
- Live Music Roma: La Scena dell'Esquilino
- Pigneto vs Esquilino: Le Due Rome Alternative
- Mangiare Etnico a Roma: Prezzi e Qualità
- Termini: Il Nodo dei Trasporti Vicino all'Esquilino
