Necci dal 1924 (Via Fanfulla da Lodi 68, Pigneto, Rome) has two identities that coexist without difficulty: it is the historic bar-gelateria that opened in the working-class Pigneto quarter of eastern Rome in 1924 and that Pier Paolo Pasolini used as his neighborhood bar during the years he lived in Pigneto (from his arrival in Rome from Friuli in 1950 to his move to the more fashionable Parioli quarter in the early 1960s). And it is now one of the better casual restaurant-bar destinations in Rome for the visitor who wants to experience a Roman quarter that is genuinely changing rather than already transformed. The Pigneto neighborhood (approximately 4km east of the Colosseum, accessible by tram 5 or 14 from the centro storico (historic center) or from Piazza Vittorio) is in the specific state of Italian urban gentrification that produces the most interesting restaurants and bars: the original working-class character is still present (the second-generation immigrant shops, the elderly Roman residents, the mechanics' workshops) alongside the wine bars, concept cafes, and creative businesses that began arriving in the early 2000s.
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Necci dal 1924: What to Expect
Breakfast and Morning
The Necci breakfast, the cornetto and cappuccino at the bar counter in the morning, is the entry-level Necci experience and the most specifically Roman one: the bar has been serving the same morning ritual since 1924, and the quality of the cornetto (the breakfast pastry. Necci's version is lighter and less industrial than the standard Roman bar) and the coffee makes the trip to Pigneto worthwhile even for the visitor staying in the centro storico. The morning at Necci has the specific quality of a Roman neighborhood bar before the tourist economy has arrived, the regulars who stop for 4 minutes and leave, the newspaper, the counter stools.
Lunch and Dinner
Necci's lunch and dinner menu is a thoughtful Roman-influenced kitchen with seasonal ingredients, not a destination restaurant in the Michelin sense, but a reliable mid-price casual dining room (€30-40 per person with wine) that executes Roman classics (the cacio e pepe, the coda alla vaccinara, the seasonal vegetable preparations) with more kitchen attention than the price point requires. The garden terrace (the small patio behind the bar, open in spring and summer) is the best dining environment: the specific quality of eating in a Pigneto garden in the Roman spring, with the sounds of the neighborhood rather than the sounds of tourist Rome.
The Pasolini Connection
Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975, the Friulian-Roman poet, novelist, and filmmaker whose murder on the Ostia beach in November 1975 remains partially unresolved in its full circumstances) lived in the Pigneto and the adjacent Torpignattara quarter during the years he was writing his first Roman novels (Ragazzi di vita, 1955. Una vita violenta, 1959) and directing his first films. The Pigneto landscape, the working-class streets, the peripheral Roman character that was both ancient and modern, appears directly in Pasolini's work. Necci was the specific corner of that landscape where he drank his morning coffee. A plaque inside the bar marks the association. The bar has made no effort to exploit it beyond this acknowledgment.
Q&A: Necci dal 1924
Is the Pigneto quarter safe to visit?
Yes, the Pigneto is a normal Roman working-class quarter in the specific state of early gentrification, not a dangerous area by any realistic assessment. The standard urban caution (awareness of surroundings, not displaying expensive equipment conspicuously) applies as in any non-tourist-zone Roman area. Via Fanfulla da Lodi pedestrian street (where Necci is located, along with the majority of the Pigneto bar and restaurant scene) is a lively, sociable street that is more welcoming and less predatory toward visitors than the tourist-area streets around the Pantheon or the Colosseum.
Internal Links
- Dal Bolognese: L'altro Storico Romano
- Gusto Roma: Food Culture Capitolina
- Roma Autentica: I Quartieri Fuori Dal Turismo
- Cucina Romana: Coda e Cacio al di Fuori del Centro
- Aperitivo a Pigneto: Il Vero Orario Romano
- Roma Nascosta: Quartieri Veri oltre il Raccordo
- Pasolini e la Roma Postbellica: Contesto Culturale
