Salone Margherita (Via Due Macelli 75, Rome, below street level on Via Due Macelli, 200m from the Trevi Fountain, in the basement of the palazzo that has housed the Salone since 1898): the most historically continuous cabaret and variety entertainment venue in Rome, opened in the year of the Spanish-American War and the death of Bismarck, and still operating in the same underground space with the same Art Nouveau decorated interior that the Belle Époque fitted when the cabaret format was the primary urban entertainment form of the Italian bourgeoisie.
The 1898 opening: the Salone Margherita opened in the specific cultural moment when the café-chantant (the French entertainment format combining the café social space with the musical and comedy performance) was spreading through the major Italian cities as the primary entertainment of the emerging urban middle class. The Rome Salone Margherita was named after Queen Margherita of Savoy (the queen consort whose name the Margherita pizza was also named in the same period, the specific moment when Italian national identity expressed itself through the naming of entertainment venues and food after the royal family). The original opening featured the variety performers, the comic singers, and the occasional risqué sketches that the café-chantant tradition developed as its specific entertainment vocabulary.
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Salone Margherita: Interior, Program, and Visit
The Art Nouveau Interior
Salone Margherita interior (the original 1898 Art Nouveau decoration, the painted ceiling panels, the mirrored walls, the specific gilded stucco ornament that the Liberty style (the Italian Art Nouveau) applied to the entertainment space as the visual signal of sophisticated urban pleasure): the interior is the primary reason to visit the Salone Margherita beyond the performance program, the 128-year-old variety theater interior that has survived the two World Wars, the post-war economic crises, and the 21st-century entertainment market fragmentation with its original decoration substantially intact is the most historically specific theatrical interior in Rome for the variety and popular entertainment tradition.
Teatro Salone Margherita: tours & tickets
Compare guided tours, skip-the-line tickets and day trips for Teatro Salone Margherita.
See availability & prices →Compare tours on Viator →We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.The Cabaret and Comedy Program
Salone Margherita 2026 program (salonemargherita.com for the full current season): the program covers the Italian cabaret (the specific cabaret tradition, the political and social satire in the intimate setting that the 1898 variety format developed), the comedy, and the occasional musical theater production. The specific Salone Margherita format (the small stage, the underground space, the 300-seat capacity) creates the intimate variety experience that the larger Rome theaters can't replicate. Ticket prices: approximately €20-35.
Q&A: Salone Margherita
How does Salone Margherita compare to the Teatro Ambra Jovinelli for Rome variety tradition?
Salone Margherita (the Belle Époque underground cabaret near Trevi, the most atmospherically specific historical interior, the central location, the smaller and more intimate scale, the program weighted toward the political cabaret and sophisticated comedy) versus Teatro Ambra Jovinelli (the 1909 Esquilino variety theater, the larger scale, the more popular and working-class Roman comedy tradition, the neighborhood character). For the visitor interested in the aesthetic experience of the historical interior: Salone Margherita. For the visitor interested in the most authentically Roman popular variety: Ambra Jovinelli. The ideal Rome variety evening covers both during a multi-night stay.
Internal Links
- Varietà Roma: Salone Margherita e Ambra Jovinelli
- Roma Teatrale: Il Salone Margherita nella Stagione
- Art Nouveau Roma: L'Interno del Salone Margherita
- Cabaret Italiano: Il Salone Margherita nel Circuito
- Roma Belle Époque: Il Liberty e il Salone
- Tridente Sera: Prima del Salone Margherita
- Salone Margherita: Biglietti e Prenotazione 2026
