The name means ‘brakes and clutches’. The building used to be a mechanic's workshop. Tucked off in Piazza Trilussa, it appears on the World's 50 Best Bars list.
You get the password off their website, which changes often. The unmarked bar sits in an unremarkable side street. You buzz the door, say the word, and enter a room done up in full 1920s Prohibition theatre.
More than 850 wines live in this room, floor to ceiling, in a space that has apparently decided to exist outside of time. There are 17th-century panels in the ceiling, modern art on the walls.
A tiny square, a few wobbly tables, Aperol Spritzes that keep coming, fairy lights as the sun goes down. Operating within the courtyard of Church of Santa Maria in Cappella, a Romanesque structure from 1090, during the pontificate of Urban II.
Romans will tell you Bar San Calisto is as iconic as the Colosseum. The house red comes in a carafe and costs about €3. It's poured into tiny tumblers. The Campari spritz is cold and correct. The Peroni arrives in big, ice-cold jugs.