Vista Trastevere Roof Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Rome

Overt Racism, Terrible Service, Poor quality of drinks — Do Not Go

Avoid this place. There is no upside. The sunset view? Underwhelming. The drinks? Weak. The service? Appalling and discriminatory.

I came to Vista Trastevere Bar & Restaurant with a friend from Dublin around 8 PM just for a round of drinks before dinner. The rooftop was more than half empty with maybe six tables occupied. So, there was no excuse for what we experienced.

We were seated by an older man. Over the next 30+ minutes, we tried multiple times to get any of the three servers (the older man, a woman, and a younger man) to take our order. All of them brushed us off with “just a minute” while they continued to serve other tables, including people who arrived well after us. The woman server repeatedly passed by us without acknowledging our presence, even when I motioned for help.

My friend (white and blonde), a law professor, noted how uncomfortable the situation felt. She told me it seemed like they didn't want us there, and hinted that perhaps we should just leave. As an Asian traveler from NYC who has experienced warm and respectful treatment across Italy, I could clearly recognize this for what it was: overt racial discrimination. I don’t accept this kind of treatment. I told my friend we deserved to be served. This isn’t the 1800s.

I raised my voice slightly to make sure the older man heard me, and again he said “just a minute,” then never came back. Only after I raised my voice and insisted we be served did the younger server come over reluctantly. I told him we’d been waiting over half an hour. He offered a half-hearted apology, but didn’t take our order, and tried to pass us off again. I said firmly that this was not acceptable. Only then did he finally take our order.

I made sure to tell him out loud that the drinks shouldn’t take another 30 minutes. He said they wouldn’t. Even then, it took another 30 minutes for two watered-down cocktails (a Negroni and an Aperol Spritz) to arrive in a nearly empty restaurant. And when I confronted him about that, he had no real explanation.

I asked to speak to the manager, and even when paying the bill, we were ignored until I directly called out again to the older man. The woman server passed us by repeatedly, looking at us, then turning away. Not once did she stop to help.

When I told the older man (who seemed to be the manager) how unacceptable this all was, he showed no interest or concern. This was not just bad service, it was personal and prejudiced. This was overt racism, plain and simple. I told the older man exactly how shameful their behavior was, and how it reflected poorly on Rome.

The drinks were weak, the view was underwhelming, and the service was disgraceful. There is no reason anyone should support an establishment like this. Rome has so many better places. Don't waste your time or dignity here.

There is no upside to visiting Vista Trastevere. You’re better off supporting places that respect and welcome all guests equally.

This establishment is a disgrace, not just to hospitality, but to the welcoming spirit that so many other places in Italy proudly offer. No view or trendy rooftop is worth tolerating this level of mistreatment, especially when it’s fueled by prejudice.

Avoid this place. There...

Wish I could give a review of the food. We arrived early, to a nearly empty rooftop, and I gave the server our name for the reservation which he could not locate and he insisted we did not have a reservation. We did. And when he finally found it and walked us to the table he asked repeatedly if we were getting food or drinks. I was confused, I said both?!?! We sat, asked for water immediately,. I overheard him tell the table behind us that they were out of an appetizer. And when he dropped off the water I asked about the preparation for the seasonal appetizer, specifically if a single ingredient could be omitted. He said no. Red flag. I work in restaurants, typically if they cannot modify a dish it's because it's pre prepared and re-heated when ordered. We sat for twenty minutes. The table behind us ordered and he informed them that one of their selections was also unavailable. Another Red flag. The menu is not large. There's only a handful of appetizers and entrees. So we sat, Ignored for a collective 25 minutes. I threw a few euro on the table for the water and we left. The view isn't good enough to merit servers with bad attitudes and an extremely limited and expensive menu. Go literally anywhere else...

In 6 days of staying in Rome we saw the worst of all restaurants! We booked a table through the website for a family dinner for 5 adults and one child. For us it was a very important event, because we met in Rome as a family, having come from the USA, Germany and Israel! While we were choosing dishes for the meal, it turned out that almost half of the dishes were not available, although we ordered dinner for 19:00! We ordered what was available, antipasti and main courses. In the end, the order for the child and two adults was not brought at all! We waited more than an hour and still did not receive the pasta! We were all very upset, the child was hungry and cried, because he remained hungry! It was some kind of horror! The waiters confused us and lied to us, saying that we had to wait longer! There were also problems with serving wine and cocktails! In the end, we were forced to leave the restaurant and look for another place to feed the child and ourselves. We paid a high price with money, our time and false expectations for absolutely terrible service! The restaurant did not offer us anything for the harm...