Pigneto grew up in the 1930s as a working-class quarter on the eastern edge of Rome, its brick tenements housing factory workers from the nearby industrial zone. Pier Paolo Pasolini filmed his 1961 debut Accattone on these streets, and the neighbourhood has never fully shaken its outsider identity — which is exactly why it became Rome's most interesting place to eat and drink in the evenings.
The pedestrianised stretch of Via del Pigneto is ground zero for the aperitivo scene: low-slung bar stools spill onto the street, the negronis are strong, and the crowd mixes local residents with artists and musicians. Street art covers the railway underpasses and many of the perimeter walls. The food scene has grown around a handful of restaurants that take Roman classics seriously without being precious about them, and the weekend farmers' market on Piazza Pigneto draws a younger crowd looking for good produce.