Over my three weeks in Europe from this last visit, and across all my prior visits to Europe over…read morethe years, I have never been more disappointed and frustrated by one particular business establishment as I was by Coming Out Bar in Rome.
When we arrived at our nearby hotel from the metro, I was excited while walking to see that an LGBT-themed bar was so close to us.
We stopped by for dinner the next night, and I was very excited and hoped to have a great time, as the reviews seemed mostly positive.
I know some people will say, "It's right next to the Colosseum, clearly it's a tourist trap - what do you expect?!"
As an LGBT person, I wanted to give this place the benefit of the doubt and went in trying to be positive, even if the prices were a bit high.
The visit was awkward from the start, with a bouncer-type person at the door rudely telling us to go talk to a waiter when we inquired about sitting at one of the outdoor tables.
Not only was the experience uncomfortable from the start, but it just continued to get worse with every subsequent encounter and part.
Our server almost immediately went to work on trying to upsell us on menu items - the one that frustrated me the most were the '2 for 1 happy hour drinks'.....or at least, that's the way he described them.
What we actually got were two drinks that were EACH double the cost and supposedly "double shots". It most certainly did NOT taste like a double in any way whatsoever, however.
It was likely just extra syrup/sugar in it, because it literally made my stomach feel horrible afterwards.
So - not only did we NOT get 2 for 1, but we also paid DOUBLE for each of these weak, extremely sugary drinks.
Just all around extremely deceitful and sketchy behavior.
Not a single interaction here felt like anything other than trying to find a way to scam you out of more money.
The vibes of all the other patrons was also disheartening - literally everyone else sitting around us just looked irritated and ready to leave.
As for the food we ordered, everything was just OK. Which is fine, I didn't expect Michelin-starred food at a bar next to the Colosseum.
But one note - avoid the pesto pasta.
The other menu items we got, such as the supli, were decent enough (but nothing worth writing more about), but the gnocchi pesto was absolutely TERRIBLE.
Absolutely FLAVORLESS, cold, and a very small portion (that was still hard to finish because of how bad it was).
To round out an all around horrible experience, we got slapped with various service charges with the final bill, which STILL prompted us to tip, with options STARTING at 15% and NO WHERE on the screen to even select a NO TIP option.
Just one more example of this place being a deceitful scam, right up until the very bitter end.
Whether a regular tourist looking for a place near the Colosseum or an LGBT person looking for a safe space in Rome to visit, I do NOT recommend this horrible, low-quality, low-class, scam of an establishment WHATSOEVER.
Shame on you, Coming Out Bar.
Shame on you.