I randomly stumbled upon Il Palchetto while looking for a bit of caffeine on my last day in Rome, and I'm so disappointed that I hadn't visited sooner! The staff was super friendly (not entirely sure what happened with some of the previous reviewers -- perhaps there's been a staff change since then?), and both the food and coffee were outstanding.
It's a pretty standard Italian espresso bar; you can order whichever pastries or drinks you want, eat and drink at the counter, and then pay. There isn't really any seating or any extra bells and whistles, but they do a great job executing on the basics. They have a pretty wide selection of pastries, including croissants, crostata, cookies, and many other sweets, as well as mini versions of each if you want something more bite-sized.
My friend and I decided to split a croissant and mini pistachio crostata, as well as a cappuccino. The cappuccino was phenomenal, with a perfect even ratio of espresso, steamed milk, and foam. The espresso was, of course, outstanding, and it didn't feel overly acidic or bitter despite being quite strong. The mini pistachio crostata was very cute, and I appreciated that they had this little two-bite version so that we could sample multiple things. It had a great pistachio flavor, and the crust was nicely buttery and crumbly. What I was most surprised by was, surprisingly, the croissant. it had a great honeycomb structure and was very light and airy, but also had the classic flakiness and slight crispiness that I look for in a great croissant. It was nice and buttery, but not overwhelmingly so -- a solid croissant all around read more