Café restaurants in Italy
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La Tazza d’Oro
- Rome, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
Head here for caffeine heaven. A busy, stand-up café with burnished 1940s fittings, this has some of the best coffee in the capital. In summer, a cooling must is the speciality, granita di caffè, a crushed-ice, sugared coffee served with a generous dollop of cream top and bottom. If you just want cream on either the top/bottom, ask for solo sopra/sotto.
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La Cantineta
Off Piazza del Plebiscito, the upstairs restaurant offers checked tablecloths, a constantly going TV and cheap and filling meals. It specialises in seafood, including local salted fish, which is best sampled over pasta as tagliatelle allo stoccafisso.
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Antico Caffè
Unfortunately located on a busy road junction, this is Cagliari’s most famous cafe. Sip cocktails on the terrace or inside amid the polished wood and brass.
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Caffè Pedrocchi
Since 1831, this neoclassical landmark has been a favourite of Stendhal and other pillars of Padua’s cafe society for heart-poundingly powerful coffee and caffè correto (coffee cocktails). The grand 1st floor is decorated in styles ranging from ancient Egyptian to Imperial, and during the day you can visit the Museo del Risorgimento e dell’Età Contemporanea, recounting local and national history from the fall of Venice in 1797 until the republican constitution of 1848 in original documents, images and mementos.
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Fischbänke Pic-Nic Bar
A sign next to the speakers that reads ‘This is not McDonald’s’ says it all. Run by artist-host– bon vivant Cobo on the site of the old fish market, the Fischbänke has the market’s original white-marble tables that you can pull up a stool at for a glass of Tyrolean wine, and quite possibly northern Italy’s most beautiful bruschetta, while Cobo shows you his artwork, which includes a series of charismatic cartoon birds. Hours can vary if Cobo feels like shutting up early or (more likely) staying open late.
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Caffè Sant’Eustachio
- Rome, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
A small stand-up place with some of Rome’s best coffee, this is always three deep at the bar. The famous gran caffè is created by beating the first drops of espresso and several teaspoons of sugar into a frothy paste, then adding the rest of the coffee on top. It’s superbly smooth and guaranteed to put zing into your sightseeing. Specify if you want it amaro (bitter) or poco zucchero (with a little sugar).
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Ristofer
- Rome, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
Technically Ristofer is a railway-workers' canteen, but it's open to the public and is cheerily welcoming and completely institutional. Just go through the massive wooden doors, grab a tray and choose whatever looks good on the day. It's not gourmet food, but if you want a cheap, belly-filling meal, at around €7 for a primo, secondo and dolce it's just the ticket.
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Cibi Cotti
The gruff old chap in the Godfather sunglasses is Vittorio and deep down he's a softie. His little white-tiled eatery is an in-the-know gem, tucked away in a raffish market arcade. Conversations bounce from table to laminex table as regulars feed on simple, filling and super-cheap choices such as sardine fritte (fried sardines) and rice with octopus, rocket and cherry tomatoes.
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Circus
A rather quirky hangout for sometimes over-serious Trieste, Circus lives up to its colourful name with a vaguely big-top decor mixed with old-time movie paraphernalia. It’s a great lunch stop with its ample panini (€4 to €5), huge bowls of salad (€5) and a selection of nicely priced primi (first courses). The atmosphere’s cool but not haughty.
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Caffè Capitolino
- Rome, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
This well-kept secret of a café is a lovely spot to take a break from the wonders of the Capitoline Museums and relax with a drink or a snack – the food’s nothing special, but the views from the rooftop terrace are stupendous. You don’t even need a museum ticket; you can enter from the street entrance to the right of the Palazzo dei Conservatori.
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Caffè Greco
- Rome, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
Caffè Greco opened in 1760 and retains the look: penguin waiters, red flock and gilt mirrors. Casanova, Goethe, Wagner, Keats, Byron, Shelley and Baudelaire were all regulars. Now it’s fewer artists and lovers and more shoppers and tourists. Prices reflect this, unless you do as the locals do and have a drink at the bar.
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Caffè Farnese
- Rome, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
We’re with Goethe, who thought Piazza Farnese one of the world’s most beautiful squares. Judge for yourself from the vantage of this unassuming café. On a street between Campo de’ Fiori and Piazza Farnese, it’s ideally placed for whiling away the early afternoon hours. Try the secret-recipe caffè alla casa (house coffee).
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Colicchia
The granita (flavoured crushed ice) here is the best in Trapani. Many flavours are available, including old favourites such as mandorla (almond), coffee and limone (lemon), but you should also try the seasonal delicacies, such as gelsi (mulberry), which is only eaten in from July to September.
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Café Café
- Rome, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
This is a hugely popular gem, the kind of pint-sized wine bar, restaurant and café that everyone needs in their neighbourhood. The changing menu features light stuff such as caprese as well as tastes from elsewhere like hummus and tzatziki. The few outside tables overlook the Colosseum at the end of the street.
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La Caffeteria
A delightful café in Maratea's central piazza with outdoor seating for dedicated people-watching. The cakes and pastries on display deserve serious attention. Try a local favourite, the almond-filled mandola. Also a great spot for evening drinks when the piazza is alive with music.
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Kave Club
A modern café/bar right on the main piazza. The in-crowd comes here to watch the scene with a generous glass of wine and large plates of aperitivi. Service is terrible but that doesn't seem to deter anyone. There's a good selection of salads, cheese and meat plates.
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La Caffettiera
Proud waiters in waistcoats serve potent espresso and cool Camparis to cross-legged businessmen and chichi shopaholics. Take a seat on the terrace (no one can see you inside, sweetie) order a slice of the torta di mandorla (almond cake) and compare shopping bag sizes.
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Ciampini 2
- Rome, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
Hidden away close to the top of the Spanish Steps, this graceful café has a garden-party vibe, with green wooden latticework surrounding the outside tables. There are lovely views over the backstreets behind Spagna, and the ice cream is renowned (particularly the truffle).
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Dulcis Caffè
A classy café, Dulcis doubles as a wine bar in the evening. It's frequented by slick business types and sophisticates who appreciate the well-stocked wine list. Situated at the bottom of the Viale Regina, it has a decked terrace with palm-fringed views over the bay.
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Linari
- Rome, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
Spot this by the crowds of part-of-the-furniture locals. It has the busy clatter of a good bar, with excellent pastries, splendid coffee and barside banter. There are some outside tables, but you’ll have to armwrestle the elderly ladies of the neighbourhood to get one.
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Gusto
For a quick bite to eat this handy bar in a converted rock stable is close to the Santuario di San Michele. After all that religious fervour relax with a glass of wine and a platter of mixed local cheese at the tables and chairs in the piazza out front.
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Il Ghiottone
In this small hole-in-the wall bar you can have a glass of wine and a sandwich. The bizarre mural on the wall takes some working out. Is it the Redentore meets the Hells Angels? Look again, it's a beer-swilling Neptune. What it means is anybody's guess.
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Il Faro Rosso
The liveliest café and bar at the port has an extensive menu of teas, hot chocolates, cocktails, wine and beer. The tables and chairs in the piazza are a great place for pre- or post-dinner drinks or even to while away an entire evening.
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Marro Caffé
- Enna, Italy
- Restaurants › Café
This is a good café for both the summer and winter months. It's popular with a 25-and-up crowd, who come here for coffee, snacks, drinks and aperitivi. The interior is sleek and there's a covered outdoor seating area for the cooler months.
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Caffè Svizzero
This Liberty-style place has been a stalwart of Cagliari café society since the early 20th century. Anything from English tea to cocktails is on offer in this elegantly frescoed locale, founded by a group of Swiss almost 100 years ago.
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