Romebuddy.com explains Italian coffee bars, cafes, fountains, eating and drinking in Rome

and other places to
get a drink in rome...

In high summer, Rome is a hot town. Really hot! But unlike London or Manhattan, cool natural spring water trickles from drinking fountains on nearly every Roman street corner. Take a look at our pictures.

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Some of the fountains in Rome are centuries old, while others, although not so old, perhaps appear the more venerable underneath their layers of modern graffiti. Some are push-button operated, while others flow continuously into ornate bowls and cisterns carved from stone or marble. The correct way to drink from the type shown above is to block the stream by putting your finger over the end of the brass pipe, which forcibly diverts the water into a strong, narrow jet shooting up from a small hole on the top side of the bend in the pipe (which will hit you right in the face if you're not ready for it). You then simply lower your mouth towards the jet. An efficient and hygienic system, considering that stray dogs also lap around the end of the pipe on hot days.
In summer, drink plenty of water when sightseeing in Rome - It's free, fresh, cool and clean from the public drinking fountains - And especially make sure your kiddies drink a lot as well, and wear sun hats as protection against sunburn, sunstroke, and rapid body dehydration in the intense heat. Take full advantage of these wonderful drinking fountains.

Gypsies and workmen who are out on the street all day drench their hair under the flow as a precaution against sunstroke, while more genteel be-suited businessmen and women discreetly stoop for a quick cool sip as they pass by. But if you want something more than just water to quench your thirst or appetitie with, then you really should acquaint yourself with...

the bars of rome

Bars are a universal feature of Italian life. Unlike bars in the US or pubs in England, Italian bars do not just sell or major only in alcoholic drinks, but also a variety of hot and cold non-alcoholic beverages, the chief being of course coffee - espresso (caffè) or cappuccino, or half a dozen other ways of serving it, including chilled (caffè freddo). Also thé freddo (iced tea, in lemon or peach flavours) They also sell ice-cream, cakes, and a large selection of hot and cold snacks, pizza and sandwiches (although the best pizza can be found in, surprise, surprise, pizzerie, not bars). There's few things nicer in the world than sitting outdoors at a Roman sidewalk café, sipping on your drink while watching the Italian world go by.

Think of the bar as a café where you can also get a beer or a cocktail at any hour of the day (except between around midday and 4pm, when most shops close for siesta, reopening at around four and staying open till late. Actually most bars in central Rome are open all day, from about 7.30 am to midnightish, especially in summer when there’s a lot of thirsty tourists about. But the shops often close at lunchtime and when they re-open at four, they stay open till about eight pm.)

The amazing thing is the incredible number and variety of bars. On any street, there will be a bar every hundred metres or so, and they range from small standing-room-only affairs comparable in size to a London taxi-stand greasy-spoon kiosk, up to establishments which are really small restaurants, or large restaurants with a small bar attached to their side entrance. The level of service also varies greatly, but it is rarely ‘bad service’, for Italians take great pride in the way they serve food and drink.

If the bar is not busy, you may well receive a complimentary bowl of nuts or crisps with your beer or aperitif, and sometimes a small chocolate in the saucer of your coffee, and many orders are presented on smart little trays with paper napkins and metal spoons. Too long in England have we suffered under the plastic cup of dishwater called coffee, which we pay a pound for and then have to always go back to the self-service counter for a miserable sachet of sugar and a plastic spoon to stir it it with. Not so in Italy. Even the quickest cheapest coffee is served with manners and panache. And it is cheap - as a rough guide, around 55 Eurocents (about 35p at current Sterling exchange rates) gets you a basic espresso (called caffè) and a cappuccino goes at around 80 cents.

The only feature of Rome's bars which many visitors from overseas may dislike is the tremendous amount of cigarette smoking which local Italians indulge in, in bars, restaurants and public places in general. (click here for more information on smoking in Rome). You can avoid a lot of the smoke in a bar by sitting outside at a sidewalk table, but at the end of the day you must simply accept that smoking is a deep element in Italian culture, as much as pizzas and bad driving, and for the most part you'll just have to put up with it while you're here. Smokers are not actually as completely ubiquitous and uncaring as they may at first appear to be in Rome, and you may occasionally get lucky and encounter an Italian smoker who, if you are eating nearby, will extinguish their cigarette if you ask them nicely. But don't bank on it.

There are some rules and customs of procedure and etiquette in bars which take some getting used to for the Brit or US tourist though: The biggest problem for the non Italian-speaking visitor is that you must pay for your food and drink before you order it. This can be tricky if you don’t know the Italian name for something. Neither can you simply point to it and say "one of those please", as the cash-desk is nearly always at the opposite end of the room to the food-bar!

Even if you sit down at a table first and order from the waiter, a bar is not a restaurant, and usually has no portable printed menus, so you need to have a pretty good working knowledge of Italian vocabulary and cuisine before you try the 'ordering from the table' trick. Bars usually (but not always) charge extra for sitting down, sometimes per table and sometimes per person.

The easiest way to handle a bar is to just sit down at one of the tables (inside or outside). Pretty soon a waiter will appear, and he may start telling you that you're not allowed to sit there without paying extra. Tell him it's okay (just say 'prego' or 'okay' or something like that) and start ordering something. THIS METHOD IS ALSO THE MOST EXPENSIVE WAY, but as bars are pretty good value anyway, even at twice the price, it shouldn't hurt your wallet too much (hey, you're on holiday), and you can just relax and enjoy the experience.
Doing it this way means you don't have to stand at a counter feeling awkward. When you're sitting down you'll be able to think more clearly, you’ll feel less embarrassed of your language skills, and more in control (in spite of the fact that you're not!)
Most waiters in most of the busier central Rome bars speak a little bit of English, and if you can manage just a smidgeon of Italian every tenth word or so, and smile, you'll get by okay and everyone will be happy. No need to get confrontational or impatient. Everything goes slowly in Italy (apart from road traffic), so just chill. The waiter will probably (though not often) have a menu card for you to look at and, when your order finally arrives, even it’s only a couple of drinks, it is usually served very elegantly, and while perhaps being rather small in portion, not so good value for money quantity-wise, it will nevertheless look good and, as I say, be an enjoyable experience, especially if you can get an outdoor table. Try to get one in the shade though, as in summer it's already incredibly hot in full Roman sunlight.

WATCH OUT for pickpockets snatching or rummaging though your unattended bags hanging over your chairbacks or on the sidewalk. Try to keep your bags on you, or at least in clear view at all times. Gypsy children may come and beg off you while you are seated outside. This is just a diversion - their accomplices will be rifling or running off with your other stuff while the 'frontmen' have your attention.

You can also pay your bar bill while you're still sitting down. The bar waiter may bring you a written bill or he may more usually just tell you verbally what the charge is. Sometimes he'll want the money in advance, when you order, sometimes he'll want it when he brings the stuff, and sometimes when you've finished and are ready to leave. Play it by ear. Remember the waiters are well used to tourists, they'll tell you what they want, so don't worry. Don’t bother tipping if you're sitting down. I mean, if you feel like rounding it all up to the nearest Euro, okay, but don't agonise over it. If you have a quick standing-up drink at the bar-counter though, it's customary to just leave about 5 cents tip on the counter for the barman.
Many bars in the more fashionable areas of central Rome charge as much as 80 Eurocents or even 1 Euro for an espresso, but if you are in a bar where the price of a basic caffe is only around 40 or 50 cents, it's customary to leave a tip. Thus, it’s best not to be too tight-fisted when you go to a bar, expecting price and service conformity everywhere you go; On the whole you are getting extremely good value for money in an Italian bar, especially with current sterling to lire exchange rates.

Though Americans may be used to a high level of service and customer-consideration in bars and restaurants, British visitors to Rome will certainly be in for a dose of the finest coffee and snack-bar service you will ever have had in your life. Pay whatever it costs, relax and enjoy your beautiful coffee.

Like I say, sitting down table-service is the most expensive way. But it's easier, especially if you have small children with you, because chances are they'll be tired and tetchy from all the dragging around anyway, so they'll be glad to get the weight off their little feet for half an hour. Fill 'em up with coke and icecream and as much cool water as their pesky little bladders can take, it'll keep 'em happy for another hour or so.

By the time you've done the bars sitting down once or twice, you'll have expanded your vocabulary and developed the confidence to try it standing up, which will be much quicker and above all cheaper. Sitting down may cost you double. But if you can learn to do it standing at the counter like the locals, you'll be a true Roman. Note that Romans don't queue for anything. You may have to fight to get served standing at the counter, however, most experienced bar-servers have developed a sixth sense for knowing who's next to be served, they're pretty slick operators, and fascinating to watch at work.
If you order standing at the counter, it's usual to pay first for what you want and then go choose it. Yep, that's the hard part… But if the bar is not busy, you can sometimes choose what you want and order your drinks first, and then walk across to the person at the cash register, tell them you've just ordered a caffe and show them the pastry in your hand that the bar guy already gave you. Try not to cheat by just picking out a Snickers or Mars Bar. That will really brand you as a tourist. Try the local pastries instead.
But if you're still daunted by all of this, and are determined to cheat, then just go to McDonalds… Although it’s more expensive than at home, there's about twenty branches around Rome now, at least half a dozen of them in the central touristic area.