The Best Cocktail Bars in Italy

Bars That Build Drinks to Taste

Several of these bars have no printed menu. At Fresco Cocktail Shop in Como, bartenders ask about tastes and build drinks around the answers, and homemade snacks come with them. Sartoria Cocktail Bar in Palermo serves off-menu drinks made from whatever flavours a guest describes. In Catania, Bohéme Mixology Bar works the same way, with a terrace and a retro speakeasy interior. Jerry Thomas Speakeasy in Rome, a hidden Prohibition-style room entered through a discreet alley door and a password, also has bartenders who tailor drinks to each guest.

Milan

Nottingham Forest is a small bar with a long menu of molecular and themed drinks. Its presentation features drinks served in unusual vessels, with dry ice and foam. drinc.different, also in central Milan, serves classic and original drinks from a menu that keeps changing. Its drinks usually arrive with small snacks such as flavoured water, marshmallows and popcorn.

Small Rooms in Florence and Verona

The Arts Inn in central Florence is filled with the owner's paintings and plays a rock or jazz playlist. Drinks are made one at a time while guests watch the bartender work. Archivio in Verona has seating for about six, a few steps from Piazza delle Erbe. Drinkers often spill out onto the street, and the bartenders are known for classic drinks and house-made recipes.