The Best Coffee Houses in Italy

The counter

In an ordinary Italian bar espresso is a dark blend drunk standing at the counter, usually with sugar, in a couple of minutes. The specialty bars on this page keep the counter and the small room and change what goes into the cup. At Coffee Studio 7Gr on Corso Venezia in Milan most customers stand, staff ask about taste before choosing a bean, and prices are above those of a typical Milan bar. Bugan Coffee Lab in Bergamo's Città Alta refuses sugar altogether and weighs every drink to a fixed recipe.

Filter coffee

All seven serve filter coffee beside espresso, which is still unusual in Italy. Customers choose among single-origin beans and the barista explains them. Sansone Coffee, a micro-roastery in Naples, offers pour-over and AeroPress. Verona has two bars. Ammazza Caffé, on a side street near the Arena, makes every milk drink with oat milk and uses no dairy, and Base by Garage Coffee Bros. near Castelvecchio pours light and medium roasts from its own Verona roastery.

Sweets

Base serves little or no food, and the others make up for it. Aroma Specialty Coffees in Bologna builds sweet drinks such as the caffè allo zabaione and serves crepes and pancakes, with tables outside under the portico. Sansone has pistachio cannoli and cornetti for breakfast. Taste Coffee & More in Treviso has homemade tiramisu and tables on a canal bridge.