Coffee Ordering

Coffee

Italy has amazing coffee but you have to know how to order it correctly. The biggest mistake that I made was ordering a "latte" from a cafe. Instead of receiving a nice espresso over steamed milk, the barista gave me a cup of milk. This was very confusing and embarrassing but I quickly realized that "latte" in Italian means "milk" in English. If you would like a latte while you're in Rome, order a "latte macchiato".

While your coffee order in Italy might be a littler different than your order at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks, I promise it's just as good. However, if you do miss your go to American iced coffee, there is a shop in between the Tiber and Guarini campuses called Mammo Street Food. (Find the address for Mammo Street Food in my blog post about Restaurants in Trastevere!) This is the place all of the study abroad students would go to when they needed a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich or a class iced coffee.

Here are a few other coffee translations:

• Cappuccino = cappuccino, but they are typically smaller than they are in America. It is also not typical to order a cappuccino in the afternoon as Italians believe too much milk after a meal can upset your stomach.

• Espresso = espresso, or espresso with cream = café con panna

• Iced coffee = caffee freddo

One last important thing to know is that you can order coffee at the counter of a cafe, but if you chose to sit down with your coffee, you will be charged for the table and service charge.

Citations:

Five Key Rules for Ordering Coffee in Italy (Don't Walk into an Italian Bar Without Them). The Italian Concierge. (2012, December 25). https://italianconcierge.com/blog/entry/five-key-rules-for-ordering-coffee-in-italy#:~:text=ask%20for%20a%20latte%20macchiato,scuro%20(a%20dark%20one).

Image from Wix.com.