It took me almost a year of living in the North End to find this place. I'm a bad local. In any case, Lil Italy caught my eye when I took a random walk through the upper half of the North End, which I almost never do. Man, I was missing out. This place is adorable, sells wine, beer, and cordials (Bailey's Iced Mocha? Don't mind if I do!) and has quality espresso and coffee. The muffins are decent and, as someone else mentioned, good-sized. Every time I've been in (save for mid-afternoon on a weekday, when it was empty), there seems to be a small crowd of regulars with a smattering of tourists as well (it is across from Old North Church, after all). Yet another solid cafe in the North End. And Bailey's Iced Mocha. Seriously. read more

My favorite cafe in the north end- small, quaint, and consistent. They have the friendliest staff! Great for a quick bite or stopping in to have a coffee. Not a fancy place but always reliable! There's a small seating area in the back read more

Had an amazing blueberry muffin from here. It was soft and moist, not too sweet, and not flaky or dry at all. Randomly stopped here, and so glad we did! read more

This place is so cute! The workers were really nice and they have heavenly desserts. Their chocolate gelato was quite delicious and they dished out a generous portion, which isn't common with gelato places - so I loved that. We also tried this chocolate mousse cake and that was divine. It is a tad touristy seeing as it's conveniently located on The Freedom Trail, but - hey, I was a tourist when I dropped in and I found it to be a nice change of pace and good spot to relax after doing loads of walking. Highly recommend this little shop. read more

Great little place with a wonderful friendly staff. The food is delicious simple and light. Highly recommend it to anybody traveling or passing through town. read more

Caffe Lil Italy - Bacon lettuce and tomato with turkey club sandwich extremely delicious not heavy - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

The food was just so-so. PASS! Nothing really Italian about this place. A nice respite from a pop up summer shower while walking the freedom trail, but the service and hospitality were absolutely abysmal. They seem to do only one thing at a time, and nothing well. read more

Caffe Lil Italy - This place was a welcome respite from a pop up summer rain, however the service and hospitality was abysmal. The food was just so-so. Pass! - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Great espresso, coffee and muffins! The paninis look really good thought I didn't try them. Nice play with wi-fi, right across from Old North Church! Come enjoy an espresso with a shot of history! read more

I used to go here a lot but the coffee is just too inconsistent. It's also hit and miss with the pasties. It might be great or it might be stale. Depending on who is working, I get great service or I'm ignored. This is a walk-to place directly across from the front of Old North Church. read more

Good location for tourists. Good but slightly small selection of pastries. They don't allow credit cards so when I paid with cash, she said she is short couple cents which I didn't mind but instead handed me .94 cents in change. I asked myself, why don't she just give me a dollar, first of all it is their fault for not having enough change and second now I gotta carry this change around. I don't care about the $ but instead the principle. Customer service: I saw the young girl working there get into three arguments with customers. Maybe she was just having a bad day but maybe if you don't enjoy your job maybe find something else or sell the business and do something else. Another customer sitting next to me asked me if she was always this rude to customers. read more

Cute place, very nice person behind the counter. Just had an iced coffee but would go back to try other drinks!

Wasn't crowded but breakfast sandwich was very tasty. Great server. Right across from old north church.

HORRIBLE SERVICE! STAY AWAY!!!! THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF!!! We went in to get ice cream. We ordered the mint and they gave us pistachio. When we went up to get it fixed they gave us strawberry since they didn't actually have mint. There was no way for us to know since none of their ice cream is labeled and she didn't tell us when we ordered that there was no mint, just gave us another flavor without asking. When they gave us the replacement, it was half the amount of ice cream I paid for. HALF. (We barely took a bite of the pistachio, so it was very unwarranted to give us half what we paid for.) read more

A tiny but good place. Very good customer service from Laura and Danny. Food good and my latte hot like it should be. Banana nut muffin soft inside crunch on the borders read more

I love the bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwich here! I always get it on a bagel, has yet to disappoint. There's a $5 credit/debit card minimum so heads up to bring cash if you're just getting a small coffee or something. I don't know much about coffee, but theirs was pretty good and definitely not syrupy or instant. The place is cozy and right across from old north church. read more

This is a great place. There's great coffee, great location and locals come here. The place is small but has a great cozy old world feel to it. read more

This was a stones throw from our place and it hit the spot. We stopped for breakfast sandwiches, ham/egg/cheese and a sausage /egg/cheese on croissants. Although the croissants weren't made in house, it was exactly what I was looking for. Service was slow, she was the only one there (running register and cooking) and a few tables came in back to back, but it ok since we weren't in a hurry. read more

Just discovered Caffe Lil Italy. As a North End resident I appreciate the larger space and ambiance of this coffee shop. I got an iced coffee and breakfast sandwich, which was delicious and wasn't too pricey. The staff was friendly and it didn't take too long to get my breakfast - something I can't say for some of the other breakfast places around here. For the people complaining that there wasn't an Italian feel - some of us living here in the north end just want a cheap, not crowded, not touristy place to grab breakfast, this is for us :) read more

Nice little place ..cafe right across the old North church Has all the goodies of a north end cafe Cozy cute place read more

Great place to grab a muffin and a coffee. The wait is a bit long, but cleanliness is excellent!

I see this place everyday and have never stopped in before today - big regret! I stopped in for my mid day iced coffee and ended up getting a panini as well. The iced coffee was delicious and they have multiple flavors you can add (I chose caramel). My turkey BLT panini was made on fresh ciabatta and made right in front of me. The woman at the counter was super friendly! This is definitely going to be my new go-to for iced coffee in the North End. Can't wait to try a breakfast sandwich next! read more

Go to Starbucks if you want a "decent" expresso, notice the quotes for decent, went inside thinking I could get a good expresso reminiscing Italy, but was served an awful expresso. Save yourself from the trouble and go somewhere else. read more

This is the only place I visited twice during my short trip to Boston. Both times I had a latte, and both times was so impressed by how delicious it was! If you want some amazing coffee, check this place out. It's right across the street from the old north church. Yum! read more

Really great panini sandwiches and very fresh fruit. I ordered an expresso which had a great bold taste as well. The cafe is located in a really relaxed, low-key part of the North End. read more

Excellent for quick bite, solid customer service and delicious coffee. If you're looking for something quick and easy come here!

Well, I am not sure if it is a fraud or just a mistake, but they managed to charge me $2000 on my card when I got two coffees and a danish. Escalated this issue with my bank, but would avoid this place due to the strange charging practices read more

Let's start with the tantalizing aroma that hits you when you walk in the door. There are delicious fresh muffins and bagels. The latte was perfect and so was the cranberry-orange muffin. Nice to sit at the table by the front window and watch the passersby. Every person who walked in knew the locals I was dining with and they were all super-friendly. read more

Excellent morning stop for breakfast sandwiches and coffee right across the street from the North Church in Little Italy!

Breakfast was good, but took quite some time for the three of our sandwiches to be made. Recommended if you are not in a hurry.

Cute and small, a little pricey but not bad. I only had an iced coffee so I can't speak for how the fancier drinks fare but the iced coffee was pretty good. Good location to dip into after seeing North Church or to wait out tour crowds. read more

The best breakfast sandwich and iced coffee in the North End. Perfect place to people watch the Freedom Trailers and enjoy a Saturday morning. The people that run it are very friendly and appreciate your business. read more

Best espresso and muffins in the North End! My favorite place by far! Keep up the good work guys!

Best hot chocolate ever! My daughter ventured down the street and into this little place on the corner each day of our Boston vacation for a cup of their frothy goodness! read more

A handful of ice cream flavors, difficult to read chalkboard menus, and snotty staff. Once was enough.

We thought this was great! We needed a place to wait until the old north church opened and this fit the bill. The coffee and cannolis were great! read more

Good coffee, but horrible attention. We ordered two coffees and one hot chocolate, tasted good, but when we asked for water the lady said they didn't have on tap, and that i had to buy bottled. This wasn't even said in a friendly way. Seems like something they would do to get more money from tourists. read more

I had a great sausage breakfast sandwich and latte here! I loved that they fried the egg fresh rather than using scrambled eggs and the sausage seemed homemade. Small place, packed with tourists heading to the Old North Church read more

I love love love caffe lil Italy. I'm a regular and have never had a bad experience or bad food. Heidi is the best!! Would definitely recommend stopping by for some good food- would recommend the breakfast sandwiches and muffins! read more

Two double espressos ordered for $6.96 total. Looked like singles at about 1 to 1-1/2 oz each. No lemons peels to be found. How can this be called Italian? Horrible experience on a brisk winter day. read more

Very unfriendly and rude. Ordered a cafe mocha didn't taste like one at all. It seemed like she made something completely different. Won't ever be returning read more

Dropped in this afternoon looking for a quick bite and place to charge my phone. Woman at the counter was on the phone for several minutes while I stood waiting. I assumed she was taking an order but then I realized she was on a personal call which she remained on while taking my order for a prosciutto panini. The sandwich took 10 minutes despite the shop being completely empty. It was greasy and unpleasant to eat. The pastries in the case looked like they were from Costco. There were also a few pathetic looking fruit cups. A phone charge up is the only reason to come here and if you do, order a coffee. read more