Restaurants are expensive in Rome.
Bars are not.
You can eat and drink fantastically in bars
Note that "bar" in Rome means the same as "cafe" in Paris.
Food is as big a deal as coffee and coffee is as big a deal as alcohol.
Mornings are as big a deal as night.
So these are all purpose friendly places to get your eating and drinking needs taken care of - whatever they may be.
Food is simple - but food is wonderful.
A sandwich in most bars in Rome is better than a $20 entree in most restaurants in the United States.
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Max's has three additional advantages.
a) A scenic location just outside the main wall of Rome.
b) A location right next to a first rate newsstand with both Italian and foreign titles.
c) A level of friendliness that is high even by the normally high standards of sociability that Italy is known for.
We have by now been in several bars.
So far, Max's has gotten first prize in the number of friendly people all talking to each other.
In the spirit of what the customers were doing, the proprietor of the bar, the proprietor of the newsstand and some mutual friend were all seated at a table on the sidewalk having the time of their lives.
If someone needed something from the newsstand, or the crowd was getting too big for the regular staff to handle, the relevant owner would get up and help out for a bit, then return to his happy table.
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The food and coffee here are wonderful -
But the food and coffee have been wonderful in every bar we have gone to.
So the plus here is the feel-good vibes of the establishment.
That said,
Let me use this review to make some general comments about Italian coffee bars in general.
a) You ask for a latte, you get hot milk.
That hot milk will be wonderful because Italian dairy is wonderful.
But this is not what your Starbucks training prepared you for.
If you want what an American would call a latte, ask for Caffe Latte.
b) Cappuccinos are actually foamy here the way they are supposed to be.
American cappucinos were great when only Italian restaurants made them.
They are just a latte variant suitable for syrup nowadays.
c) Fast-forwarding to what I have learned in other bars ...
FORGET THE CAPPUCCINOS AND THE LATTES AND ALL THAT COFFEE WITH MILK STUFF.
They are better than what you get in the United States -
But you are missing the Main Act if you spend your time drinking that stuff.
In France, most people order coffees. Few people order cafe au lait.
And that is a good call because the coffee is much better than the cafe au lait.
The same logic applies big time in Italy.
THE COFFEE ITSELF IS SO INCREDIBLY GOOD
THAT WATERING IT DOWN WITH MILK IS A CRIME.
Espresso is an on again off again commodity in the U.S.
Sometimes it is marvelous. Often it is not so marvelous.
Here espresso comes in three quality levels.
Quality Level 1: Amazing
Quality Level 2: Extremely Amazing
Quality Level 3: Oh My God, I Have Died and Gone to Coffee Heaven.
You miss all of that if you dump milk in the stuff.
So Man Up or Tough Girl Up and go for the straight coffee.
You will have zero regrets.
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Last note:
They have the best tuna and tomato sandwich you will ever eat.
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Gotta go now.
Another bar and another coffee await. read more
