Hungry in Italy in the early evening and all the dinner places still closed?
What’s the help, where can you get a snack?
The great Italian aperitivo culture is your savior!
It’s not easy to find food in Italy if you want to eat between the lunch and dinner hours. Unless you head into a tourist restaurant, which you really don’t want to do. Do it the Italian way and get an aperitivo.
We once toured around the center of Milan looking for food at around six o’clock in the early evening.
Dinner time in Italy starts at seven at the earliest, and there is no point in knocking on restaurant doors before then.
Those who enjoy dinner at five o’clock in the afternoon are in trouble.
We always eat late, between nine and ten in the evening. However, this time we had to be on our way to one of Milan’s airports by seven o’clock.
We wanted to eat at least something so we wouldn’t miss dinner completely.
What is an aperitivo?
Aperitivo is, of course, aperitif, but since in English aperitif is thought of almost exclusively as an aperitif drink before a meal, I use the Italian spelling for clarity.
The word aperitivo derives from Latin, – aperire means ‘to open’ (also in Italian aprire).
An aperitif will whet your appetite.
The meaning is the same, but for Italians, it isn’t just a drink to invoke your appetite.
Aperitivo is an appetizer, not just an aperitif drink.
“L’Appetito vien mangiando“, – also Italians say that hunger grows while you eat.
They do, however, mean concretely eating with the statement; eating increases appetite.
An aperitivo’s purpose is to awaken the senses to embrace the food, and it is done with a small bite in addition to a drink.
Cheese, cold bites of meat, small pieces of pizza, or bread are typical appetizers.
While in many countries it’s typical to have an aperitif in the same restaurant where actual dining is taking place, in Italy, it’s often enjoyed in a separate bar before going to a dinner place.
How to enjoy Italian aperitivo
Snacks at the aperitivo bar are included in the price of drinks.
Order your favorite drink and get to the buffet.
Food bowls are usually found on the bar counter or somewhere nearby.
Take a plate and select the food you like, aperitivi (plural) are often self-service.
In some restaurants, snacks are served to the table along with the drink.
It might be a small cutting board, sometimes just a small bowl of chips.
The food on the aperitivo table is therefore intended to whet the appetite before dinner, not to fill the stomach.
An Italian restaurateur won’t mind if you eat a little more. Italians in general are able to eat unimaginable amounts.
It’s still not fair to misuse the affordable service and gobble up your stomach full paying only dimes.
On the trip to Milan mentioned at the beginning, we ate decent plates, but we also ordered second drinks.
Starter drinks in Italy
Aperol spritz is the most famous Italian starter drink, but it can be something else:
A glass of dry white wine, sparkling or – especially in the north – also a splash of fortified wine, such as Vermouth.
Of course, the Campari-based Negroni is also popular.
Fortunately, there are no precise rules regarding this.
I personally don’t appreciate Aperol any more than Campari, so my choice is often a glass of sparkling.
Even in that, I prefer Cava to Prosecco, and no one has ever threatened me with a chef’s knife.
Delightful aperitivi of Alba
We have enjoyed some of the best aperitivi in Italy in Alba, Piedmont.
Both restaurants and shops were closed when we arrived in town from Rome by train on a Church holiday
A bar there saved us from starving to death. This salvation was found in the corners of the apartment we rented: An open wine bar, whose owner served us a big plate of pizza slices, cheese, and cold meats in exchange for a bottle of wine.
The price was twenty euros, with a bottle of local wine.
Besides the drink, nothing else was charged.
The charcuterie plate was so great that we visited the place a second time.
Aperitivos at beach destinations
The more touristy the beach, the smaller the snacks.
I’m not particularly an expert on Italian beach resorts, but I strongly suspect that the aperitivo offerings are not that great.
I’ve been to Rimini, but I don’t remember enjoying appetizers there.
On the other hand, in Rome’s Lido di Ostia, the aperitivo culture is also known in the beach bars.
There, though, food is already generally priced separately.
A drink typically costs five euros, food and drink a tenner.
If you’ve missed lunch and a day spent on a hot beach has drained your salt reserves to a minimum, an aperitivo on the beach while watching the sunset is not a bad option at all.
When the price of the food is charged separately, it can also be eaten as an actual dinner.
Especially if you are a small eater.
The aperitivo dishes at Rome’s beach restaurants often seem to be quite filling, but perhaps only one or two dishes are offered. The idea is to eat one bowl of today’s special. Then rinse off the sea salt and head for dinner.
We’ve usually gone straight from the beaches of Rome with our friends for dinner, so we haven’t tested much of the beach food.
Sometimes we’ve taken glasses of prosecco, and yes, they’ve also had a bowl of chips on the side.
In a few countries, anyway, alcohol is drunk without any kind of snack on the side.
But how did we do in Milan?
But how did we do in Milan?
I’ve been barking about Milan’s food here on the blog as well. I thought I’d never find good food in that city. (I have actually, on later trips, but that’s another story.)
On that one occasion, food at all, when we were having an early evening flight.
The door of one of the bars was open and the waiter was on the terrace setting the tables. We asked him with pleading eyes if there was any food available.
Bingo! The place turned out to be an aperitivo bar.
The waiter told us to eat as much as we wanted, of course for the price of a glass of wine.
The bar counter was full of various delicacies.
The downside was the rush for the airport bus.
We didn’t have time to taste everything.
P.s. Are you wondering how to dress for a dinner in Italy? Continue here: How to dress & dine in Italy