Take Out in Italy? Think Again!

Italian’s View of Eating and Drinking on the Run

Take out, or take away, as Italians call it, is a touchy subject. Don’t get caught walking and eating or drinking at the same time in Italy! Eating on the run is a touchy subject in Italian dining culture!

While studying at an Italian university for the summer in Viterbo, a small town near Rome, I became keenly aware that Italians value a sit down meal and spending time at the coffee bar to drink a beverage rather than taking food and drink to go.

Ordering Take Away Food

I wanted to eat a fast meal, so I dropped by a café to order a sandwich wrap. The man behind the counter happily made the sandwich and gave it to me wrapped partially in silver aluminum foil, with the top of the sandwich exposed with meat and tomatoes falling over the top of the wrap on to the floor. I told him I wanted to have it as take away, which means “to go”. He bristled and gave me a disapproving glare. I was really hungry and had so much work to do that I dismissed his looks. Then after leaving with my sandwich, I decided to eat it while I walked back to my apartment to save time.

People on the street would stop and stare at me as I walked by. They shook their heads and grumbled to each other. Noticing this, I looked back at them. They looked at me, then my sandwich, then back at me, and shook their heads again. I stopped eating it and dropped my hand down so the half-eaten sandwich was not as noticeable. I learned that “thou shall not eat a meal and walk at the same time!”    

McDonalds, a change from the “eat in” culture?

Well, no. One lonely McDonalds restaurant stood outside the city walls of Viterbo, cast out from its central location that it once had inside the walls in Viterbo’s shopping district. The locals were in an uproar when McDonalds moved in on their street within the city walls, and fought to make the restaurant move outside the city walls to a lonely street that was not pedestrian friendly.

I found the McDonalds on the street and went in to see if they would offer “take away” food. They did not. The smiling, non-English speaking server popped a tray in front of me, loaded it up with something that looked like a Panini, not a hamburger, wilting fries and a Coke with no ice.

Picking up the tray, I looked around and observed that each person was sitting down to eat a meal. No one ordered take away. There was no drive through window in this store either. The people were sitting and enjoying their food. Most people were talking to one another. Only two people were looking at their cell phones to get information.

I pulled out my laptop and started working on a project that was due while eating my “Panini” burger. Again, I felt people looking at me, so I looked up and saw more disapproving looks. Eating and working on a computer? It’s so taboo in Italy, I discovered.

Even when we look at people driving vehicles in Italy, we do not see them trying to eat their food or drink, and drive at the same time. They have no food or drink in the car. There shall be no eating or drinking while driving or walking! I wish I had noticed this unspoken norm sooner.

Coffee to go? Forget about it!

There is no “To Go” Coffee at Italian coffee bars. The patron comes in, orders a coffee drink, the barista makes the drink, and the patron drinks the coffee while standing at the coffee bar or sitting down at a table. No one orders coffee to go. Coffee is served in a white ceramic espresso cup or a larger cappuccino cup with a white saucer under it. There are no paper “to go” cups. Coffee, to Italians, must be savored and consumed at the cafe.

On the Autostrada, the expressway in Italy, Express stop stations dot the expressway.  These stations provide gasoline, a convenience store and a coffee bar. To order coffee, a patron pays the cashier, who gives the person a receipt. The patron then presents the receipt to the barista who makes the drink. The drinks are served in the same ceramic white espresso or cappuccino cups with white saucers underneath. The patron drinks the coffee at the bar, and then leaves the cup with the barista.

Italians believe that coffee is to be savored, and enjoyed with friends. I watched the people at a coffee bar called San Siesto in Viterbo. The patrons and owners of the coffee shop have established a friendly relationship. The patrons come in, order a coffee drink, and talk to the owners and other patrons, finding out who is doing what. Other people come into the coffee bar to say hi to the patrons and the barista. They may not order coffee, but they come in to visit. It does not matter to the barista. The more the merrier, he thinks.

One of the English-speaking Viterbo citizens told me that Italians think it is funny to see the Americans clasping their paper cup of coffee and walking away from the coffee bar in America. He thinks it is disrespectful not to stand and drink coffee at the coffee bar. Also, he does not see how they can enjoy the beverage, when he sees them using the drink as a hand warmer!

From my viewpoint, the Italians have established a respectable attitude about their coffee and their meals.

Well, to be honest, food does taste better to me when I’m not trying to eat and drive, eat and walk, eat and work, or drink coffee on the run. Having to sit down to eat and drink, and stay a while and talk to the barista has helped me stay centered, connect with others, and let the stress go away for a while.