If you get hungry in Trieste you are never too far away from a café, a small local restaurant or a pizzeria. Most of them are scattered in the old town between the Grand Canal and Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia. It is hard to recommend any particular place - check what they have on offer and try their food.
Salato Dolce e Piccante
We decided to go light so we just dropped by Salato Dolce e Piccante. It is a fast-food place serving pizzas and various drinks. You can take the food away or eat at the simple bar, watching Trieste rolling by through large windows.
We tried Mediterranean pizza with cheese, tomatoes and ruccola. The ingredients were fresh and the pizza refreshing in summer heat. It was cheap too - we only paid €3.50 for a slice of pizza and ice-tea.
Location: Via Oriani 7. Open: 9-23.
Giudici Panificio Pasticceria
You can satisfy your sugar cravings just a few doors away from Salato Dolce e Piccante, at Giudici Panificio Pasticceria. There are a few newspaper articles displayed in its shop window and we understand that their tradition of making breads, pastries and sweets stretches as far back as three generations. Apart from huge variety of breads (over 100 types of specialty breads), Giudici Panificio Pasticceria offers various cakes, desserts and artisan chocolates, all temptingly displayed. We decided on two Italian classics, the lemon cake and the peach polenta cake, which, unfortunately, were nothing to shout about. However, if you happen to pass by the pasticceria, do step inside. The shop appears to be very popular with the locals (there was a queue) thus we are convinced that some of their goodies, apart from the two cakes we had, must be very good. They also won a few prizes at various food festivals a few years back.
Location: Via Oriani 9/a.
Bar Via Delle Torri
The Italian coffee brand Illy is synonymous with Trieste for this is where the coffee company was founded by Francesco Illy in 1933. Of course, we would not miss the opportunity to sample a cup of Illy coffee there. You would imagine that all the cafés in Trieste would serve Illy coffee, but this was not so. You can still find Lavazza and other local coffee brands at the various cafés. However, we were determined we must try a cup of Illy coffee! After a leisurely morning walk around the city, we stopped for a cuppa at an Illy Coffee Bar at Via Delle Torri. Our espressos arrived soon enough and after the first sip, I could not help but wonder why coffees taste better in Italy than in other European countries, even if it is Illy! We could not stop at one cup obviously, so we ordered another and this time a cold coffee concoction flavoured with caramel, which was surprisingly good. As we were feeling a little peckish, we decided to nibble on their light and fluffy croissant, a perfect mid-morning snack. There are other nibbles available at Bar Via Delle Torri. We saw locals drinking beer and munching on freshly baked bread and olives - at 10 o'clock in the morning! (ps: Starbucks fans, we could not find a single Starbucks outlet any where in the town centre … hmm, strange indeed!)
Location: Via Delle Torri 3.