Best cafés in Turin: authentic breakfast as a local
In this post you’ll learn the best cafés in Turin and discover where real locals go for breakfast. You will see what Italians typically order to start their day and the price you will pay for it. You’ll discover also a quick must-know guide for breakfast in Italy: what is an authentic breakfast in Italy, at what time Italians have breakfast, how to order coffee in Italy and how to order like a local.
QUICK LINKS
1. Italian Breakfast must-know
1.1 What is the typical breakfast in Italy?
Italians have a very light breakfast compared to most other countries.
A typical Italian breakfast is sweet rather than savoury . It typically consist of few biscuits, a croissants or a pastry coupled with a nice cup of cappuccino or an espresso. That’s it.
1.2 What time do Italian typically eat breakfast?
During week day Italians typically eat breakfast between 7-8.30 am. During weekends Italians tend to eat breakfast a little later, between 9:30 to 10:30 am.
It is very uncommon to see Italians ever having breakfast after 11 am.
1.3 What is caffe al bancone at the counter?
Italians have an unsual habit compared to the rest of the cultures. They like to take their Espresso at the counter, which is called “al banco” or al “bancone”.
The main reason for that is that it is much faster, as you do not have to wait for the waiter to bring you your order. Typically, Italian bartenders prioritize serving people at the counter because they know that they expect a faster service.
While they wait to be served at the counter, Italians eat their croissants standing. All pastries are exposed at the counter, so one can take the one it prefers by himself while waiting for the espresso to come.
The unintended positive benefit of having your Espresso at the counter is that it is also much cheaper. A coffee at the counter in Turin will cost you between 1,10 euro to a maximum of 1,50 euros even in the most prestigious historical cafés.
If you have the same coffee seated it might cost you up to 4 euros in the most popular old cafés.
1.4 How to order coffee in Italy
You can either go to the counter and literally shout your order directly at the bartender by saying for example “un caffe’ per favore” or you can sit down at the table and wait for the waiter to ask for your order.
The default option is an Espresso. So if you generically order “a coffee”, you will be served an espresso rather than a long American coffee
The most popular choices among Italians are: espresso, macchiato, ristretto and lungo. Let’s look at they mean exactly in the section below:
- Espresso, in Italy corresponds to roughly half of a small espresso cup
- Macchiato, is an espresso with a dash of foamed milk on top
- Ristretto: is a shorter version of an espresso, which results in a more powerful taste. This results in roughly one third of an espresso cup being filled with coffee
- Lungo: is still served in a tiny espresso cup. The only difference is that the espresso cup this time will be filled up to roughly two thirds of it
Watch-out: you might be surprised by how little coffee there actually is in a ristretto coffee ordered in Italy. Think about it this way, one “regular” espresso in Italy has the same amount of coffee as a “ristretto” outside of Italy. Hence, the ristretto in Italy is corresponds to a really tiny amount of coffee.
If you want to learn more about all the remaining types of coffee that you can order in Italy, such as caffé latte, marocchino, corretto, shakerato you can find more at the following post: https://weekendinturin.com/cafes/#ordering
1.5 Ordering cappuccino after 12
Please note that ordering a cappuccino in Italy after 12 is not only uncommon but also a rather shocking request. Ordering it in the afternoon is really akward.
Ordering a cappuccino while eating a meal is really a NO GO. It is perceived as unpolite. I would encourage you to refrain from doing that that.
2. Best cafés in Turin for locals
In this section you will discover what are the four best cafés in Turin to enjoy an authentic Italian breakfast like a real local.
Here you will discover the name of the best cafés, their address, the specialties to order in each of the places, pictures of what you will get and the price you will be asked to pay.
2.1 Caffé Maggiora 1960
- Address: Corso Fiume 2, 10133 Torino
- Learn more: https://www.facebook.com/Maggiora1960/
Caffé Maggiora is probably my favorite one. It is an authentic café with high quality coffee and the BEST croissant in the whole of Turin.
THE AREA
The Café is located in one of the nicest areas of Turin which is called Crimea.
This is high-end district, very close to the city center but at the same time very green as it sits at the start of the hills surrounding Turin city-centre.
This is NOT a tourstic area at all as there is literally nothing to see. It is a residential area where well off Italians live.
It is extremely close to the city centre, it is just opposite the bridge Ponte Umberto I. Hence it is only a 10 mins walk from the beautiful Parco del Valentino.
LOCAL TIP:
At the very top of the Crimea district you have the Monte dei Cappuccini, which is the a terrace with the best view of Turin.
After a nice breakfast at Maggiora I suggest you to walk your way up to Monte dei Capuccini, it is a gentle 15 mins hike uphill. Totally worth it!
You can see a short video of the view in this section.
THE CAFÉ
This is a place where only locals hang out. Their signature croissant is called “vipera” it is their artisanal own-made croissant production.
Despite its simple appearance this is a really high level pastry making, it is crunchy, served warm and incredibly tasty. Simply to die for.
Maggiora’s vipera is the Italian version of the French “croissant au beurre”, it is simple yet sophisticated at the same time. No creams/nor chocolate inside, just butter. Anything else would spoil the taste of the dough.
BRUNCH:
Over the weekends they also do brunch at Maggiora which is also pretty good.
Yet, I do NOT suggest to go to Maggiora or any other place in Turin for brunch as I don’t think it makes sense for travellers to have that when travelling to Italy.
When you are in Italy I suggest you to try the typical Italian breakfast: a good espresso or cappuccino and a good/high quality pastry.
2.2 Pasticceria Amici miei
- Address: Corso Vinzaglio, 23, Torino TO
- Learn more: https://www.pasticceriaamicimiei.com/
Pasticceria Amici Miei is another authentic café where locals like to go for breakfast.
It is not the most elegant inside. But they serve a range of high quality sweet and savoury specialties and they have a good quality coffee.
I highly recommend this as it is HIGH VALUE FOR MONEY.
The quality is high and the price is really affordable. For the breakfast you see in the pictures below we paid a total of 12 euros, that included 2x espresso, 1x bottle of water, 2x sweet pastries and some savoury small pizzas.
If you have a sweet tooth, I suggest to try their Zeppola and their Langarola cake. The first one is a fried pastry with custard inside, really delicious. The latter one is their own-made cake made of local hazelnuts from the nearby Langhe area.
If you like to eat something savoury I strongly to try their “croissant salati farciti” which is basically an extremely good & crunchy croissant filled with ham and or cheese. You should also definitely try their pizzettas (small pizzas) which I found really tasty.
2.3 Pastarell
- Address: Piazza XVIII Dicembre 3, Torino
- Learn more: https://it.tripadvisor.ch/Restaurant_Review-g187855-d8673022-Reviews-Pastarell-Turin_Province_of_Turin_Piedmont.html
Pastrarell is a famous Pastry shop from Naples which recently opened in Turin.
Naples has a rich pastry tradition. The most famous delicacies that you should definitely try here are the “sfogliatella” and the “pastiera”. Also the famous “zeppola” comes from Napoli but you can easily find zeppolas in most pastry shops whereas the rest is not that common.
Hence, I really recommend you try the sfogliatella and the pastiera when at Pastarell.
Sfogliatella is an iconic and highly recognizable Italian Pastry due to its unique shape: it is shell shaped, it is covered by extremely thin layers of crispy leaves with a sweet filling of ricotta cheese, semolina and a touch of cinnamon.
The “pastiera” is a traditional dessert from Naples which is typically eaten during Easter break. It is a an increbly tasty tart made of ricotta, wheat berries and candied fruits with a e gentle orange aroma.
Despite the high quality of the pastry Pastarell is cheap. As you can see from the picture above, we paid less than 7 EUROS in total for 3 small sfogliatelle, two espresso macchiati and one bottle of water.
2.4 Caffe Bloom
- Address: Via Catania 21/A, Torino
- Learn more: https://www.facebook.com/cafebloomtorino/
This is also an authentic Italian café where locals typicall go to .
THE AREA
I love this area of the city. This district developed a lot over the past 10 years, even though it is mostly a residential area it now became a vibrant part of the city due to its many cafes, bars and restaurants.
It is slightly off the beaten path, 18 minutes walk from Piazza Castello.
Even though there is a big University campus in this area that attracts many students the area is not noisy so it is well suited also for young professionals and adults with kids.
THE CAFÉ
What I like about this place is that they have a good range of freshly squeezed fruit juices made on the spot (orange, ginger, citrus, detox and so on), a good variety of yogurt fruit bowls and savoury toasts on top of the sweet pastry for the typical Italian breakfast.
A big plus is that they have a wide variety of coffees. They have premium SPECIALTY COFFE , their own espresso blend, cold brew and more.
In addition to that, they have also international coffee offerings such as Flat White, Filtered coffee and Iced Coffee.
BRUNCH
This is also a very good place for brunch.
They have a good variety of international food like pancakes, french toasts and avocado toasts.
You can pick dishes in isolation but they also offer a brunch menu for 30 euros which includes pancakes, avocado toast, home made cake, a freshly squeezed juice and a coffee or capuccino.
