Occasion: Afternoons
Initial Impressions: I really like illy cafe! As the weather heats up in Rome and tourist season begins again, I thought I’d finally post my cafe option along with the afternoon tea option. Also a few readers have voiced privately that many of my reviews are done on places that are not so economical for long trips. Here I introduce you a solid cafe that is good and decently priced, Illy cafe! It’s located just off Spagna. It’s a cheaper alternative to the expensive Babbingtons and most of the bars in the Spagna area, and way nicer than most cafe’s in the area. Inside the cafe is really nice. They sell the things you have regularly at a bar, along with a spritz apertivo set, tea, and a nice selection of pastries and other sweet items. A really good number of locals usually come here. There are two locations, but I’m writing about Illy cafe specifically because the one located near McDonalds in piazza di Spagna has more intimate seating upstairs to grab a quick coffee and rest or hang out before continuing exploring, but its not really a cafe to sit and talk over an informal tea (a high tea by todays metrics lol. Remember, afternoon tea is more formal). I’ll still give you both locations, but if your looking for the food and tarts, be sure to go to the cafe and not the Spagna location because the Spagna location does not have the same menu.
Once Seated: The menu is available in English and Italian. The restaurant is handicap and stroller accessible. We love handicap friendly! The bathroom is spacious and clean. The doors are automatically sliding so there is no need to do the awkward door prop struggle etc. The smaller seating area you see through the glass is not the only seating area, there is another seating area (it looks more like a salon or parlor) that would be more suitable for wheelchair users. I’ve seen a girl study here before, but during tourist season I wouldn’t recommend studying as there are tourists and locals. If you still support Starbucks (I haven’t since high school), this is a more accepted study place. If you would still to not support Starbucks for various reasons (good on you) the Illy cafe in piazza di Spagna close to the McDonalds is quieter, cozier, and a more suitable spot for studying.
4/5 The Coffee: The cappuccino is good! I actually am not a coffee person, but I found the coffee here is pretty decent quality. They also gave me a latte art heart, which elevates it a bit more than other places in Rome. I like my milk foam at the end to be a bit sweet so put in about half a packet of brown sugar and mixed bit and that was perfect.
5/5 Tartlette di Lamponi: A fine tart. I would order this as my dessert of choice when I come to illy. The acidity of the raspberries balances out the sweetness of the cream and powdered sugar on top. They also give a good amount of raspberry as seen above and don’t cheat you out.
4/5 Tea: The tea is fine, it’s nothing spectacular, but it’s a solid brand of tea. You can’t go wrong with it. The water temperature was a pinch on the lukewarm side. I liked the pot and dishwater, but I was a bit disappointed because this visit they didn’t take out the chest and allow me to choose my tea. I’m not a fan of English breakfast tea in the late afternoon…for obvious reasons…lol. I typically enjoy black breakfast tea in the morning, and white or green tea in the afternoon/at night so yes, very disappointed that I didn’t get to choose. The lemon was a good touch. I would order this if my group didn’t want afternoon tea and coffee or a spritz instead. One star is removed however because the seed was still in the lemon. Also there was nothing to separate the lemon from the actual tea so there wasn’t a very smooth taste to the tea with bits of lemon floated around etc. Also while the tea has its own bag and I removed it after seeping, with the lemon slice, the cup was too busy. Also they didn’t give me honey etc. I used a touch of brown sugar but…meh.
4/5 Aperitivo Menu: There is a menu that available in the late afternoon (I believe 4pm-6pm) that gives you the choice of a drink and a selection of paninis. The first time Paolo ordered this, it was excellent. The cost was about 10 euro for the plate of warm panini and spritz. The waiter also gave us a bowl of chips and nuts. In my opinion this is an extremely good deal for rome. However the second time around I came it didn’t taste as good as the first time, so I will have to come again and judge if it’s really a 5 star item or a 3 star one.
5/5 Tiramisu: This is good in its own right. I would have given it a five before I tried Pompei. So I’m giving it a 5. But, I’ve tried Pompei and I would say Pompei is first. It’s still really good and depending on my mood (and if there wasnt time to also stop by pompei or not convenient, I would go ahead and eat the tiramisu being just as satisfied. Actually the consistency here is more rich. The illy coffee the lady fingers are soaked in is what I think makes it taste so good also. I might try it again and either keep it at 5 stars or lower it to 4 based on the price being about the same as Pompei but a smaller portion.
Service: Service has never been off here. They take your order in a timely manner, if they don’t just make some eye contact with a nod or smile. You are also free to order and stand at the bar if you are short on time. The exact menu items are cheaper if it’s at the bar and the price is raised slightly if you decide to sit.
Payment: Once you finish your things, you pay at the counter. Typically I spend less than 4 euro here. But if I were a tourists it would be more like under 12 per person if you are looking to have drinks and snacks or the menu. This is definitely the more economical and cheaper option compared to afternoon tea if you consider the amount of food and drink you can get for almost 1/4 the cost! I also think the tarts are a bit better than Babington’s. With that being said sometime after Easter I’ll be having afternoon tea at the St. Regis and uploading a review for that and then I’ll try Babington one more time and update that review. So stay tuned!
The marker on the bottom left is the illy cafe I am speaking about. The marker on the top right is the Spagna location (if you’d like to study).
Nicole in Rome 