Aperitivo. Buy a drink and eat for free!

Apertivo in Italy is a pre-dinner drink meant to open the palate and give you a chance to socialize, nibble, and relax as dinner is about to approach. Aperitivos take place in restaurants/ bars where there is a buffet of food served from around 7:30-10. It is usually 6-8 euro (around $10) for a drink and the buffet, but drinks are usually 5-6 euro without food, so it is a deal! You get to choose any drink and eat as much food as you possibly can. Most Italians only take a few bites of their food and use it as an appetizer, but students and Americans use it as a cheap meal and eat an overload of food. Apertivo Italiano is NOT a “Happy Hour” which is what the Americans normally think of when they hear the reference. Happy Hour in the U.S. is a perception about getting a drink “discount” while eating appetizer foods, but that is not how it is viewed in Italy. What is offered with your aperitivo drink really depends on the bar. A few olives and potato chips are the classic offering, though some get very elaborate with fresh pizza, fruit salads, hot pasta dishes, cold cuts like prosciutto, pastries and fresh mozzarella/other cheeses in some bars!

The first Apertivo I experienced was the first night I was in Rome at Seventy Niners. I got a Sprizter drink at a cheap price and then we were given lots of things to nibble on such as chips, nuts, brushetta, bread with different spreads and other little assortments. It was an okay aperitivo, but I heard that there were better ones in Rome, so I had to try them out.

I went to Freni e Frizioni, a trendy bar in Trastevre for an aperitivo tonight. At Freni e Frizioni, the common cocktails are 7 euro, the house specialties are 8 euro and all wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks are 6 euro. That may seem like a lot to spend on a drink, but you can eat as much food as your stomach can handle! Platters of fresh pesto pasta, curried rice, barley orzo with seasoned vegetables, cous cous and other starch dishes are located on the buffet table. Also on the table are vegetables ready to be dipped into homemade sauces such as ginger, Greek or spicy. Little pieces of bread can be eaten as well. You can eat all of these treats for as little as 5 euro. I went with one friend of mime and we both had a drink with about 4 plates of food. Don’t judge! We got there around 6:50, ten minutes before the buffet started which was good because the place filled up pretty quickly. We picked the table closest to the buffet table and went up every time a new hot pesto plate came out. I was incredibly satisfied with my meal, but now I am regretting how much I ate, kinda…It was cheap and delicious! I don’t believe you can eat/drink anything like this in the states, so I hope to take advantage of more aperitivos while I am in Rome! Maybe I will try a new one next week!