1. Receipt
Pay at the cash register before ordering at the bar. Especially in the morning when things are hectic. Bring the receipt to the counter where they’ll check it. A way to hurry service is put some change on the receipt. This way of tipping is good if you are not a regular. Because regulars leave money after consumption. As a sign of appreciation instead of a legitimate and light form of bribery to skip the queue.
2. Ordering at the bar
Try to get noticed by the personnel behind the counter. Do not be too subtle nor reserved. Eye contact may be insufficient. While waving your receipt as you were surrendering may be too much. Other faux pas: finger snapping, kissing noises toward a female barista, nervously ticking a coin to the counter and whiffling.
3. Order, please
Eat first, than have a coffee. Drink your coffee piping hot. The mere idea of cooling coffee cooling down is unthinkable. If you have cappuccino instead, you may order food and drink together. Don’t be daft and order tea or soda. Breakfast drinks contain coffee and or milk. Simple enough to remember. Note that orange juice is not considered a drink to accompany breakfast. An extra, maybe.
4. Get up, stand up
No sitting down, no sipping away your coffee or cappuccino, no nibbling your cornetto at a table. Italians stand to have breakfast. Then again, there’s just one sip in an espresso coffee. A waiter serving breakfast at a table is highly exceptional and will therefor cost more. Usually people are already late for work and do not have all morning.
5. Offering
Italians make it a sport to pay for someone else’s coffee or breakfast at the bar. It does not involve great sums and that is why everybody can join in. Paying for someone results in a moral debt. Sooner or later this debt comes up again. This power play is typical at the cash register. Try, just for fun to join in. Will you be the first foreigner ever to pay for your Italians friends?
