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Old Jun 30, 2017, 11:51 am
  #7  
Gig103
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: DL Silver, Avis President's Club, Hertz President's Circle, Global Entry (Former AA Plt/Gold)
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Originally Posted by Up In The Air
At the station bar in Varenna this week I was charged €2.50 for a regular cappuccino 'al banco' (consumed standing at the bar)!!

I queried the charge and was told that it was correct. I asked to see the bar's official price sheet (which was located in a partially obscured, inaccessible place a couple of meters from the 'banco'), but was told that the list was blank. (It was just about too far away to check if this was indeed the case.)

Is it possible that there's one price for locals and another for tourists? (Of course the relatively common practice in tourist areas of charging different prices for being served a drink sitting down at a table as opposed to standing at the bar has been well documented in the FT Italy forum.) Am I justified in feeling ripped off?


On a separate note, I noticed at a bar in Milan that they were offering cappuccini in three different sizes: Italian regular size; and what looked like the equivalent to 'Starbucks tall' and 'Starbucks grande'. (Thankfully there were no 'Starbucks Venti' equivalents on offer.) I'm not sure if this is a recent development–but it was the first time I'd seen it in Italy.
I have found restaurants with different tourist menus, including in Italy. I had a check come out different than the menu price, turned up he had handed me the local menu and did honor the prices.

I've usually found prices of €1.50 for a single espresso, so €2.50 doesn't sound unreasonable for a cappuccino - but I see your post that you typically pay less, so I dunno.
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