Aperitivo in Como: How It Works and Where to Go

What aperitivo is and how it works

Aperitivo is a drink plus a small spread of savoury nibbles, designed to open the appetite rather than replace the meal. In Como, as across northern Italy, it occupies the gap between a late afternoon coffee and a dinner that rarely starts before eight. Treat it as a pause of an hour or so, not an early dinner.

The format varies by venue. A café may bring a bowl of crisps, olives and taralli (small savoury rings) to the table with your drink; a cocktail bar often charges for the drink and adds something more composed, such as tartlets or a small plate. The more elaborate the snack, the more likely a cocktail bar is to expect you to stay at a table rather than stand.

Ordering is simple: choose your drink at the counter or from the table, and the snacks follow. A glass of wine or a small beer is a perfectly normal aperitivo, not a concession to non-drinkers.

What you drink

Bitter cocktails dominate: the spritz, the Negroni and its variations, and house signatures built on bitter liqueurs. In central Como, drink lists lean on local references, with bars infusing wild thyme from the surrounding valleys or building a Negroni around coffee-infused vermouth. Ask what the house pour is and you will usually get the shortest answer.

Wine by the glass and craft beer are equally normal choices, and a few bars in the centre make a point of a long wine list alongside the cocktails. Non-alcoholic versions exist too, including Seedlip-based drinks in some cocktail bars, so nobody has to sit out.

The snacks that come with the drink

How generous the food is depends entirely on the bar. A neighbourhood café will keep it modest, crisps and olives; a cocktail bar presenting a signature menu may send out a tartlet or a small savoury from the kitchen to pair with it. Expect more food where the drinks are treated as a craft rather than a quick stop.

In the lakeside villages, the snacks can turn into a proper spread with cured meats and cheeses alongside the drink, and some places pair the cocktail with a small plate from the kitchen. If you plan to eat dinner afterwards, keep the nibbles to a taste rather than a full plate.

How to order and pay

In a café or bar with counter service, you order and pay at the till and take the receipt to the bar or your table; in a seated cocktail bar, you order at the table and pay at the end. If you want the café-style experience, the order-at-the-bar convention is the benchmark, and the same counter-first routine that keeps the morning coffee queue moving applies.

Watch the bill for the coperto, the per-person cover charge that some restaurants add and bars usually do not; if it appears, it is for the table service and the snacks. Otherwise your bill is the drink, plus whatever you order beyond it.

Bars and cafés in central Como

The cluster to know is between piazza Volta and piazza Mazzini, the two main squares the centre's evening trade moves between. Krudo on piazza Volta plays at speakeasy style, with mismatched chairs and a long bottle shelf, and The Brothers Cafe on via Paolo Carcano opens onto the street that links the two squares, with an outdoor space in the warmer months.

Hemingway Cocktail Bar on via Filippo Juvara is one of the centre's historic cocktail bars, reworked in recent years with a menu drawn from Ernest Hemingway's stories and preferred drinks. Fresco Cocktail Shop on viale Lecco is among the bars credited with bringing modern mixology to Como, with a short list of well-made cocktails and appetizers.

Il Comacino on piazzolo Giuseppe Terragni sits between bistro and cocktail bar, with a kitchen serving refined cooking from the Brianza hills and the Mediterranean alongside the drinks. That makes it a sensible choice if the aperitivo might drift into dinner, and if eating properly is the plan, our guide to the best pizza in Como keeps a short walk or bus ride from the centre.

Aperitivo with a lake view in Como

Terrazza 241 is the rooftop bar of Hilton Lake Como on via Borgo Vico, with a glass structure that lets the lake view carry through the seasons. It is the polished end of the spectrum, built for a long drink with the water below, and a fair choice for a first evening in the city.

Giulietta al Lago on viale Geno runs the lido beach with a bar and bistrot, open to walk-in guests without a booking or a minimum spend, and its lakefront setting works as well for a sunset drink as for lunch. If you would rather start the day at the water, the same street has you covered at breakfast in Como before you ever think about the evening.

Aperitivo along the lake shore

Head north up the western shore and the venues thin out but the setting improves. Da Luciano in Laglio is a former family butcher's shop turned bistro on the Vecchia Regina, a short walk from the Villa Clooney gate, serving aperitivo with stuzzichini (small savoury bites) plus a shop of local produce and Larian wines.

Millesimo in Carate Urio, also on the Vecchia Regina, began as a village bar and now focuses on wines from small producers and a kitchen that has lured locals into staying for dinner, with dishes such as beef carpaccio or cured ham with burrata. Bar Italia in Torno occupies a pedestrian square and is a Como favourite rather than a tourist stop, with a plain, old-fashioned welcome.

Around the centre of the lake, Gaia Bar inside MUSA Lago di Como at Sala Comacina, AquaDulza at Tremezzo with its own house-made beers, and Lido di Ossuccio facing Isola Comacina all make plausible stops, the last three if you are staying in the middle of the lake.

Further north, Lo Scalo at Cremia is known for cocktails built on local fruit and herbs, with a walk along the shore to Musso afterwards; the surrounding stretch is calm and set against the Alto Lago mountains. The caveat for anywhere up the shore is simple: book nothing, expect a queue in July and August, and arrive earlier than you think you should.

The no-booking reality is sharpest at popular village spots. At Da Luciano, for instance, the bar takes no reservations and the terrace fills fast in summer, so the practical move is to leave a name and telephone number and walk on until there is a table.

Central tourist bars versus quieter village bars

In the centre of Como you pay for the convenience: more bars, later hours, more competition for the good tables and a view of the street rather than the water. Up the lake you pay for the view with a longer journey and, often, a bar that opens only for the season or the weekend. Choose by where you are staying rather than by a ranking.

Booking is rarely necessary for the simple stop, but a seated cocktail bar or a view terrace in high summer is another matter. Call ahead if you are a group, and walk the square to see what is busy before committing; Italian locals do the same, just faster.

Timing your aperitivo

Aperitivo occupies the hour or so before dinner, during which the drink and the snacks should only start the appetite. If you are eating at eight, walk in around six or half past to have a chance of a table. Late afternoon on a summer weekend means the waterfront and the main squares fill first, so go up a side street and try the second-bar option.

Aperitivo drink versus Aperol

The spritz is the most common aperitivo order; Aperol is a bitter orange liqueur, and an Aperol spritz is one version of a wider family that includes drinks built on other bitter liqueurs, on vermouth, or on the house mix. Treat Aperol as one name, not as the whole category, and the menu makes more sense.

Which aperitivo is right for your evening?

If you are staying in Como and want a drink before dinner, start in the centre around piazza Volta; pick Krudo for a lively room or Terrazza 241 if you want the lake on the terrace. If you have a car or a boat and a longer evening, head north to Laglio, Carate Urio or Torno and accept the queue as part of the experience.

Two rules carry you through: drink one, eat the snacks, and leave the meal for later; and pay attention to whether the place runs on counter service or table service before you sit. From there comes the rest of the evening; if it turns into dinner, our best gelato in Como list sorts the final course.