Gran Caffè Gambrinus, Naples

Gran Caffè Gambrinus is Naples' most celebrated historic café, open since 1860 on Piazza Trieste e Trento beside the Teatro San Carlo opera house and the Royal Palace. Its Belle Époque interior — all gilded mirrors, frescoed ceilings, marble surfaces, and carved wooden furniture — is among the finest café interiors in Italy, a remnant of the golden age of Neapolitan bourgeois culture when the city was one of Europe's great capitals. Gambrinus has been the meeting place of choice for artists, writers, intellectuals, and royalty for over a century and a half: Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Benedetto Croce all drank coffee here, and the walls are hung with photographs and portraits documenting this illustrious clientele. The coffee and pastries maintain a standard worthy of the setting. The caffè napoletano, always made with locally roasted coffee, is rich and full-bodied; the sfogliatella, brioche, and seasonal pastries such as pastiera napoletana are made on the premises. Gambrinus was briefly closed by Mussolini in 1938 due to its perceived status as a meeting place for anti-fascist intellectuals, a closure that lasted until after the war and has become part of the café's identity. Standing at the bar is less expensive than table service; the terrace overlooking the piazza is popular at all hours but particularly in the evening when the San Carlo and Royal Palace are illuminated.