Food, drink & nightlife

Trieste offers different places where you can taste great food at every hour of the day, you can benefit of the university canteens. Breakfast, brunch, lunch, snacks, happy hour and dinners, all you have to do is to choose your daily flavor.

UNIVERSITY CANTEENS

University of Trieste offers students the opportunity to access several canteens, located on the territory near the main university sites. Students attending Masters Programmes at the University can apply for price reductions through the Regional Agency for the Right to Higher Education (ARDISS). On the webpage of ARDISS you can find also the location of all the university canteens and fares for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

WHERE TO EAT IN AND OUTSIDE TRIESTE

The scent of the “buffets” will soon draw your attention. They are typical fast-foods where you can taste the “boiler mix”. It is an abundant selection of meat  boiling in the “boiler”, a large pot often mounted inside local’s counter, full of steaming water: the porzina (pork cup or shoulder), cotechino (gelatinous pork sausage in a natural casing), carrè (loin), tongue, zampone (cooked pigs foot), bacon… but also Vienna sausage (classic wurstel) and the cragno (typical Karst’s Slovenian sausage), slightly smoked, with a coarse texture. If you dare you can also experience the calf’s head! All that watered by a beautiful light beer and combined with sauerkraut. Otherwise you can also eat a quick sandwich with Trieste’s baked ham, grated horseradish and mustard simply standing at the counter. Try at Buffet “Da Pepi”, “Siora Rosa”, “Rudy” and many others!

The deeply rooted Trieste’s people passion for coffee lets you feel like stepping into another literary age when you go into some of the beautiful old cafes and charming vintage locals as Caffè Tommaseo, Caffè degli Specchi, Tergesteo, Caffè Stella Polare, Torinese, Pirona, and Antico Caffè San Marco.

Trieste’s evenings start with long and crowded happy hours at Urbanis and Portizza’s Cafes or in the locals of Via Torino and Viale XX Settembre. Don’t be afraid to discover how does cities’ nightlife proceed in different and several discos and pubs, situated both in the historical city center than in suburbs.

If you want to taste outside the city center, you will learn that typical people’s meeting points are the so called “osmize”, restaurants located in the houses of local farmers, usually in Carso area, where you can taste directly their products: drink ‘Terrano’ and ‘Vitovska’ wines and eat cakes and sweets of Slavic or Germanic origin, “jota” soups and seafood dishes.

Do you need further information? First of all, don’t be afraid to ask local people: Trieste’s inhabitants are more than friendly and will give you their best advice. You can also find excellent guides and ideas on Tripadvisor  and Discover Trieste.