Located in the middle of Boston’s historic North End, the city’s oldest immigrant neighborhood, is Caffé Vittoria, an Italian coffee shop that has been serving generations of Italians since 1929. Positioned on Hanover Street, the main avenue that runs through the one-square-mile neighborhood, it claims to be Boston’s first Italian coffee shop.
Caffé Vittoria isn’t your average coffee shop. Walking off of busy Hanover Street and through its glass doors is like being transported to one of those old-world cafes nestled into the social fabric of rural Italian towns. While it may appear humble on the outside, the cash-only establishment actually has four floors decorated in a way that immediately recalls a sense of nostalgia for a far-away place and time.
Unassuming, metal-rimmed chairs and tables are strung across mosaic and worn marble floors. Old-school coffee machines and espresso makers are on display in every nook and cranny, models stretching as far back as the early 1900s. Jukeboxes, soccer memorabilia, and vintage photos freckle the space and hang from every wall in a clutter so unapologetically authentic, it’s charming. Long glass display cabinets featuring sweets like cannoli and rum cake and big metal tubs of chilled ice cream are backdropped by glittering coffee machines pumping out cappuccinos, espressos, and cafe mochas.
Caffé Vittoria’s claim to fame is being the first Italian coffee shop in Boston, and it’s hard to disagree. As clients sip on their freshly brewed Italian coffee, they’re literally surrounded by the history of coffee making. In this sense, Caffé Vittoria is a part coffee shop and part museum.
While the 94-year-old coffee shop is primarily known for its coffee, it also serves a wide assortment of Italian liqueurs such as grappa; cocktails, and martinis like the “Caffe Vittoria,” made with coffee, Kahlua, brandy, and tiramisu liqueur; fruit juices; and European-style hot chocolate that’s rich and creamy and topped with a generous dollop of whipped cream. And for pastries, Caffe Vittoria offers enough choice to satisfy any sweet tooth. Clients can choose from biscotti, tiramisu, sfogliatella, limoncello cake, and more.
Fun fact: In 1995, the owners of the coffee shop opened a cigar bar called Stanza dei Sigari in the same building. The two entrances to Caffé Vittoria are actually bisected by the entrance to the cigar bar. Today, Stanza dei Sigari is considered to be the last smoking lounge in the city of Boston.
Asia London Palomba
Asia London Palomba is a trilingual freelance journalist from Rome, Italy. In the past, her work on culture, travel, and history has been published in The Boston Globe, Atlas Obscura, The Christian Science Monitor, and Grub Street, New York Magazine's food section. In her free time, Asia enjoys traveling home to Italy to spend time with family and friends, drinking Hugo Spritzes, and making her nonna's homemade cavatelli.