Antico Bar Fiat

Order origin first and method second: this historic Imola bar asks where the beans grew before it asks how you want them, and the answer can run anywhere from espresso to ibrik.

Origins first, then the method

The menu makes the point plainly, asking why anyone would order only a coffee when they could choose where it came from, with Arabica, Robusta, single origins and specialty lots from around the world on the list. There is also a house blend built from single origins the bar particularly likes, roughly 90% Arabica to 10% Robusta, for anyone who would rather leave the decision to the house. Once the coffee is chosen, the preparation is unusually broad for a historic Italian bar. Alongside classic espresso the methods run to Chemex, V60, moka, French press, Clever, AeroPress and cold brew, with ibrik and a couple of house contraptions at the far end. The bar sums up its own range as running from cold brew to ibrik with everything that exists in between.

A family bar that turned specialty

Despite the specialty focus, Antico Bar Fiat stays a bar where people feel at home. The house language is an honest, sincere bar, with smiling service and a family atmosphere rather than a tasting room. The business has been running in central Imola since 1969, and the family came back to the same walls in 2014 after the place changed hands between 2001 and 2002; the move into specialty coffee followed in 2018. The food side keeps the bar rhythm. Brioches arrive fresh from a pastry shop, with biscotteria and torte beside them, so expect coffee with a brioche, a biscuit or a slice of cake rather than a kitchen-led café menu. Cocktails and aperitivo carry the day into the evening without changing the informal character.

Order the ibrik, or keep it Italian

For a first visit the most distinctive order is the ibrik. It sits at the far edge of the range and shows why the place is discussed as a specialty address rather than only a historic Imola bar. Cold brew is the other clear alternative to a fast espresso, while Chemex, V60, AeroPress, Clever, French press and moka let the bar build a cup around origin and extraction. If you want to keep the order Italian, stay with espresso and choose by bean instead. The single origins are there, and the 90% Arabica house blend is the most direct expression of the bar’s own taste. Pair it with a brioche for the classic breakfast pattern, or with biscotteria or torte for a slower pause.