Bar Italia

You don’t come to Bar Italia because it’s the best place for an espresso or a cannoli, or because it’s cheap. You come for the atmosphere and camaraderie, the late night buzz (it’s open until 3am), the people-watching, and to aimlessly yell at the TV when Italian football is being played. It takes all the intangibles of Soho—everything that makes this confusing maze of streets in central London so great—and puts them all in one place. Like the French House pub a couple of streets away, everyone passes through here at one point or another. It’s an institution—treat it like one.