Italy tourists livid after €2 charge for cutting their sandwich in half

Divisive: The Italian café has defended its decision to charge €2 for cutting a toasted sandwich. Photo / Marijana Vasic, Unsplash

A visitor to a trattoria at one of Italy’s most upmarket pleasure lakes was dumfounded by a charge on his bill. There was a €2 charge for cutting his sandwich in half.

The customer of the Bar Pace, in Gera Lario was scanning the receipt after it came back around $3.60 more than expected, when something caught his eye:

There was an unexpected €2 charge for “diviso da meta” or “cutting in half”.

The tourist who was visiting from the UK described it as “incredible but true”.

“There were two of us and we asked for a toasted sandwich to share at the table,” he wrote, sharing his receipt to TripAdvisor from the visit in June.

“We have to pay because the toast was cut in half?”

The cost of cutting the toasted sarnie was more than they paid for an espresso coffee. The bar even added 10 per cent consumer tax for the privilege.

The sandwich-cutting charge has become a divisive topic in Italian media.

“Additional requests have a cost” the bar’s owner Cristina Biacchi told La Repubblica.

“We had to use two plates instead of one and the time to wash them is doubled, and then two placemats”, he said, defending the fee.

“It wasn’t a simple toasted sandwich, there were also French fries inside. It took us time to cut it in two.”

The charge for the meal of a toasted vegetarian sandwich, cola, sparkling water and an espresso, on the 18 June, raised the cost from €7.50 to €9.50 - or around $17.20.

Biacchi said that neither customer had expressed any complaints at the time. La Repubblica was told the cafe would have dropped the charge, if asked.

Secret charges and fluctuating prices have baffled tourists trying to navigate Italian holiday this summer. Photo / Nellia Kurme, Unsplash

Italian tourism’s long tradition of junk fees

Italian cafes have a long tradition of discretionary charges for tourists, particularly in scenic tourist hot spots.

In 2018, Venice’s Caffe Lavena near St Mark’s Square came under fire for charging €43 for two espresso coffees and two bottles of water.

The cheeky café said that they were charged an additional fee for sitting outside on the palazzo. The 1750s Caffe Laverna said coffee ‘without a view’ was available inside for €1.25, according to The Telegraph.

The outrageous charges have returned in force with tourists, since the pandemic.

In Tuscany’s beachside resort of Versilia it’s more than the sun that is leaving visitorsred-facedd.

On Wednesday The Times reported that the average rise of 20 per cent on last year at beaches, means that borrowing an umbrella and two sunbeds for a day now cost a minimum of €25 in Tuscany.

Although some travellers to La Scogliera in Amalfi have said that prices can vary wildly, depending on the day and who is asking to borrow a brolly.

“We watched him charge a group of young kids 20 euro when we decided to go after him and forced him to give us the same deal,” wrote one visitor from New York to TripAdvisor.