Did Italian American immigration heavily influence the coffee culture of the Northeast?

19 comments

1. Not especially- you really didn’t see “Espresso everywhere” until the 80s-90s. We rarely have linger-all-day cafes the way they do in Europe, as well. Diner culture had much more of an influence on how coffee was percieved, culturally, tbh.

2. Are you looking for an idea for a class paper or something?

3. I mean, Italians/Italian-Americans brought the espresso machine to the US (I think NYC?). Beyond that, American coffee culture has evolved to be a lot different than Italy and Europe. Brewed coffees, flavored lattes, iced Americanos… not a lot of single/double espressos drunk right at the coffee bar or cappuccinos for breakfast.

4. No.

5. I have no idea

6. New England, coffee culture is Dunks, aka Dunkin Donuts, so no.

   Back in the day, maybe you’d find a cafe or two in Boston’s North End, a district with a lot of Italian Americans.

7. Dunkin Donuts ain’t exactly dripping in Italian influence.

8. I feel like the people most responsible for American coffee culture are Henry Ford and whoever came up with the center console cup holder

9. Not all that much. The bulk of Italian immigration to the US happened just before the espresso machine was invented. So what you probably consider Italian coffee culture didn’t exist yet when they came. That’s one of a few reasons for why our coffee has diverged so much from European coffee, aka, primarily drip coffee instead of espresso.

10. Even the Moka pot the stovetop coffee maker that you would find in most Italian households now was invented after most of the Italian immigrants migrated here. So their culture is very different from ours.

    Edited for context

11. I’m pretty sure the wave of Italian immigration of the 50s-70s set up many cafes in NYC, Boston, and Rhode Island no?

12. I wish it did, but it’s mostly just shitty coffee chains nationwide.

    You can find good espresso in the store but there’s not a major culture about it

13. Espresso didn’t come from migrants. It was much later than that. It was brought back from WW2 soldiers who’d been in Italy.

14. No, I’d say we influenced the general food culture, not so much coffee specifically.

    My family did have a pastry business. You can still find Italian pastry shops where people can hang out at tables and drink coffee, in areas like Arthur Avenue. Italian-style pastry shops didn’t really catch on with the wider public. They’re pretty much limited to Italian neighborhoods.

    The only major coffee company from the Northeast is Dunkin Donuts, which is definitely not Italian. Starbucks is more Italian-influenced than Dunkin.

15. Paulie Gualtieri asks the same question…lmao

16. Coffee houses were popular in the 1600-1700s.

    Coffee just came over with the English. Coffee houses were a thing even in London in the 1600s.

17. I don’t think so. While my mom and I think my grandmother too used to go to Café Reggio on MacDougal st in NYC most of what people think of as “coffee culture” was probably started by the original owner of Starbucks.

    There were little coffee houses around where The Beats hung out and cafe restaurants but no coffee culture.

18. The best coffee I ever had was as an exchange student in Italy. Closest I can get to in the US is Lavazza whole bean dark roast, ground just before brewing in a pour over. Same thing but drip machine is still better than most. I just don’t have the inclination to do our over coffee on the regular.

19. The coffee culture? I’m gonna say probably not a heavy influence but there’s definitely been some influence

    Now, if you want to talk about a heavy influence that Italian immigration brought, all you have to do is look at pizza. A lot of major cities have their own style of pizza