Buyer Beware at Bar 4 Cantoni Paninoteca!

Rip-off Bruschettas at Bar 4 Cantoni Paninoteca in Siena:

Tray of Bruschetta Caprese

Easily the worst snack experience in all of Italy was at Bar 4 Cantoni Paninoteca on Siena’s Via di Citta. We hadn’t had lunch and at 3:15 in the afternoon it was hard finding sandwiches that didn’t have meat in them. Walking along Via di Citta, we noticed that Bar 4 Cantoni Paninoteca still had some sandwiches and so we went in to have a look.

Sandwiches without Meat

On asking the waitress, she said that the bruschetta and rustico rucola formaggio were the only two snacks that didn’t have meat. Tony likes bruschetta and as they were small and had very little topping, he ordered two of them. We also ordered a rustico rucola formaggio, two espressi and a bottle of acqua frizante. We enjoyed our break, although I thought the bruschetta bread was a bit hard and had very little diced tomato on it.

Outrageous Bill

Bill for snack

When it came to paying the bill, I was surprised that our quick break ended up being €24.40. Tony examined the bill and thought that surely they must have made a mistake with two bruschettas costing €11.80. He queried this with the Russian waitress and another woman behind the bar and they confirmed that the price was correct. We appreciate that in some touristy restaurants their prices can be a bit more expensive, but €5.90 for a small slice of bread with diced tomatoes was really a rip-off. According to the bill, it was bruschetta caprese that Tony had, but you wouldn’t know from the little shreds of mozzarella that was on it.

Buyer Beware

We didn’t know anything about Bar 4 Cantoni Paninoteca before stopping there and so I had a look at the Google reviews on-line and they basically confirmed our poor experience there. Many reviewers complained about the extortionate prices and poor quality food. The café is not even near Siena’s famous Campo and there’s no premium in having a break there.

Street view of Bar 4 Cantoni

If ever you’re looking for a café break in Siena and you happen to stop at Bar 4 Cantoni, do yourself a favour and check out the prices before ordering anything.

Address:
Bar 4 Cantoni Paninoteca
Via di Citta, 135/137
Siena 53100

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