Antico Caffè San Marco

Opened in 1914 by Marco Lovrinovich, San Marco built its interior in the Viennese Secession style and became one of the city's great literary hangouts almost immediately, Italo Svevo, Umberto Saba, and James Joyce all counted among its regulars. It also had a harder edge in its early years, a meeting point for Italian irredentists that was damaged by demonstrators loyal to Austria in 1915, history the room has never tried to hide.

A general renovation in 1989 and a further restoration in 2000 kept the dark wood, brass, and Secession details intact. The cafe now runs as caffetteria, in house bookstore, restaurant, pastry counter, and wine bar all at once, open for a coffee in the morning or dinner at night under the same carved ceilings the irredentists once argued under.