Gaeta Nightlife

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Vic's Restaurant and Bar seemed like a little bit of the USA right here in Gaeta because they served "typical American food", and the owner spoke English fluently.

The place catered to the military element of the 6th Fleet nearby. Vittorio Bonaventura purposely made his bar a "meeting place between the local youth and the stars and stripes guests..."

He serves both Italian and American specialties.
He has huge TV's in the place, and when important American Sporting events are on, the TVs are tuned to the English-speaking stations with that event blasting.

This place overlooks the harbour near the Nato, and is certainly frequented by Americans.

In another tip, I mentioned that in 1997 when the NCAA Basketball Tournaments were on at two in the morning, Allan went to Vic's to watch them.

It was only Americans in the place.

The decor is unique with its large glass window and beautiful counter made of dark wood that resembles the stern of a ship.

There are two large rooms on different levels, and there are many marine-style objects.

Hamburgers, french fries, onion rings are typical American dishes while Spaghetti with clams is a typical Italian dish.

The pub serves the popular Peroni draught beer among many others and has a good selection of hard liquor and cocktails.

Dress Code: Casual dress code. The Italians tend to dress up more than the Americans, but it really does not matter because everyone seems to mingle and have a great time.

One of our favorite "rites" each night would be to go to Il Pinguino to purchase a Gelato Cone. It was always crowded because Il Pinguino was a rite for many others in Gaeta.

Don't laugh at the photograph (which Allan took) of me one evening as I was happily eating my gelato.
Another item that we would purchase there ever so often would be a tray of Tiramisu.

Tiramisu is an Italian dessert that is a blend of coffee-soaked sponge cake and mascarpone cheese. For under $10.00, we could buy enouth Tiramisu to last us about one week. We would take it back to our apartment and keep it in the refrigerator for the evening dessert after a homemade meal. We often served fresh strawberries atop it. SoooooooGood!

Dress Code: Casual dress for hanging out at Il Pinguino, but remember that to the Italians in Gaeta, "casual" does not equate to ragged jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers! Casual means just a step below dressed up.

There's a bar directly behind Triestina's that has a Guiness sign out front, and I can't remember the name of it for the life of me, but they often have live music on Fridays -- not too many places in town do, so it's good to check out.

If you want to speak English, head over to Rendez Vous. It’s directly across from the Navy pier, and it’s the local Sailor’s bar. The people who work there are great – Rob the Brit is the bartender, and he’s the kind of bar tender that’ll remember your name and drink. And his hard alcohol drinks are really, really strong. But it is a bar full of Americans, so if that's not your scene...