A pair of Italian food guides sparked debate online after advising Americans not to drink spritz cocktails with their main meals. In a viral TikTok, Benedetta and Valeria of @localaromas explained that spritz is traditionally an aperitivo, meant to stimulate the appetite before dinner, not accompany it.
Featured Video“No spritz when you’re sitting down to have a main meal, please,” begged Valeria in a TikTok video shared on Sept. 21, 2025.
The two Italians explained that the drink stimulates the palate and appetite, and is best consumed as an appetizer because it can distort the taste of food.
AdvertisementAlthough the veteran aperitivo drinkers admitted, “You can absolutely do whatever you want. This was just our suggestion as two locals that live in Italy,” plenty of people responding to the post felt threatened and reverted to emotional adolescence.
“Well…I’m an adult…I’ll do what I want when I want, thank you.”
The bitterness problem
@localaromas captioned the post, “In Italy, spritz is never paired with your main meal 🥘❌🍹It’s part of the aperitivo ritual—enjoyed before dinner with small bites, not during a meal!”
Advertisement@localaromas In Italy, spritz is never paired with your main meal 🥘❌🍹 It’s part of the aperitivo ritual — enjoyed before dinner with small bites, not during a meal! #ItalianSpritz #AperitivoTime #ItalyFoodCulture #LocalAromas #ItalyTips ♬ original sound – Local Aromas
Benedetta explained in the TikTok, “The spritz is an aperitivo… And traditionally in Italy, when we drink an aperitivo drink, the drink is bitter.”
“The bitterness serves the purpose of opening your stomach to then go have dinner,” she said. “It stimulates your appetite to have a spritz with something to nibble on before dinner.”
Because the drink is bitter, its flavor could clash with the taste of food, so an aperitivo is meant to be enjoyed a half hour to an hour before a main meal. Some people really hated to hear it.
Advertisement“100% don’t tell me what I can and cannot do with my money lol,” wrote @jabronicat. @mirabellarose1 replied, “Yes. Especially when I’m spending it traveling to your country!”
“I eat and drink what I want when I want.”
Advertisement“Ridiculous. Who cares what and when things are consumed. Mind your business!”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
AdvertisementIt’s always happy hour somewhere!
Cultures all over the world have pre-dinner drinks that are connected to various purposes and rituals.
In Italy (and Spain) they call what you drink before a meal, “aperitivo.” In France it’s “apéritif.” It comes from the Latin root “aperire,” meaning “to open.”
The drink is meant to stimulate or “open the appetite” with dry or bitter liquors and sparkling wines served over ice with soda. While it’s customary for Europeans to have a “spritz”—the German word for “splash”—before a main meal, it’s customary for Americans to disregard other cultures and do whatever they please.
Advertisement“We are not Italians, WE ARE THE TOURISTS, so we do what we want to do 🤌🙄🤣😎.”
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