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Italian bars normally serve soft drinks, coffee and snacks as well as alcoholic drinks. People tend to mill around the counter drinking a quick coffee standing up, and often there aren't many tables to sit at. In big cities and places where there are always a lot of people around, you won't get served unless you first pay at the cash desk, you'll get a receipt, uno scontrino, which you then take to the counter, give to the bartender and tell him your order.
You might prefer to sit down and be served by a waiter or waitress, in which case you pay when you've finished.