Literally stumbled on Caldi e Freddi because we were walking down the street in Amsterdam and saw a…read moredecently-sized line out the door. Since we already had made plans to eat elsewhere, we made sure to come back before we left the city. It's only five minutes from my hotel anyways!
Come to find out, the line wasn't as huge as it would seem. They were holding people outside because the inside was actually ridiculously warm. So they were holding people outside to minimize the amount of people inside. The wait was actually less than 10 minutes.
The first thing I noted was...wow, everything is so cheap here! I'm sure that's a partially a function of them basically being cash only (no Visa, MasterCard, American Express accepted, so I don't know what would be accepted), but also because it's Amsterdam and everything is way cheaper here in general. Ordered the Cortona (€4.90), Calzone Margherita (€2.80), Pizza with Grilled Vegetables (€2.80), Ricotta Cannoli (€2.80), and a Large Classic Tiramisu (€2.80). Goes without saying that everything was fire. That Cortona sandwich was so well-made and tasty! If I was ordering something like this back in the U.S., it would easily be 3x the price.
Staff here are super friendly! They keep the line churning real quickly despite the high demand. And despite how many orders they take in, they move very quickly.
I have honestly no clue how I have never come here before considering the amount of times I have been to Amsterdam. It's definitely going to be one of those spots that I will keep coming back to, that's for sure.