Leg Room List #7: Milano
Leg Room List (LRL) – a place to add crowd-sourced recommendations from locals and my own personal travels. A living and constantly breathing list that made the big hop from iPhone Notes to this website. PS: your thoughts as locals or adoptive denizens are gold – please share.
Design capital with a lot to offer.
To Stay
Areas
Brera – central, design district, beautiful
Isola – think the Williamsburg of Milan, very hip and some cool apartments
Navigli – by the canals, loads of bars, gets a bit overcrowded
Other areas are nice as well as long as they're central and you can walk around
Hotels & more
Loads of good Airbnbs & apartments
Grand Hotel et de Milan
Bulgari Hotel
Senato Hotel
Hotel Galleria Vik
Maison Borella - Navigli
Casa Base
Roommate Giulia
VIU Hotel
Palazzo Segreti
Principe di Savoia
Fifty House Milan
The Residence Apartment
Atellani Apartments
To Eat
Latteria di San Marco – super local favotire, cash-only, not open on weekends
La Libera
Torre di Pisa
Da Giacomo
Dal Bolognese – sit outside in the courtyard
Antica Trattoria della Pesa
Osteria dal Verme — many truffle specialties; excellent burrata
La Brisa – garden is beautiful
Trattoria la Madonnina — one of the oldest trattorias
Carlo e Camilla - very cool
Al Cortile - nice outside
Trattoria Trippa
Paper Moon – Giardino one, there are two
Trattoria Milanese
Ristorante Craco – Michelin star
Ratana
Pasta Madre
Il Soferino
28 Posti
Sixieme Bistro
Giulio, Pane e Ojo
La Bettola di Piero
Taglio
U barba - outside
Osteria da Mauro il Bolognese
Casa Ramen
Erba Brusca – a bit farther, farm-style
Al Garghet – a bit farther from center but classic
Rugantino
Alessandro Bistro
Bice
Osteria Conchetta – get the risotto alla vodka
Alfresco
Trattoria Arlati dal 1936 – a bit farther from center but classic
Canteen – Mexican
Saigon – Vietnamese
Gong — high-end Chinese
Fish
Ristorante Charmant
Trattoria del Pescatore – amazing fish, chef interned at Arzak
Al Grissino
Langosteria
Isola del Gusto
Al Porto
Pescaria – casual, get octopus sandwich
Japanese / Sushi
Tokuyoshi – sous-chef from Osteria Francescana (#1 restaurant in the world) opened up a Japanese / Italian restaurant
Nishiki
Yoshinobu
Wicky’s
Sakeya - great sake selection and Japanese tapas
Shimokita – Japanese tapas
Pizza
PIZ – non-fancy pizzeria but supposedly the best pizza in town; they only have 3 kinds of pizza and they are fast
Dry
Lievita
Gino Sorbillo
Breakfast, coffee & sweets
LuBar – great location
Marchesi coffee - Corso Magenta
Pasticeria Sissi
Pasticeria Cucchi - buy Panettone
Pave
Sant Ambroeus
Hygge Cafe
Orsonero coffee
Farini bakery & cafe
To Drink
LuBar – most stunning location
Ronin - very cool private members club (opened Dec 2021)
Mentana Kiosk – for the most local experience and if weather is nice, literally a kiosk bar in Piazza Mentana where all locals go
N'ombra de vin (Brera)
Deus Cafe (Isola)
Pacifico
Panika
Cinc
Bar Basso – mega classic; invented the Negroni sbagliato
The Botanical Gin Bar (Isola)
Bulgari hotel garden
Fioraio Bianchi - aperitivo (Brera)
Jamaica – where every Milanese and their parents has been going
Beak – new, good vibe and great panini
Cascina Cuccagna - nice former warehouse, cool spot; inside you can find Un Posto a Milano, great for a drink
Fonderie Milanesi - drink outside
Milano Amore Mio (Porta Romana)
La Tartina
Base - for drinks & fun
OTTO
Frida (Isola)
Iter
Rooftops
Ceresio 7
Triennale
Radio rooftop
To Party
More underground
Discosizer
Masada Milano
Booka - events
Il tempio perduto
In treatment
Macao
Dude club
VOLT
Magazzini Generali (concert venue)
Private club
Apophis
Ronin
To Visit
Pinacoteca di Brera Art Gallery
Fondazione Prada
Hangar Bicocca (a bit outside but cool contemporary space)
Nilufar depot - gallery
Palazzo Reale
Villa Necchi Campiglio by Pietro Portaluppi (if you like architecture and seen Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love)
Casa degli Atellani (also by Portaluppi)
La Vigna di Leonardo
Galleria de Arte Moderna
Santa Maria delle Grazie for “Last Supper”
Duomo di Milano
Teatro Alla Scala
Triennale
MUDEC
San Bernardino alle Ossa (strange church with human skulls but a cool to see)
The various design and art spaces around Tortona and Brera (BASE is a cool cultural spot where they usually run events)
Castello Sforzesco - walk around the park
Giardini Publici Indro Montanelli - nice park
Navigli Antique Market & other street markets: https://www.wheremilan.com/shopping-archive/markets/
Cascina Cuccagna farmers market
If you like design, go check out Six Gallery and the design studios around Brera, like Dimore Studio. Also, try to make it to Milano during Design Week (Salone del Mobile).
Some interesting shops: https://www.marieclaire.com/it/casa/luxury/a23330875/shopping-milano-boutique/
