If you’re going to have a pizza in Italy, of course, you should really try one in Naples, but regardless, it’s still important to know where to find a good one, anywhere you go! This place I fully recommend. The pizza is great! Full stop! That’s all you need to know!

Sibilla is located in the heart of the Brera area, just off the city centre. It’s a tiny, busy and very basic place with big wooden tables sometimes shared with other guests. Apart from the pizzas (yes, I repeat, they are so lovely and I would recommend the calzone or the pizza diavola, spicy salame and tabasco…mmmm), try the tagliata or any of the other non pizza dishes. Everything is very fresh and the quality is really good. They often have some great house desserts if you still have room!

They don’t accept reservations, so during the weekend you may have to wait a while. You also generally share a table, especially if there is only two of you. Customers tend to be on the younger side as they don’t mind waiting a bit for something really tasty!

For a pizza, the price is a bit pricey a basic pizza costs 7.50 euro…but did I mention that they are very good?!

A perfect place to start off the night and then stroll through the beautiful Brera area or stop at one of the bars open till 02:00.

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Pizzeria Sibilla | Restaurants (Pizzeria) | Meal € 20.00
Via Mercato 14 | Brera/Porta Nuova | +390286464567
Tue – Sat 12:00 – 15:00 & 18:00 – 00:00

I think marketing is a great invention, especially when applied to restaurants. What would you do to transform a normal burger house in something special?

At Ham – holy burger they have put hamburgers and iPads together.

When you get to your table you get an iPad for ordering your dishes. Not only you can choose what to take (various kinds of hamburgers, potatoes, salads, beers, drinks) but you can also personalize the order by suggesting how you want your meat cooked, what vegetables to add or remove from your hamburger, etc.

It is an efficient way to simplify the orders (you do not need to call for the waiter or wait till he/she arrives) and it is also funny. The iPad stays with you till the end of the meal, so that you can use it for killing the time while waiting, avoiding a conversation with people you don’t particularly enjoy or allow yourself some time to relax even if you are with your kids: I’ve never seen children behaving so well and being so calm and silent at a restaurant!

Marketing people are really smart, believe me!

The food is good but nothing special, but I really loved the potatoes cut by hand (see in the picture) and the home made lemonade.

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Ham – Holy burger | Restaurants (Hamburgers) | Hamburger from € 9
via Palermo 15 | Brera/Porta Nuova | +3902875510
12:15 – 15:00 & 19:15 – 00:00 daily

Rosso Pomodoro is a chain made in Campania, surely the best region for eating pizza in Italy, since it was here – in Naples to be precise – that the pizza was invented, in honor of the queen Margherita.

The pizza napoletana is round with high boarders (crispy outside and soft inside) and a flat and soft inside. The traditional recipe is with tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil and olive oil, nothing else. Since it is so simple, it is easy to understand whether the cook is good and the ingredients are fresh and healthy. In conclusion, the rule is: if the pizza margherita is good, than you can be sure of the quality of the restaurant.

Rosso Pomodoro has got an excellent margherita (here it is called San Marzano) which is extremely cheap: only 6 Euros, a bargain in Milan. However the menu lists a lot of appetizers, first dishes and cakes that are quite inviting, but will end up making your bill much more expensive without adding quality to it.

Since the pizza napoletana requires a long rising and a very quick cooking, waiting time after ordering is really short.

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Rosso Pomodoro | Restaurants (Pizza) | Pizza & beer € 13
Largo La Foppa, 1 | Brera/Porta Nuova | +390229061511
12:30 – 15:00 & 19:30 – 00:00 daily

Italy is a difficult country. Think about the pizza for example. You think it has one name and one recipe, right? Wrong. Pizza has to be taken quite seriously when you speak with an Italian. You have to distinguish the varieties and specify each time which one you are referring to. Pizza can be thin and round, and this is the traditional pizza, or it can be the so called Pizza al Trancio, a slice of pizza.

Grand’Italia, after the Milanese institution Spontini, is one of the best spots for tasting a soft, thick pizza al trancio. It’s in the heart of Brera and, despite this, it is cheap with the laid back atmosphere of a trattoria (traditional popular restaurant). Furthermore it makes your life easier: it is always open, 7 days a week, there is no need to book, no need to plead to be given a table because it’s too late, etc. Milan is quite provincial when it come to kitchen’s closing time.

If you don’t like the pizza al trancio, Grand’Italia is also a good place for other dishes, just look at the board for the dish of the day beside the few listed in the menu.

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Grand’Italia | Restaurants (Italian) | Pizza & beer € 11
Via Palermo 5 | Brera/Porta Nuova | +3902877759
12:00 – 14:30 & 19:00 – 00:15 daily

It’s not common to sit under the olive trees in Milan, especially if you are in the middle of the city centre, but if you are a tourist or a student then it is easier than you might think.

The Caffè degli Atellani is a coffee bar on 2 levels, a glass cube with an English style garden an the rear with small tables and potted olive trees.

It’s opening times are quite peculiar: from 12:00 till 18:00 Monday to Friday. If despite this you are still able to pop in there, you’ll see it is definitely worth a visit! Beside the atmosphere, you will discover one of the most interesting public spaces of Milan: the Mediateca di Santa Teresa, a former baroque church that has been transformed into a municipal multimedia library. You can go there and use the internet, watch movies and TV programmes or listen to music (Tue – Fri 10:00 – 18:00, Sat 10:00 – 13:45).

The whole structure (the library and the bar) is a great example of how an old building that hasn’t been used for ages can be converted by a brave architect in a modern, light and multifunctional space. Absolutely great for the design-addicted.

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Caffetteria degli Atellani | Art & culture, Bars, Coffee & tea | Coffee € 1
Via della Moscova 28 | Brera/Porta Nuova | +390236535959
Mon – Fri 12:00 -18:00

Remember the name of this neighborhood: Isola. Isola in Italian means island. The reason for this is that the area was originally isolated, closed off either by streams or by railways. Traditionally this is the working class area, and maybe for this reason this is where most of Milan associations are, from trade unions to environmentalist groups to city-bikers etc. This is also the area of the laboratories, the artisans shops, etc. It’s definitely worth a visit!

Odd enough, Isola is just behind C.so Como district, which is famous for its models, expensive cars and discos. Unfortunately Isola is undergoing a big renovation and I fear it will soon become a copy of C.so Como. In fact there are lots of new, charming restaurants and cafes where you unfortunately pay the look more than the quality.

Les Folies is an exception to this trend: it looks like a normal bar with a side room full of small tables (sort of French bistro) but the food you get is delicious! The prices are exactly those you would get in a bar: the cake in the picture, e.g., is only € 2.50! Not only the taste is great but also the way the food is put on the plates: I had prawns and rice and got it served in circular shape on a black plate that made the white and pink stand out.

It’s very crowded at lunch, therefore I suggest to go in the evening but be there early, since it closes before nine.

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Les Folies | Bars, Restaurants (Intern./Italian) | Dinner & drinks € 16
Via Confalonieri 15 | Brera/Porta Nuova | +390268888671
07:00 – 20:30 daily

Botega caffè cacao is mainly a very refined pastry and coffee shop. But not only. Furnished like an American café from the sixties, in this place you can have a sweet breakfast, or a tasty and healthy lunch or just a good coffee in the afternoon. At least you have to try one of the many variation of the Italian cappuccino the list offers.

At the first bite you can taste that the food is fresh and homemade. You can take your time and enjoy your slice of cake at the table or you can just step in and buy a stick of chocolate or a packet of coffee.

Facing one of the main street of Brera neighbourhood and with two floors, each detail of this place is take care of, from what you eat to what you see. Hard to say if I like the food or the atmosphere the most!

For lunch you can make up your own menu and spend less than 10 euro having a main dish, water, coffee and dessert. Even if this place is often very crowded, waiters are really nice: one time I had lunch with a couple of friends and we had such a homey feeling that we stayed there more than 3 hours and nobody asked us to leave.

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Botega caffè cacao | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Italian) | Light meal € 10.00
Corso Garibaldi 12, | Brera/Porta Nuova | +390280506589
07:30 – 20:00 daily

Even if this interior design store is really big, it has a homey feeling and that’s why so many people enjoy spending sometime here.

The building is placed in an old yard next to Garibaldi train station and it used to be an ink factory in the late XIX when it was built. Big windows, high ceiling, open space, concrete floor: the structure is still industrial. Different spaces on many levels are connected by some steps or unexpected corners, like a big labyrinth of design.

Each product sold in this store comes from a refined choice and wants to represent innovation and creativity in design. You can find clothes, perfumery, stationery, but also pieces of furniture, kitchen and bathroom accessories and a lot of ideas for your gifts.

Every time I come here I can’t help fantasizing about my dream apartment and the style it would have. Since I must wait some time for it, I am glad there’s a place where I can at least gather some cute ideas!

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High Tech | Shopping
P.zza 25 Aprile 12 | Brera/Porta Nuova | +39026241101
Mon 13:30 – 19:30, Tue – Sun 10:30 – 19:30

This is a cute little shop where you can find handmade clothes, shoes and bags. They change collections very often and each piece feels like unique. The quality of the material is high and refined while the price is very affordable. The outfit are simple but the fabrics and the textiles are really special.

You can jump in and just have a look or try on different pieces and ask an advice to the sales women, who are always very friendly and helpful.

Small things is located in a busy shopping street of Brera, the art galleries neighbourhood. In this area you can find high end expensive shops next to old boutiques.

In Small things I once found the most beautiful pair of shoes I have ever seen: a simple brown décolleté with a thick and high heel painted like a seventies wallpaper. Too bad, there wasn’t my size! But that’s the price you have to pay for handmade stuff.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Small things | Shopping | dress € 70.00
Via Ponte Vetero 15 | Brera/Porta Nuova
Tue – Sat 10:00 – 19:30, Sat – Sun 13:00 – 19:30