Porta Vittoria Milan – All our local tips

Forget this place if you are on diet! It’s the house of temptation and you will notice it just giving a quick look to all the cakes and donuts exposed by the shop-window. They serve breakfast, lunch and brunches (on Sat and Sun). Dinner is served only on Thursday nights.

Cheesecakes (Well, I suggest you the chocolate one, of course!), muffins, scones, chocolate, all you want is finishing your meal just to get some dessert! At brunch you can choose between different meals with different prices and amount of food. Pancakes, sandwiches, burgers.

What I like most of this restaurant is the interior decoration such as the wonderful lamp hanging from the ceiling and the cake stand. And they cakes themselves, they are wonderfully decorated.

And what makes a restaurant 100% American? Coffee! That’s why you can get as much as coffee as you want for free!

Bakery is also take-away: you will get your donut or muffin wrapped in pretty boxes or paper.

Reservation is recommended for brunch.

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American Donuts Cafè | Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (USA) | Brunch € 15.00
Via Giuseppe Sirtori, 4 | Porta Vittoria | +39289057779
Mon – Wed 07:30 – 19:30, Thu 07:30 – 23:00, Fri 07:30 – 19:30, Sat 08:30 – 19:30, Sun 09:00 – 19:00

You came to the country of wine but you prefer a good beer when you hang out with your friend? This is the right place for you!

The owner, Antonio, is a real beer lover and even has a diploma as “master brewer”! In the list there is one of the best selections of Belgian beer you can find in Milano and, if that’s not enough for you, ask to have a look in the fridge behind the bar. There there are some “special” beers, usually in 75cl bottles, that change from time to time. If you don’t know what to choose ask Antonio or Davide (the other guy behind the bar) for a suggestion.

Beside your drink you can also have something to eat… if you’re hungry I would suggest a “tagliata” (sliced grilled meat): it’s a bit expensive, but usually very good!

The audience is mostly composed by students: actually there are two universities (Università degli Studi and Politecnico) just a few hundreds meters away. The place is very “woodish” and warm and it remembers an old Belgian or French pub. The music is usually soft so you chat with your friends without any problem.

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Au Vieux Strasbourg | Bars | Beer € 5.00
Via Strambio 32 | Porta Vittoria | +390270630062
10:00 – 02:00 daily

Italy may be renown more for its wine than its beer, but a number of breweries all around the country have been making very nice brews for more than a century. In the last decade, a few small brewers have been upping the ante by turning out small productions of very high quality beer, meant to be consumed locally.

Birrificio Lambrate is one of those; in business since 1996, today their brewery (located in a beautifully traditional part of the city) turns out 1000 litres a day. They also run a typical pub where you can try any of their beers (and cocktails too, if you have friends who can’t stand beer): you should try the classical Montestella, an atypical pilsner, as well as Lambrate, a 7.0% double-malt amber.

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Birrificio Lambrate | Bars | Pint € 4.20
Via Adelchi 5 | Porta Vittoria | +390270638678
Mon – Fri 12:00 – 15:00 & 18:00 – 02:00, Sat 18:00 – 02:00

If you have read my article on the “Au vieux Strasbourg” (see this article), this is a quite similar place… in fact the owner is the same guy, Antonio!

They have a very good selection of beers, mostly Belgians, as you can imagine from the name! It’s a quiet place never crowded with a very mixed audience. The style of the room closely remember a French café, with wooden furniture and an art nouveau atmosphere.

If you go there in a hot summer evening order a glass of Blanche de Bruxelles. It’s nearly impossible to find it in Milano, and there they have it draught… and it’s the most refreshing beer I have ever tasted!  Beside the list you receive when you sit at a table, they have also a few “special” beers usually in 75cl bottles. Since they change from time to time you have to ask what they have when you’re there.

If you want a good advice, don’t hesitate to ask to the bartenders!

Since now it’s summer don’t miss a glass of Blanche de Bruxelles… the most refreshing beer I’ve ever had!

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Brasserie de Bruxelles | Bars | Beer € 5.00
Viale Abruzzi 33 | Porta Vittoria | +390229419148
18:00 – 02:00 daily

The typical Italian breakfast, cappuccino and croissant, is a great way to start a working day; and on Sundays, you can head over to one of a number of “pasticcerie” where the croissant is freshly baked and delicious.

But from time to time what I really want on a Sunday morning is something savoury, a french orange juice and American coffee: in a word, brunch. The California Bakery has an extensive (if not cheap) brunch menu, starting with homemade bread with a selection of spreads (bell peppers cream, plain cream and so on), followed by eggs on a bagel, and maybe something sweet to finish; and of course the mandatory squeeze and free refills of coffee.

Or you can have a fantastic savoury pie (radicchio and cheese is awesome, for instance) or a nice piece of their famous cakes. This place is not for brunch either: they are open every day for lunch or a midday break. And if you are going to a birthday party or a dinner at some frie

nd’s place, I can guarantee one of their cheesecakes will ensure you’ll be invited again.

An advice: California Bakery is hugely popular, so although they do accept walk-ins, make sure you reserve your table for brunch (or the takeaway cake) at least the day before.

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California Bakery | Coffee & tea, Restaurants (American) | Brunch menu € 16.00
Viale Premuda, 44 | Porta Vittoria | +390276011492
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 19:30, Sat – Sun 09:00 – 19:30, Thu – Sun 19:00 – 24:00

In the area around Piazza Leonardo there are two of the most important universities in Milano: the Politecnico and the Università degli studi. This means that there are also a lot of places where the students have their lunch.

Unfortunately in the evening the area is definitely not rich of hangout places. One of the exceptions is the J.J. pub. J.J. stands for James Joyce, the Irish writer of Ulysses.

The interior features a very typical Irish atmosphere with wooden bar and tables and comfortable sofas. The draught beer selection is good, with Guinness, Bulldog, Wieckse Witte and a few others.

It’s a good place for lunch too. If you go there you can order a pasta, that, differently from most of the places in the area, is prepared at the moment with a choice that varies from day to day. The prices for the food are not too high and the quantity is good (especially if you order the “piatto unico” option for pasta).

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J. J.’s Corner | Bars, Restaurants (Pasta) | Dish € 5.00
Via Edoardo Bassini 41 | Porta Vittoria
09:00 – 02:00 daily

This is one of the few places where you can still have the feeling of a real Italian “trattoria” as the town was full of 20 years ago. Now the majority of them have become fake places with unbelievable prices and “K2″ resists as one of the few “old schools” testimonials.

K2 is a Tuscan restaurant and the ratio of price to quality is probably unbeatable in town. With 25-30 euros maximum you can have a real taste of Tuscan food, in my opinion the best italian food.

Don’t miss “pappardelle al cinghiale” (a big kind of tagliatelle with wild boar sauce), fagioli all’uccelletto (a very tipical tuscan dish with beans) and above all, the real Fiorentina (a massive piece of t-bone cooked in the pizza oven). Some advice: as the Fiorentina is usually around 800 grams, if you choose it, don’t have anything else or you’ll explode!

The perfect place for changing your mind if you think that Italian food is just pasta. It’s absolutely necessary to book, above all during the weekend.

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K2 | Restaurants (Tuscan) | Meal & wine € 25.00
Via Antonio Stoppani, 15 | Porta Vittoria | +39229406835
19:00 – 00:00 daily

“L’Angolo d’Abruzzo – Da Giannino” is one of the few restaurants in Milano where you can eat a lot for a fair price. And food is simply delicious. My mother was born in Abruzzo, one of the most beautiful landscapes in Central Italy. I spent most of my summers and Christmas there during my childhood. I can promise that when I eat at Giannino I taste exactly the same flavours from my grandma’s recipes.

The restaurant is pretty small and reservation is a must. It’s not a very romantic place since it’s very noisy. If you are a party of two it is possible that you get a table next to another couple. But anyway…it’s a wonderful place! Here you can feel the real Italian taste, atmosphere and kindness.

The menu is full of recipes from the original Abruzzo’s kitchen and prices are absolutely fair. Portions are huge and what I suggest is to take a whole menu and split it with your partner. Last time I was there I had:

- Antipasto misto: fried mozzarella balls, fried vegetables, omelette, salami, olive all’ascolana (green olives filled with meat and fried) and fried lamb meatballs.

- Burrata: It’s like mozzarella but it’s creamy. Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful!!!

- Tris di primi: chitarra pasta, schiaffoni del prete (filled pasta) and green gnocchetti

- Mixed grill meat with the typical Arrosticini (small grilled kebabs of lamb or sheep meat)

- Mixed dessert: typical biscuits from Abruzzo

I also tasted my friend’s “filled vegetables” (peperoni&zucchine). They were really rich and tasty.

Everything was accompanied with roasted bread slices with oil and salt, a “must” in the regional menu of Abruzzo!

I shared everything with my boyfriend and we spent around 42€ (drinking water)…absolutely fair: we were definitely full!

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L’angolo d’Abruzzo | Restaurants (Italian) | Dinner € 25.00
Via Rosolino Pilo, 20 | Porta Vittoria | +390229406526
Tue – Sat 12:00 – 23:00, Sun 12:00 – 15:00

A friendly cocktail bar, L’elettrauto owes its name to the previous business on its premises, a car repair shop.

Accordingly, this is not the kind of place you go to see and be seen but a rather relaxed bar where you can enjoy what you are drinking as well as the conversation: perfect for relaxing with colleagues and friends after a day at the office, which is what I often do.

It can be busy at times, but even if you have to stand, by the time you are over your first drink a table will have become available. Cocktails are quite good, and they have a nice wine list too (I’ll try sometime!).

The buffet is rather light, consisting mostly of raw vegetables and cheese; this can be good or bad, depending on whether you need to watch you waist line.

A word of warning: make sure you get there early (18.30 preferably), this place is so popular you may have a hard time finding a table inside, any day of the week.

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L’elettrauto Cadore | Bars | Cocktail € 7.00
Via Pinaroli, 7 | Porta Vittoria | +390255191781
19:00 – 01:00 daily

If you want a good sandwich and you’re in Città Studi area there is a small pub, full off students at noon: the Neon pub. You can find a great assortment of sandwiches, from classical flavors to something more exotic, like ananas or herrings.

The atmosphere is particular, with some walls in bricks and others painted with bright colors. The walls are decorated with a lot of neon signs, that gives the name to the place.

Beside the sandwiches, as in any good pub, there is a good selection of beers. Most of the draught beers are English or Irish, plus a couple of Belgian ones. A curiosity is that all the bartenders are women.

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Neon Pub | Bars, Snacks | Sandwich € 3.00
Via Valvassori Peroni 61 | Porta Vittoria
09:00 – 01:00 daily

In the 30s in via Plinio a small wine reseller opened, that received the wine directly from Tuscany. Nowadays the shop is still there, but it’s also a very nice and quiet wine bar.

It offers hundreds of different bottles of wine, mainly Italian ones, that you can take home or drink there. If you don’t want to drink a full bottle you can always take just a glass. There is a selection of different wines (among them both red, white, rosé and dessert wine) that are opened every week.

The owner is really kind and can give you good advices… just explain him what kind of wine you’re looking for and he’ll find the right bottle for you!

The atmosphere is very pleasant and quiet: warm and old fashioned but with some modern spots that perfectly fit in the place. There is also a kitchen that prepare a few dishes.

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Ombre Rosse | Bars | Wine € 5.00
Via Plinio 29 | Porta Vittoria | +390229524734
Tue – Fri 10:00 – 01:00, Sat 10:00 -13:00 & 16:30 – 01:00, Sun 17:00 – 01:00

I tried this pizzeria based on a recommendation and I wasn’t mislead. This pizza is good!

One of my favourite starters is the Montanara (little mini fried pizzas, with tomato and Parmesan cheese on top) and instantly fell in love! Delicious! Such a small thing with so much flavour. In fact, the range of starters are all quite tempting but definitely on the fried and fatty end of the scale. However, there are a nice range of salads should you want something a little lighter.

The pizzas come in three sizes and I would recommend the medium accompanied with some starters. The service is attentive and lively and they are happy to joke around with the customers.

Finally, it’s good value and in a perfect location for those staying at a nearby hotel near Piazza Loreto. There are another two restaurants in via Morgagni, 7 and Viale Umbria. The place isn’t air conditioned so it may get a bit sweaty with the hot weather!

Bookings are recommended, it’s very popular, in particular the via Morgagni one. If you’re looking for a pre-drink, the last time I went to Viale Abruzzi I found a cosy bar on Via Donatello called SkipIntro. It’s also open till late. You can find it here.

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Piccola Ischia | Restaurants (Pizza) | Pizza from € 10.00
Viale Abruzzi 62 | Porta Vittoria | +39022047613
Wed – Mon 12:00 – 15:00 & 18:00 – 23:00

No I’m not talking about Hollywood, nor about some Italian starlet. Stardust has a nice decor, but its location in an obscure square away from the center (with some renovation going on in the street) keeps it from being really fashionable.

This suits me just fine though, as it guarantees I’ll find place on one of the comfy outdoor rattan sofas to relax and drink their excellent cocktails-including my usual favorite, the Negroni Sbagliato, which is very good here. By now it’s definitely too cold to sit outside, but that may be just as well: a lot of care has obviously been put in the design of the interior, which is very hip and high tech; in fact, at times you may feel like you should dress up to get there–not the right place for a casual beer.

And what about their buffet? Well stocked, rich of anything you may want (from pasta to raw veggies to fruit and sweets), it may well replace dinner.

Plan on parking as soon as you find a spot and walk a little, as parking space can be hard to find in this area.

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Stardust | Bars | Cocktail € 8.00
Via Sansovino, 30 | Porta Vittoria | +390287396991
Open daily

Turnè Bar is definitely one of my favourite bars in town. It was created by two young guys and they had an instant success.

The atmosphere is very warm and cosy, the music is diverse and not too loud for good conversation and the service is always good. It’s the kind of place where you can easily feel at home and it’s filled up with a relaxed and not pretentious crowd.

The big night is Wednesday night, when, after 22:00, the bar becomes packed with people from all walks of life but perhaps a little more open than the usual Milanese crowd and of course the best part, beer prices remain 4.50 euro all night! On Sundays, to chill out from the busy weekend, you can catch an Italian or foreign cult movie.

There is a light but good quality aperitivo from 18:00 – 21:00 including fresh pasta and couscous as well as salame and cheese but you can always have a toasted sandwich or salame and cheese platter at any time of night. They also offer a wine tasting menu, perfect with those cheese and salame platters!

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Turnè Bar | Bars | Beer € 5.00
Via Paolo Frisi, 2 | Porta Vittoria | +39243981132
18:30 – 02:00 daily