Cafes & Delis in Milan — 18 of Our Favourites

From the main entrance, guests are greeted by a nine-meter high glass cupola, reflecting the Milan sky. Strategically located only minutes away from the Duomo of Milan and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the cafe is a comfortable place not only for hotel guests, but also for locals.

Start your day off healthy and satisfied. From 06:30 to 11:00 hotel and non-hotel guests can indulge in a refined buffet and specially made centrifuged, fresh juices and smoothies freshly prepared for you on the spot.

From 16:00 to 18:00, the cafe transforms itself for the Sweet Afternoons, where they offer hot drinks and a selection of home-made pastries.

Open from 06:30 to 00:30.

They offer a contemporary lunch menu that includes specialities like Caesar salad, saffron risotto, Milanese-style veal chops or their special tiramisu with Kahlua and ice cream. They also serve breakfast and brunch.

Open Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 21:00. Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 to 21:00. Lunch served Monday to Saturday from 12:30 to 15:00 and Sunday from 12:00 to 16:00.

Surrounded by a conservatory of perennial plants and seasonal flowers, the cafe and garden are a great place to stop for a break.

Open every day from 11:00 to 02:00.

Set in the ritzy Magenta Vercelli neighbourhood, this patisserie and cafe has a handful of tables. They serve cakes and pastries as well as savoury pies and canapes with a distinctive vintage flair and hot and cold drinks. Their famous panettone is made using a recipe dating back to 1847 when the cafe was opened.

Open every day from 06:30 to 20:30.

It opened in 1988 at the behest of Vincent Iannetti which transformed a simple bar in Largo La Foppa into a cafe with a strong personality characterized by innovative architecture designed by the architect Florenzia Coast. The uniqueness of its architectural spaces makes it a place much frequented by architects and designers.

There are many options for light meals such as salads, carpaccio, and gourmet sandwiches. They also offer delicacies such as smoked wild salmon, oysters, and Italian caviar, while their daily menu includes fresh pasta, fish and meat. Their famous brunch features omelettes, scrambled eggs and toast, as well as home-made pies. There is also a small deli shop.

They offer a non-stop service from morning to night with the kitchen always open and a bartender always available. Open from 08:00 to 01:00. At 19:00, it turns into a cocktail bar serving specialities including Negroni, Spritz and Martini.

The sophisticated restaurant combines the stunning palace's architecture with elegant furniture both in the large dining rooms as well as in the external gardens. The menu offers traditional fresh pasta, salads, meat and fish with a daily offering depending on the season.

At the restaurant, you will also be able to taste the deli's gourmet local produce, including cold meats such as salami, bresaola or Parma ham, and Italian cheese. This delicatessen shop sells only the highest quality produce and ready made meals.

The cafe serves freshly baked cakes and pastries, coffee, cocktails and aperitivo.

The restaurant is open from 12:00 to 23:00. The cafe is open from 08:00 to 23:00. The deli shop opens from 08:30 to 23:00. Closed on Sundays.

The cafe's specialties, made in-house at the hand of top pastry chefs, include unique cakes, fancy pastries, exquisite pralines and chocolates. The rich cakes and pastries are complemented by a selection of wines including Covino Sparkling, Covino Aperitif and Limoncello Liqueur. Panettone cake has been baked at the cafe since its inception, a classic traditional Christmas treat.

They also have lunch specials.

Open every day from 07:45 to 20:30 except on Sundays, when they open from 09:00 to 19:00.

They not only offer delicious handmade pastries and sweets, including their famous panettone or the Amor Polenta breakfast cake, but also 10 varieties of brioche and signature chocolates and pralines. Coffees and aperitivo with cocktails are also available here.

Open Tuesday to Saturday from 07:30 to 20:00 and Sunday from 08:30 to 13:00.

There is also another cafe in Via Montenapoleone, as well as a third one in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

It was frequented by the legendary 19th-century composer Giuseppe Verdi and acclaimed conductor Arturo Toscanini, who stopped by after performances at La Scala. Purportedly King Umberto I was one of the cafe's biggest supporters because it served the best coffee in Milan.

For more than a century, the cafe has been identified and decorated with the prestigious Zucca and Campari trademarks which competed for supremacy. The cafe spent years under the Zucca label, the name of a popular Milanese aperitif, a bittersweet alcoholic drink made from rhubarb and named after its creator, Ettore Zucca, former proprietor of the cafe.

However, in 2012, the Campari logo returned. Gaspare Campari had moved into the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in 1867 when it was first opened, and the bar was established in 1915 by Davide Campari. It was one of the first venues in Milan to have a hydraulic system leading from the cellar guaranteeing a continuous flow of ice.

Open from 07:15 to 20:40. Closed on Mondays.

The hazelnuts used to make the Bacio chocolate-hazelnut flavour come from protected areas in the Langhe region, and all its sorbets are produced using Lurisia mountain water. They also offer lots of gluten-free, lactose-free and vegan options.

From May to September they open Sunday to Thursday from 11:30 to 23:30, Friday & Saturday from 11:00 to midnight. From October to April, open Sunday to Thursday 11:00 to 23:00, Friday & Saturday from 11:00 to 23:30.

There are a number of shops across Milan.

They believe in a balance between tradition and modernity that has put them at the top of the Milan modern bakeries. From fresh pastries, to cookies, cakes, bread, chocolate, jams and savoury bites, it's all hand-made.

For breakfast, you can try a large selection of pastries still warm from the oven - specialities include butter croissant filled with jam and Madagascar vanilla cream, sweet puff pastries, pain au chocolat, kipfel, savoury croissants, plum cakes, sweet focaccias, twists and girellas. They also serve single portion cakes, cold pressed juices and hot drinks.

For lunch, served daily from 12:00 to 15:00, they offer home-made sandwiches, salads, soups and charcuterie. Their 'merenda' (or afternoon snack) officially starts the moment they take the bread out of the oven, served with butter and jams, chocolate, and a wide range of loose teas and infusions to accompany their home-made cakes.

Here you can also enjoy 'aperitivo' featuring signature cocktails such as Negroni, Pimm’s, Mi-To, Zucca, Biancosarti and Bianco Amaro. They are served alongside nibbles such as pistachios, peanuts, olives, crisps, charcuterie & cheese boards, or freshly made pizza and focaccia slices.

Open Tuesday to Friday from 08:00 to 20:00; Saturday & Sunday from 08:30 to 19:00. Closed on Monday.

They also have an ice-cream parlour on Via Cesare Cattisti 21, as well as a small cafe a few steps from Porta Romana Corso (Via della Commenda 25), focused on breakfast and take-away high-quality sandwiches, quiches, biscuits, cakes, and chocolate bars for a quick lunch on the go.

Decorated with a classic feel, this nice cafe serves breakfast, brunch, lunch, 'aperitivo' and snacks, including hot and cold drinks and cocktails. There are vegan and vegetarian options, as well as lots of pastries, cakes and a daily hot dish for lunch.

Every evening from 18:30 they serve one of the most popular 'aperitivos' in the city, with a large selection of nibbles to choose from all displayed on the counter.

Open every day from 07:30 to 01:00.

Their special Italian breakfast features cookies, muffins, home-made cakes and freshly baked croissants as well as bread, butter, jams, fruit salad, yogurt and orange juice.

For lunch, they offer fresh, home-made simple dishes such as pastas, sooups, salads, piadinas and, of course, pastries. The most famous item on their lunch menu is their milanesine, breaded chicken nuggets with salad or chips. In the evening, the atmosphere changes with dimmed lights and candles, they serve salads, mini fondues, their famous spaghetti alla carbonara, burgers...

You can also visit for an afternoon snack (crepes, pastries, cakes, pies, ice cream...) with a hot drink. Frequented by Milan's hip crowd and the odd celebrity (it's Kendall Jenner's favourite), this cafe and restaurant wants to be home away from home in the city.

Open on Monday from 07:30 to 20:00, Tuesday to Friday from 07:30 to midnight, weekends from 08:00 to midnight.

They serve hot and cold drinks including hot chocolate with whipped cream and coffee (order the cappuccino, it comes with the brand's logo drawn with cocoa on top), as well as pastries, cakes, quiche and savoury pies, all impeccably presented.

For 'aperitivo', you can order a glass of wine or try one of their signature cocktails: 'Duomo' (champagne and juice), 'Scala' (vodka and orange juice) or 'Galleria (vodka and tomato juice) with some nibbles.

Open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 19:00 and Sunday from 14:00 to 19:00.

You can just stop for a quick coffee and cake (try their Sicilian lemon bavarois or the Black forest cake), or enjoy one of their ice creams or chocolates.

They also serve a vast buffet of sweet and savoury bites for 'aperitivo', including local produce and delicious cocktails. You can have lunch at their cafe, with specialities including roast beef sandwich and traditional Apulian orechiette (pasta). Breakfast is famous here; enjoy their coffee, brioches, fresh fruit juices, vegetable smoothies and much more.

Open every day from 07:00 to 21:00.

According to Anderson, this space "is for real life, and ought to have numerous good spots for eating, drinking, talking, reading, etc. While I do think it would make a pretty good movie set, I think it would be an even better place to write a movie. I tried to make it a bar I would want to spend my own non-fictional afternoons in."

He preserved some original details such as the arched ceiling that recreates the vaulted glass roof of Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, while using furniture and decorative touches reminiscent of Italy in the 1950's and 1960's, inspired mainly by the films Miracolo a Milano by Vittorio de Sica and Rocco e i suoi fratelli by Visconti.

Open every day except Tuesday from 09:00 to 21:00 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday closes at 22:00).

Eight types of cocoa from all over the world are transformed every day in their workshops to make their famous chocolate gelato, reaching an amount of 6 tons of cocoa per year! People have been known to eat other things here, but why would you?

However, if you do want to try other things, they also have other ice cream flavours, coffee, pastries, cakes, breakfast, sandwiches, salads and light lunch dishes. For chocolate-lovers, this cafe must be on your to-do list alongside the Duomo and "The Last Supper"!

Open every day from 07:30 to 01:00. On Sundays, they open at 10:00.

Architect Michele de Lucchi is responsible for the cafe's design as well as the Triennale's ground floor refurbishment. Features of the new design include an exposed kitchen where dishes are made to order and patrons can view the chefs at work. The cafe has an American-style island bar surrounded by stools where chefs prepare cold dishes.

Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:30 to 20:30. Closed on Mondays and in August.