Although Milan is a city that changes its mind as quickly as fashion trends come and go, it remains one of the strongest bastions of traditional Italian cooking, where homemade elements are still very much praised and appreciated. There are trattorias, enoteche (wine bars) and restaurants (including luxury ones) everywhere that offer traditional Milanese and Italian dishes to eat. This city’s traditional cooking is based on filling dishes like osso buco (braised veal shanks) and risotto alla milanese (chicken-broth risotto made with saffron).

Dining times tend to be a shade earlier than in Rome or Florence, with lunch generally served between 12:30PM and 2:30PM and dinner from 7:30PM to 9:30PM. Dinners, and sometimes lunch, are usually preceded by that great Milanese institution, the aperitivo—a glass of sparkling wine or a Campari soda in a sophisticated hotel bar.

Chinese restaurants are mainly located around via Paolo Sarpi, the heart of Milan’s Chinatown.

Avoid the restaurants around the Duomo, they tend to be tourist-only spots, with low quality food at inflated prices. Also avoid restaurants or cafes around the central station.

For authentic local dining options, try dining with the locals themselves. BonAppetour is a great way to discover local Milanese chefs who would love to have you over for an evening dinner. It’s a great way to make friends over home-made food, and company.

Aperitivo

In the last several years, Milan has established a local version of the Aperitivo or Happy Hour. Italians drink very moderately and “happy hour” is not a drinking, but a social event.

Roughly from 7PM to 9PM, many bars offer drinks and cocktails at a fixed price (€5-8 each), accompanied by free all-you-can-eat buffets with snacks, pastas, and many other small appetizers. But be careful not to confuse “aperitivo” with “free dinner”. It’s a snack to be enjoyed with a drink. Italians will immediately see you as a buffoon- and it’s seen as tacky to fill up on finger food for dinner, although it’s common to spot them doing so.

Fast food

Milan, as a big city, is filled with several different forms of fast-foods, from the foreign giants and national chains, to independently-owned take-away and sandwich bars. Most fast-food restaurants are found in the Duomo, Buenos Aires and central station areas, as these are the most crowded and busy ones in the city. In the Piazza Duomo and Galleria, one can find international fast-foods such as McDonald’s and Burger King, but Italian chains such as Autogrill are found too. Such Italian fast-food chains, such as Spizzico, Ciao and Autogrill can be found all over the city. There are several Ciao outlets in places such as no. 12 Corso Europa or no. 54 Via Montebianco, and for McDonald’s, you get a restaurant in the Piazza del Duomo and Galleria, and also some in the Corso Buenos Aires, plus some others in places such as Corso Vercelli or Piazzale Lotto.

Pizza

Although Milan cannot claim to be the birthplace of pizza, (that claim belongs to Naples), you can still find good pizzas in Milan. The best areas for pizza are near Marghera Street.

If you are in the Northeast area, there are many little pizzerias on viale Fulvio Testi (the northern extension of viale Zara) in the Greco area.

In Milan, pizza is often eaten with a knife and fork, but of course eating with one’s hands is possible and welcome. Most people do both.

Snacks

In summer enjoy gelato, an excellent Italian ice cream. The quality mark “gelato artigianale” indicates gelaterias that produce their own ice creams, without industrial processing. Bakeries are open every day; you can enjoy great and inexpensive bread-related food, such as pizza and focaccia. You can find a bakery almost everywhere in Milan, even in the Duomo area, and is a good alternative to bars for a fast lunch.

What to drink

The simplest and plainest place to have a drink in Milan is a drinking fountain – there are loads of them around the city! Put your finger in the dragon faucet’s mouth to make the water fountain out a special hole in the head.

There are plenty of bars and cafés in Milan of all kinds – from fancy old-fashioned ones, where you can enjoy a formal hot drink, to avant-garde modern places, and youthful spots for a happy hour/late-night drink. Some also offer some food too.

Milan by night

Milan has a great variety of places where you can have fun. A great starting point is Como Avenue (Corso Como), near Garibaldi Station, full of bars and glamorous clubs. In the summertime, this street is packed with young and attractive people.

Another place where you can go is Navigli quarter, near Porta Ticinese Avenue and XXIV Maggio Square, where you can find a lot of small pubs, open air cafes and restaurants by the water canals (navigli). In many pubs and bars you can find a free booklet named Zero2 which is a guide to Milan Nightlife: if you don’t know what to do or where to go, do grab one!

Other popular night spots with bars and people are viale Monte Nero (on Wednesday it’s packed with people in the piazza in front of a bar called “Momo”), Piazzale Susa (and Citta’ Studi area). Nights are overwhelmingly crowded at the Colonne di San Lorenzo (not far from Navigli quarter), and in the cozy Latin-quarter of Brera. Another good spot is the pedestrian part of Corso Sempione near the “Peace Arch” (Arco della Pace).

There are bars and clubs open all week long but usually few people go out at night on Mondays or Tuesdays, the vast majority prefers to have fun on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. However, Wednesday night appears to be one of the coolest to go out in stylish VIP-frequented clubs.

Milan has an alternative club scene, with a few crews making electronic music parties outside clubs. Ultra cheap, every time in a different location (lofts, warehouses, farms, pools, and city parks) those kinds of parties attract people aged 20-28.