Milan Fashion Week transforms the city into a whirlwind of style, where the world’s most fashionable descend upon its streets for a heady mix of runway shows, exclusive events, and late-night revelry. But beyond the catwalk, Milan offers a curated selection of places to see and be seen—whether for a post-show aperitivo, a leisurely lunch, or a dose of culture between fittings. Here’s where to go when you need a stylish pit stop during the week’s sartorial madness.
If you’re looking for more tips, visit our Insider’s Guide to Milano.
1
Poliform Cafe
Just steps from La Scala, Poliform Café brings the world of design into the realm of the table. It’s the bistrot inside Poliform’s new flagship store in Piazza della Scala, housed in a 19th-century building that once welcomed the theatre’s artists. Forty covers, travertine, bronze, steel and fabric-upholstered wall panelling define a space designed by Poliform Lab and architect Stefano Belingardi Clusoni. The kitchen is entrusted to Michele De Liguoro, chef and founder of Rovello 18, who builds the menu around Milanese and Italian cooking, with seasonal ingredients and dishes such as saffron risotto, cotoletta alla milanese and vitello tonnato. From breakfast through aperitivo, the Café is the first expression of Poliform Hospitality, born from the collaboration between the brand and De Liguoro: a new address where design, gastronomy and Milanese life meet.
2
BAr Luce
Designed by filmmaker Wes Anderson, this pastel-hued café inside the Fondazione Prada is a dreamy escape from the fashion week frenzy. Think Formica tables, a retro jukebox, and perfectly crafted espressos—an ideal setting for a mid-morning cappuccino and brioche in between presentations (and away from the Quadrilatero hustle and bustle).
3
Giacomo Tabacchiera
In the heart of Milan, Giacomo Tabaccheria channels the charm of an old-world Italian bottega: vintage furnishings, a wooden counter, stone tables, and a small dehors perfect for pausing at any hour. Mornings bring brioche and artisanal pastry alongside a quality coffee; by late afternoon, the space shifts into one of the city’s most refined aperitivo spots, with wine by the glass drawn from a curated cellar of Italian labels, considered cocktails, and small seasonal plates — salumi and cheese boards, bread with butter and anchovies, hummus with giardiniera and crisp piadina. The signature toast, reinvented with carefully selected ingredients, closes out the savoury menu as the house’s most iconic order.
4
Camparino in Galleria
A legendary spot in the heart of Milan, Camparino in Galleria is the ultimate destination for an aperitivo with a view. Located inside the historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, just steps from the Duomo, this bar has been serving perfectly crafted Campari-based cocktails since 1915. The interiors blend classic Milanese elegance with contemporary touches, while the outdoor terrace offers a front-row seat to the city’s stylish hustle and bustle. Whether you opt for a Negroni or the signature Campari Seltz, Camparino is where tradition meets timeless glamour.
5
Bar Basso
Opened in 1933 and taken over in 1967 by Venetian bartender Mirko Stocchetto, Bar Basso is where the Negroni Sbagliato was born, the story goes that in 1972, Stocchetto grabbed a bottle of spumante instead of gin, and a Milanese icon was accidentally invented. Order it in the house’s oversized, custom-designed calice glass, still made by a family of glassblowers, and served with a single giant ice cube.
6
Marchesi 1824
For a quintessential Milanese experience, step into this historic pastry shop owned by Prada. The first Marchesi 1824 is set on Via Santa Maria alla Porta exudes old-world charm, while the sleek Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II outpost is perfect for people-watching over an immaculate flaky pastry. And then there’s the third, on Via Montenapoleone, where you feel, even for one second, as though you’re on a tv set.
7
Lu Bar (and Lu Barino)
Set within Palazzo Reale lies the cutest (and trendiest among epicureans) Lu Bar. A Sicilian-inspired eatery with a lush indoor greenhouse, rattan chairs, and citrus trees. The menu focuses on fresh, seasonal ingredients with a strong Sicilian influence—think arancini, panelle, and homemade pasta topped with the perfect dusting of ricotta salata. Whether stopping by for an espresso or a leisurely lunch, Lu Bar is a favorite among the city’s fashion and design crowd. PS. for a quick juice on the go, visit Lu Barino in the heart of Brera.
8
Sant’Ambroeus
Founded in 1936 by two pastry chefs steps from Teatro alla Scala, Sant Ambroeus has spent ninety years as one of Milan’s essential social hubs — coffee at the counter each morning, business lunches that never seem to change, aperitivo that drifts into dinner. After decades expanding across Manhattan and Palm Beach, the brand returned home to its original Corso Matteotti address, folding in a marble bar and menu that bridge Milanese tradition with an unmistakably American polish.
9
Bar Jamaica
Open since 1911 on Via Brera, Jamaica earned its nickname — Milan’s own Montmartre — as the postwar meeting point for the city’s artists and writers, from Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni to Salvatore Quasimodo. Legend credits musicologist Giulio Confalonieri, inspired by Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn, with the name. Order the house Jamaican rum tea, sit beneath the original tiled walls, and take in a century of Brera’s bohemian history over a glass of wine.
10
10-11 Portrait
Tucked inside Portrait Milano, a former 17th-century seminary turned hotel in the heart of Brera, 10_11 is where the city’s mixology gets genuinely serious, its cocktail list built to surprise even the most seen-it-all crowd. Start in the courtyard garden, bordering the hotel’s vast inner cortile, for an aperitivo among opulent antiques and contemporary furniture, then move indoors as the evening turns into dinner.
11
Akiro
Milan’s most talked-about opening of the year: the first Italian outpost of Akiro, the Nikkei hand roll bar born in Madrid in 2023 under Peruvian chef Luis Arévalo, a pioneer of Japanese-Peruvian cuisine in Europe. Seating is strictly at the counter, where hand rolls are assembled one at a time and served the instant they’re ready : nori crisp, rice warm, fish cold, a deliberately theatrical, no-frills format that’s already drawing queues on Via della Moscova before doors even open.
12
Bites
An intimate, under-20-seat address where chef Andrea Baita blends Japanese technique with French and Italian references — omakase-style tasting menus, occasional barbecue and fermentation on the pass, and sommelier Camilla Cogliati pouring natural wine alongside each course. Reserve well ahead; this is the kind of table industry insiders would rather keep to themselves.
13
Fiore
Named after a Carlo Buti song and brought to life by five partners with backgrounds spanning design, wine and music, Fiorin Fiorello Fiore is one of the latest kids on the block. The design, by studio Parasite, is built around light, with two large luminous grids above the bar and a custom theatrical projector creating an underwater quality throughout. While the materials, raw brushed steel and wood root, create that international, industrial look and feel. The wine list is hefty, counting over 400 labels, curated by New York sommelier Louis Turano. The food, on the other hand, comes from Aldo Ritrovato of Stadera, one of the better kitchens in the city and takes on an international approach. Music is taken as seriously as everything else; a custom hi-fi system, a rotating cast of selectors brought in by founders Luca Fiore and Giorgio Miccoli of Milanese label Ultimo Tango, and a listening room.
14
Vogue Cafe
Vogue Italia’s Vogue Café returns to Milan for its second edition, taking over Palazzo Giureconsulti — steps from the Duomo — from 24 to 26 September, right in the middle of Fashion Week. Alongside a coffee selection curated by chef Carlo Cracco, cappuccinos, savoury brioche and pastry included, this edition introduces a wellness-focused city guide developed with Eli Lilly and Company for its 150th anniversary: guided tours through Milan’s spas, gyms, nutrition-focused spots and live-music venues, curated by Laura Taccari and led by IF Experience’s Rosa Coscione, with an illustrated guide and floral bouquet included.