Italian homemade food in Milan

The place we're gonna describe in this post is one of those you'll never find in any travel guide. It's almost a secret, approachable only by some selected adepts!

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The "Trattoria Albero Fiorito" (bloomed tree) is a very small family-managed eating house, a hybrid between a country snack-bar and a restaurant, where you can eat genuine italian food for the lowest price in Milan.

Lasagne alla bolognese, spaghetti al pomodoro, italian cheese, and many other delicious courses, drinking a beautiful italian wine from Friuli (a famous italian wine district). And while you are drinking your italian coffee (espresso, obviously...) you'll be smiling at the bill: a complete supper costs about 11 €uros wine included!

But don't think to be in a restaurant! To order your meal you have to find paper and pen (not so easy!) and write your choises among the courses of the day, then ask for someone who can catch your paper... ah, you'll share your table with other people and we're sure you'll find interesting new friends!

"The earlier you get there, the most chance you have to sit down and eat". You can't miss it!

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How to get there: underground line 2, Piola stop.

Trattoria Albero Fiorito
Via Pellizzone, 14 - Milan
Tel: +39 02 70123425

Pizza Big - The thinnest pizza in Milan

Pizza Big is a coloured pizzeria right near the Milan Central Rail Station (Stazione Centrale). The room is quite small, but the service is very fast.

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In this nice pizzeria, full of Brasil memories and pictures of Ayrton Senna, you can taste the thinnest pizza in town. All the pizzas served here are really big and extremely thin, palatable and very light.

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From the classical Margherita (tomatoes, cheese and basil) to the most elaborated pizzas, you can choose from a huge list of ingredients and toppings.

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Rates: pizza + beer + espresso... about 12 €uros.

How to get there: underground line 1, Loreto stop or Centrale stop.

Closed: Sunday

Pizza Big - Viale brianza, 30 - Milan

Tel: +39 02 2846548

Have a glass of italian wine!

A huge selection of italian wines from different Italy areas: Chianti, Bonarda, Dolcetto d'Alba, Nebbiolo, till the famous and prestigious Barolo and Brunello di Montalcino. You can taste all this wonderful italian wines in a warm and welcoming atmosphere at the "Sorsi e Morsi" wine bar in Via Giorgio Washington 92, Milan.

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Prices, obviously, change with the kind of wine you want to taste, but generally they're quite affordable and, if you get hungry, you can always ask for a dish of lasagne alla bolognese, or some cheese and cold cuts with nutty bread.

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How to get there: underground line 2, Sant'Agostino stop.

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Sorsi e Morsi - Via Giorgio Washington 92 - Milan - Italy
Open: every day till 2.00 am
Closed: Sunday on lunch
Tel: +39 02 89693830

Italian pasta and grilled meat for less than 20 €.

"Stop Grill" it's quite a new place, in the backyard of the busy Piazza Loreto, just at the corner of Milan's main shooping street Corso Buenos Aires. This roomy environment à la brasserie becomes full during lunch time, thanks to white collars from the nearby offices, but out of 12.30-14.00 pm hours, you will easily get a table.
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Here you will find pizzas from just 5 €uros, many first courses of the italian cuisine, like pasta, tagliatelle and gnocchi, starting at 4.5 €uros, and main courses, like cotoletta milanese and steaks from just 11 €. Portions are not very big, but, belive me, You will hardly find something cheaper in Milan.

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"Stop Grill" it is open full time from 06.00 a.m. to 01.00 a.m., so out of meal time you can just take a rest with an expresso or a glass of beer.

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How much: lunch under 20€

What: pizza, italina food, grilled meat, breakfasts

Where: via Annibale Caretta, Milan east side (underground Green and Red lines, Loreto station + 90,91,93 buses)
When: 06.00 a.m. - 01.00 a.m.
Credit cards: not accepted
Contact: just walk in
Booking: no

Italian food or nouvelle cuisine? The name is no matter when you can eat tasty dishes for just 9 euros!

Trattoria "Il Glicine" (The Wistaria), it's a small and friendly restaurant, hidden in the eastern district of Città Studi (Milan's main college campus). Just 35 tables for 60 eaters, and a nice garden, which makes this place perfect during spring and summer monthes.

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Interesting and fresh dishes, and a fairly good wine list, are offered for a very competitive price: 27 €uros à la carté for your dinner, and only 9 €uros for lunch menu. And after your meal you can enjoy the many pubs and bars of this young, university district or simply have a nap in the nearby Piazza Leonardo da Vinci public garden.

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How much: 9 - 27 €
What: italian food and creative fusion with provance flavours
Where: via Francesco Lomonaco 13, Milan (just out Piola green line underground station)
When: open Monday - Friday + Saturday night. Closed on Monday night, Sunday, Saturady lunch time
Credi cards: not accepted
Contact: +39.02.26684156 - http://www.trattoriailglicine.it/
Booking: recommended

Typical italian food for less than 25 Euros at the "Osteria dei vecchi sapori"

"Osteria dei vecchi sapori" letterary means "Tavern of old savours", and this it what you will find in this cozy small restaurant located near Garibaldi rail station. The place is inside the Isola district - some yeras ago a semi-abandoned reidential area in northern Milan, and now a place with a high density of bars, pubs, trandy cafes and craft shops which surely deserves a visit.
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You will taste traditional milanese and northern Italy cuisine in a friendly and young environment. Dishes change on seasonal basis, but the highest quality level, natural ingredients and very low prices are always guaranted!

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How much: 23 €

What: italian regional food

Where: via Carmagnola 3, Milan (near Garibaldi rail station and Garibaldi underground station)

When: open Monday - Friday + Saturday night. Closed Sunday, Saturady lunch time

Credi cards: Amex, VISA, Diners

Contact: +39 02.6686148 - http://www.vecchisapori.it/

Booking: recommended

Panettone: one of Milan's symbols

Panettone, litteraly "the big bread" it's the undisputed king of Milan's confectionery, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year around Italy, and one of the symbols of the city.

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It has a cupola shape which extends from a cylindrical base and is usually about 12-15 cm high for a 1 kg panettone. It contains candied orange, citron and lemon zest, as well as raisins, which are added dry and not soaked. The origins of this cake appear to be ancient, dating back to the Roman Empire, as ancient Romans sweetened a type of leavened bread with honey.

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The word "panettone" derives from the Italian word "panetto," a small loaf bread. The augmentative Italian suffix "-one" (pronounced "o-neh") changes the meaning to "large bread."

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Panettone it is not only a tasty sweet, but also a nice, although a bit bulky souvenir. As it is a seasonal item, it can be hard finding during summer monthes, but from the middle of November to the end of January you will see piles of panettoni in every supermarket and pastry-shop.

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Prices can range from 1.5 € for a discount, no logo product, to 50 € for top-class sweets in the city centre pastry-shops. Hards discounts from January's first week.

Thanks to: Wikipedia

Luini Panzerotti: “slow food” in five minutes!

All the taste and pleasure of italian typical finger food is set under the Duomo. Located in Via S. Radegonda 16, on the right side of the Duomo, Luini offers one of the most exciting taste sensation in all Milan at a very low price.

For just 3,50 euros, in this little bakery right in the center of Milan, you can taste the famous italian panzerotto: a bag of dough filled with typical mediterannean ingredients and deep fried.
The most demanded panzerotto is, beyond all doubt, the classical one, stuffed with mozzarella cheese and tomato. Together with this, many others kind of panzerotti are available, varying also according to the season: ham, pesto and small tomatoes, cottage cheese and spinaches, eggplant, etc.

In Milan the name Luini is synonymous of quality food, but not only in Milan...also in London, where you can find a Luini Bakery at 35 Theobalds Road!

Opening hours: Mon 10 am – 3 pm / Tue-Sat 10 am – 8 pm.

During Christmas time the bakery is open also on Sunday.

Summer closing in August.

Maybe we don't speak Oxford English, but We breathe Milan air everyday!

A world class pizza in Milan's east end area

You will hardly find it on travel guides, probably neither on Lonely Planet pages. But the small "Pizza Mundial 2" take-away, located in Milan's east area, is well known to generations of Milan Politecnico University students, commuter workers waiting for train connections, and many Milan's underground green line passengers.

Long before you can see the tiny window, you will feel olive oil, onion and anchovy aroma - typical flavours of a simple and genuine cuisine. Inside you will find a dozen types of tasty pizza and focaccia, well made, well served, and at very reasonable prices.

The place is small: just choose, pay and get out, but this is not a problem. Want to eat seated? Just across the road you will find several benches in the small round Bottini square. Otherwise, you could reach Milano Lambrate rail station platforms, where free drinkable water and romantic views over trains directed to Venice, Tuscany and Rome are guaranteed...

Strategically located in front of Milan Lambrate rail station, "Pizza Mundial" it's easily reachable from city centre (15 min underground ride) and it's the perfect place to restore every backpacker's forces, before a long train voyage.

Where: Milan, Piazza Bottini; Underground station - "Milano Lambrate FS"; public transport N. 33, 23, 54, 93; Lambrate FS rail station;

What: pizza, pizza and pizza;

Opening hours: 9.00 a.m. - 23 p.m.;

Estimated cost/person: 3,5 €;

Hit: try the "focaccia genovese": tastes good, and often sold with "take 3 & pay 2 formula":

Beware: Splugen beer sold inside: better a glass of water, or a bottle of table wine from nearby supermarket (50 mt far, down the first right hand street); panzerotti - a hard game for your liver.

Maybe we don't speak Oxford English, but we breathe Milan air everyday!

Not only fashion boutiques: Milan it's a cozy destination also for low budget travellers

Worldwide known as the capital of Italian style, Milan is often considered only just a shopping-travel destination, suitable for Russian nouveau riches, Japanese fashion victims and members of the Saudi real family.

This is true, but it's not all the story. Milan offers much for art and architecture enthusiasts, for italian food lovers and for night life addicted too. Its 7 universties are home for almost 200.000 students and in its neighbourhood you'll find such natural wonders like Como's lake and historical towns like Pavia.
We should admit, that The Big Milan's problem are its prices. Fashion and business oriented hotels can rarely offer one night stay under 70 €/person. Restaurants are delicious, but be prepared to leave 40 Euros for a pasta and "cotoletta milanese" if you are in downtown. And while ordering a cocktail in a trendy bar, don't expect bargains: 15 Euros for a mojito it's the rule.
Scared? ;) Well, according to an old italian saying - "the evil is not as bad, as people describe it". "Milan low cost" team will find you cozy accomodation solutions for reasonable prices; good food you won't pay a fortune; transport system information without considering taxi cabs; clubs to visit, and others to avoid....... and much more!!!

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Maybe we don't speak Oxford English, but We breathe Milan air everyday! ;)