9 Best Restaurants in Milan, Italy

Named after the phonetic spelling of the Dutch-Italian chef's last name, this innovative, high-concept restaurant, whose quiet dining rooms are done up in gray and gold, offers a choice of interesting tasting menus and à la carte options. Boer's contemporary Italian food is beautifully presented and full of complex flavors, and the well-matched wines lean toward the natural.

Modern Italian cuisine made using interesting ingredients is the draw at this restaurant with sophisticated brown-and-turquoise decor in Milan's Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The best way to experience the intricate dishes is through the seven-course tasting menu; for a less expensive option, opt for the three-course “carte blanche” lunch menu. With more than 1,000 labels on the extensive wine list and a focus on Italian producers, you’re guaranteed to find something wonderful to accompany your meal.

From day to night, step into the chic living room of 142 for whatever you are craving. Drink coffee and eat a homemade brioche at a bar decorated in crown caps or eat lunch or dinner at tables with a hand-painted Pollock flourish, while browsing a selection of art books. The influence of Sandra Ciciriello (who co-founded a Michelin-starred restaurant and worked as a fishmonger before starting 142) is evident in the fish-focused menu. There's also a selection of pastas and risotto with a twist. End the meal munching on caramel corn bonbons and salted caramelized popcorn from an oversized red-and-white striped box.

In Italian, al fresco means open-air, and when the weather cooperates you can dine in the candlelit garden of this restaurant converted from a former factory. The string lights and wooden tables create a romantic setting, while indoors, a greenhouse with terra-cotta floors is decorated with seasonal floral arrangements, chandeliers, and pendant lights to add to the 19th-century charm. The menu offers plenty of classic dishes from throughout Italy like Pappa al pomodoro (a Tuscan bread soup), a Milanese veal cutlet, and a codfish from Liguria. Fish and seafood are prominent for mains as are chef Andrea Mangiaracina's low-temperature cooking techniques. Wines from nearly every region in Italy make up the extensive list.

Alternative describes more than the decor and name at Altriménti. But there are the scarlet velvet Three Wise Monkeys (See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil) to greet you, evocative bright prints from contemporary Italian artists, that same scarlet for walls, stairs, and cushions, and fluted cardboard stools for resting handbags table-side in the bright main dining room that can seat 30. But in a neighborhood not known for its culinary prowess, the team behind Altriménti (with an impressive culinary resume with guidance by renowned chef Eugenio Boer) has also created a seasonally changing menu and wine list that takes the best of Italian regions such as baccalà mantecato (mashed cod, Veneto), crusco pepper (crunchy red pepper, Basilicata), and polenta (Piedmont) to create direct dishes with complex flavors, as nettles, lemongrass, and lime also grace white discs served on white linens. Alongside slow-cooked meats, seared seafood, and house made ravioli, there is Lombardy's classic risotto carnaroli allo zafferano (saffron risotto) with beef jus and Piedmont's vitello tonato (veal filet with tuna sauce). Mixed-to-order gelato and sorbet make dessert worth saving room for. 

A French-style bistro in the heart of Milan, Fioraio Bianchi Caffè was opened more than 40 years ago by Raimondo Bianchi, a great lover of flowers; in fact, eating at this restaurant is a bit like dining in a Parisian boutique with floral decor. Despite the French atmosphere, the dishes have Italian flair and ensure a classy, inventive meal.

Mobiles and natural-wood lanterns decorate this cozy restaurant where house-made pasta is the main event. Start with crusty sourdough bread and small dishes of seasonal salads, vegetables, and fish served on plates crafted in a Milan ceramics studio. Then ease into the pastas made in Francesco Costanzo's kitchen and served with a decadent combination of yellow tomatoes, raw shrimp, and stracciatella (a cheese from Puglia), along with a handful of other classic and modern interpretations of southern Italian flavors. 

Chef Cesare Battisti infuses the Milanese dishes of his childhood with a contemporary twist at this lively restaurant. Its two patios face a park with skyline views, and its dining room is decorated with vintage items (like an Olivetti typewriter and Scandalli accordion). A busy lunch crowd sips wine from a collection of natural and biodynamic labels. Start with a classic Milanese recipe for mondeghili (fried veal meatballs) followed by risotto alla vecchia Milano (risotto with saffron, bone marrow, and gremolata). Ingredients are seasonal and local where possible with a focus on small producers. Afterwards, take a stroll through the Biblioteca degil Alberi (Library of Trees).

Zibo used to wander Milan, serving up unconventional Italian street food but the demand for Giulio Potestà and Alessandro Cattaneo's carbonara ravioli (ravioli filled with black pepper and pecorino Romano fondue and topped with crispy guanciale [beef cheek]), primo sale (fresh Sicilian cheese) croquettes with onion jam, and pastrami sandwiches led Zibo to put down roots. On a side street off Via Caminadella, its "Base Camp" has a takeaway window (convenient for grabbing a bite between sightseeing) as a remnant of this van life. Locals pack into the dozen tables at the narrow restaurant with paper placemats and yellow and sea green accents as if in a cozy home kitchen—reservations are essential on weekends. Along with its street food standbys, seasonally-changing risotto and mains of grilled fish or satisfying grilled or roasted vegetables are paired with a small wine list. For a relaxing finish, pick from 16 digestives based on tasting notes and serving temperatures and a handful of homemade desserts such as the Zibo classic robiola Catalan cream with coffee and licorice reduction topped with almond crisp.