But where to eat well outdoors in Milan? Here's our definitive round-up of some of the most interesting outdoor eating in the city, from simple homecooked dishes, to gourmet creations and Michelin-starred cooking.
Whether you prefer to eat with a view of the Darsena canal, or a garden (vegetable or botanical), the choice is yours.
Check out the map of restaurants and outdoor venues in Milan, complete with descriptions and contact details. Be sure to book ahead.
The Four Seasons Hotel Milano, a 15th-century convent transformed into a landmark of luxury and haute cuisine in the heart of the Fashion District, is the perfect place to enjoy an authentic and traditional Italian lunch or dinner.
At La Veranda restaurant, executive chef Fabrizio Borraccino, as always, offers a menu built on regional recipes and traditional raw materials that interact with essential aesthetics.
Light lunches, for business or pleasure, can be enjoyed outdoors in the hotel's enchanting fifteenth-century courtyard. The beef tartare with puntarelle and capers, and grilled salmon from the Faroe Islands with radicchio, baby spinach and lemon, are just a couple of the menu highlights.
At the time of writing the entire hotel and La Veranda restaurant are closed for renovation, the reopening is scheduled for June 16, 2021.
Secluded Sixième Bistrò can be found in a hushed, green courtyard, offering a small corner of paradise for outdoor dining. The perfect combination of relaxed atmosphere, design and bohemian offerings make it a destination for dinner or an aperitif.
Savour simple dishes and cocktails in one of the most beautiful hidden gardens in Milan.
Sometimes it is a detail that makes the difference. Particolare is the combined result of a trio of partners with a common passion for catering: chef Andrea Cutillo, maitre d' and sommelier Luca Beretta, and Mino Traversi, a F&B manager. It's the right place for those who want a cocktail, an easy gourmet dinner or a good post-work cocktail.
Relax among the plants, greenery and flowers in the 100 square meters garden hidden in Porta Romana. The cuisine is creative and Mediterranean, with a strong ethos on using small local and ethical producers.
We really like Lùbar in via Palestro. Among the most particular places for an aperitif in Milan, this greenhouse-dehors inside the Gallery of Modern Art is perfect for having breakfast or lunch outdoors. Expect Italian cuisine with strong Sicilian influences in a fun and colorful place.
This favourite hangout for fashion workers has a beautiful outdoor location combined with good Mediterranean cuisine. With more than 50 covers in its splendid garden, expect impeccable taste and good service.
An enchanting garden in the center: the Bulgari hotel, in whose restaurant Niko Romito's cuisine arrived a few years ago, is a favorite destination for fashionistas. Elegant and refined, intimate and welcoming. With the arrival of warm days, you can only enjoy the splendour of the garden.
The restaurant with a vegetable garden, or rather 'the kitchen garden', this much-loved and charming place has outdoor tables in the Orto Brusco. Nice for a few bucolic hours, just a few steps from the centre of Milan.
Here, along the Naviglio canal, you really feel like you're in the countryside. At this moment, more than ever, book in advance and order the tasting menu of chef Alice Delcourt, who has recently been recognised by the Identità Golose 2021 guide for the best delivery in the North.
The gourmet duo of Voce Aimo and Nadia, consisting of Alessandro Negrini and Fabio Pisani, returns again this year to the evocative open space of the Giardino di Alessandro.
Open for lunch and dinner, it's the perfect place to eat surrounded by nature and art, admiring contemporary art sculptures by great artists such as Joan Miró, Giò Pomodoro, Jean Arp and Pietro Cascella, as well as an ancient fountain in a news stand with a bust of Alexander the Great. The outdoor space was designed by the architect Michele De Lucchi.
A 'smart bar with kitchen service' where it's possible to eat all day, from breakfast to aperitif, outdoors and very close to the water at this convivial and informal place.
Perfect for smart working and for an informal outdoor lunch on the Milanese pier, thanks to the partnership with Fastweb, which allows you to surf the Internet at high speed.
The menu ranges from special dishes, bowls, burgers and focaccia, to centrifuges, shaken coffees, beers and cocktails.
A real Milanese trattoria, complete with a menu written in Milanese dialect. Al Garghet is not as rustic as it might first appear and has some surprises on the menu, including tagliolini with truffles and soft egg with hazelnuts, or trofie with celery pesto and goose salami. There's a wealth of outdoor seating, plus a botanical garden and terrace. Al Garghet is open for lunch and dinner.
Imagine a zen garden where you can dine with haute cuisine dishes: you can find it at Innocenti Evasioni, where you can enjoy the creations of Michelin-starred chef Tommaso Arrigoni. A place that offers a corner of peace and relaxation from the frenetic rhythms of Milan. We look forward to the reopening.
Still in the Navigli area, Trattoria Aurora offers a completely different concept: traditional cuisine, concrete, of substance, and excellent wines. Piedmontese dishes, an informal setting and of course an internal garden for lunch among the greenery.
Chef Cesare Battisti's restaurant is not only famous for its cuisine: Ratanà also offers a nice space for outdoor dining, as soon as the temperatures rise a little, in the centre, in the Porta Nuova district, between Gioia and Garibaldi, a few steps from the Library of Trees. You will have lunch in the garden of a splendid Liberty building from the early 1900s, admiring the Vertical Forest. There are 70 seats in the outdoor area, but be sure to book ahead.
A well-established address that combines the spirit of the dance hall with the slightly more glamorous one of contemporary Milan. At Spirit de Milan you will find checked tablecloths, a little greenery and lots of swing music in the background. The food? A homemade offering with some American dishes thrown in, all at medium-low prices.
A well-kept garden and a cuisine that tries to offer the best at reasonable prices: On the 4Cento menu, fish dishes such as tuna tartare, basil ice cream and lemon zest or tagliolini with cuttlefish ink, small squid, asparagus and yellow tomato, but also vegetarian suggestions such as Asparagus flan, salty zabaglione and crunchy Grana cheese. An outside grill serves up freshly grilled meat.
The creative Japanese cuisine of Roberto Okabe takes on fairytale tones thanks to the soft lighting and elegant setting of Finger's Garden. If you want to treat yourself to good sushi for an aperitif (from 6pm) or for dinner (from 8pm), in absolute relaxation and intimacy, you are in the right open-air restaurant. At weekends it is also open for lunch. Be sure to book ahead.
A rustic farmhouse immersed in the greenery of a luxuriant garden, where it seems to be in the middle of the Tuscan countryside: here is Acquacheta, the unexpected restaurant in a quiet side street of Viale Monza, inspired by Tuscan trattorias. Here you go for grilled meat or for home-made pasta dishes. Perfect for Sunday lunch and more.
Clotilde Brera can be found in the heart of Old Milan, overlooking Piazza S. Marco, with its historic church. A bistro that serves the cuisine of Domenico Della Salandra and cocktails created by Filippo Sisti as protagonists. Open for lunch and dinner, in good weather, it is the perfect place to eat on a terrace in the heart of Brera, or have an aperitif from 6pm.
Looking for a restaurant with a terrace and an amazing view? Triennale Terrace - Osteria con Vista is the place for you. Here you can discover chef Stefano Cerveni's cuisine, who reinterprets the flavours of tradition with gourmet touches, as well as excellent drinks. In short, a must for being outdoors. La Terrazza Triennale - Osteria con Vista is open from Thursday to Sunday, for lunch and dinner. For updates, follow the Instagram profile.
On the ground floor, on the other hand, there is the Caffè in the Garden - which remains open from the afternoon for an open-air aperitif, a bowl of rice or a tastefully seasoned focaccia, inside the park, but in a fenced area. Open every day starting in the afternoon.
This terrace designed for sipping a glass of bubbles or a good cocktail comes complete with a unique view of Milan Central Station.
Perfect for a weekend lunch on the terrace. Open for lunch, aperitif and dinner.
Eating with the Milan skyline in front of you is priceless, and to do it in style, just go to Ceresio 7, the restaurant with a swimming pool and American bar of the fashion house Dsquared2, led by chef Elio Sironi. And if you want to enjoy a drink, the mixological creations of Guglielmo Miriello are not to be missed.
Terrazza Palestro offers a new seasonal menu for those wishing to use the restaurant service. The perfect place for those who want to enjoy a large terrace in the center of the city, even if just for a cocktail or a gourmet snack.
Open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 12.30 to 22.00 for lunch, snacks, aperitif and dinner.
The Mandarin is not just a luxury hotel in the heart of Brera. Known above all for the presence inside the Seta, the two-star Michelin restaurant led by chef Antonio Guida, the Mandarin also has a bistro and a bar that enjoy a delightful courtyard perfect for dining outdoors, for lunch and dinner.
La Brisa is always a certainty for the Milanese: simple cuisine with some creative flair served in a beautiful outdoor space, just behind Piazza Affari. Prepare to be pampered and enjoy dishes such as risotto, gazpacho, suckling pigs and shellfish soup.
Open every day, seven days a week, for lunch and dinner, with twenty seats. In case of fresh evening air? No problem, there are outdoor heaters to keep you warm.
Milanese foodies know that via Muratori in Porta Romana has become one of the most interesting food streets in the city. Finding a place to eat outdoors, however, is not so easy. If you enjoy an evening breeze while eating a simple, traditional dish, then take advantage of the many outdoor tables of Casa Tua, a traditional Tuscan-inspired trattoria, with excellent main courses and an average price of around 30 euros. Open for lunch and dinner.
The restaurant at Magna Pars - a five-star luxury hotel in the Tortona area - also offers splendid outdoor lunches during the spring-summer months.
You eat in the small courtyard set between the walls of the hotel, a secret garden sheltered from the noise of the Tortona area and from the prying eyes of passers-by. Open for lunch and dinner.
From the outside the Trattoria la Madonnina may seem like a small old little bottle shop, but in reality, the restaurant located in the Ticino area offers excellent Milanese dishes and above all an outdoor space to eat well with a comfortable spring/summer breeze.
It may not be the best place to eat in town, we agree, but Balera dell'Ortica's charm is irresistible. Here you can eat traditional dishes all outdoors, and just a few kilometers from the center of Milan.
Among the new entries we point out Røst, a very popular young address, where you can taste chef Lucia Gaspari's food. Its traditional cuisine and seasonal menu can now also be enjoyed outdoors, in its spacious terrace. Reservations are recommended.
Speaking of pizza, for those who feel the nostalgia of thin and crispy Seattanta-eighties-style pizza, there is Crocca. The pizzeria, inaugurated last summer, sets up an outdoor area with some outdoor tables during the summer.
