The Milanese aperitivo: from the Galleria to the Navigli

Between the end of the working day and dinner, Milan stops for an aperitivo. Here is where to take it: the Galleria’s historic counter, the bar that invented the Sbagliato, century-old bars and bottiglierie, Brera’s terraces and the canals of the Navigli at dusk.

In Milan the early evening has its own name. Between the office and dinner, the city stops for an aperitivo: a drink, something to nibble and good conversation. The custom spread through Milan over the 1900s, as Pasticceria Biffi puts it, to sharpen the appetite without replacing dinner, and it is still the best way to feel the city’s rhythm. Here is where to take it, from the Galleria to the canals.

The Galleria

Start where the ritual has its temple. Camparino in Galleria, at the Duomo end of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, has served “the Milanese aperitivo since 1915”, in its own words. Stand at the Bar di Passo, the counter that opens from 9.30 in the morning, or climb to the Sala Spiritello for cocktails; the Sala Gaspare Campari is by reservation only.

Across the Galleria’s glass-roofed crossing, Savini has been part of Milanese dining since 1867 and opens every day from 8am, so the Galleria can carry you from the first coffee of the day to the last drink.

The old bars

Some of the city’s bars are institutions in their own right. Bar Magenta, on the corner of the Corso Magenta, celebrated its hundredth birthday on 13 April 2007; its name is set in the marble floor of the entrance, and more than half a million people a year walk across it. Further along the same street, Pasticceria Biffi, founded in 1847, revives the aperitivo of earlier days.

In Chinatown, Cantine Isola has poured wine on Via Paolo Sarpi since 1896, when Giovanni Isola opened his bottiglieria; the Sarais family has run it since 1991. The shelves run from everyday bottles to rarities, and on Tuesday evenings at 8.30pm someone reads a short poem or story, sometimes in Milanese.

The Sbagliato

Every Milanese bar story leads, sooner or later, to Bar Basso on Via Plinio, between Porta Venezia and Città Studi. It is the home of the Negroni Sbagliato, the “mistaken” Negroni made with sparkling wine instead of gin. Order one where it began.

A drink, a bite and conversation, to sharpen the appetite without replacing dinner.

Brera and Sempione

Brera’s evenings start early. Radetzky has been a meeting place on Corso Garibaldi since 1988 and opens every day from 8am to 2am; on Via Solferino, Dry pairs cocktails with pizza, for when the aperitivo turns into dinner. To the west, Living opens every evening from 6pm on Piazza Sempione, at the head of the park, and Ceresio 7 serves drinks from its rooftop near Porta Garibaldi.

The Navigli

The Darsena, by Porta Ticinese, was once Milan’s harbour; today its quays are a promenade where the Navigli begin, and at dusk the canal banks fill. Rita, a step from the Naviglio Grande, opens Monday to Saturday from 5.30pm and is closed on Sundays. Pinch, on the Ripa di Porta Ticinese, opens every day from 6pm to 2am, with a kitchen for something more than nibbles.

For a grander drink, Gerry’s Bar at the Grand Hotel et de Milan on Via Manzoni counts La Scala “just 674 steps away”, a fine prelude to a night at the opera.

Our advice: most of these bars open from about 5.30–6pm, so start in the Galleria, take the tram or metro to the Navigli for the canals at dusk, and order lightly: the aperitivo is the overture, not the dinner. Book Camparino’s Sala Gaspare Campari ahead, and check each bar’s closing day.