The best brunches in Milan
Grand hotels, cocktail bars, bistros and pastry shops: brunch in Milan in all its forms
Brunch in Milan has become a small weekend ritual, and everyone does it their own way: some head for the grand hotels, with buffets and glasses of fizz, some prefer a cocktail bar with the right vibe, and some won’t give up a table in a pastry shop, somewhere between a brioche and a maritozzo. Our selection covers all of these, from the centre to the neighbourhoods, from long-standing addresses to recent openings. If you’re after a particular area, we also have guides to brunch in Isola, the Navigli and Porta Venezia, plus our pieces on outdoor brunches and brunches with live music. Here, then, is our pick of where to have brunch in Milan.
10_11
Corso Venezia, 11
Inside Portrait Milano, the former Archbishop’s Seminary with entrances on Corso Venezia and Via Sant’Andrea, 10_11 gives every Sunday over to a brunch served outside, from noon to 4pm. It opens with the Bloody Mary trolley (classic, signature or alcohol-free) or a glass of fizz, before moving on to the seasonal buffet, with sweet and savoury pastries baked every morning, a generous selection of cheeses and fresh vegetables. From executive chef Luigi Cinotti‘s menu, you order as you please: eggs in all sorts of guises, from the Benedict Croissant and the Muffin Royale to the Uovo Milanese with baby spinach, Taleggio foam and saffron sauce, plus a lobster roll, a club sandwich and a crab croissant, then pancakes, French toast and golden waffles. The table is yours for up to two hours.
Giardino Cordusio
Piazza Cordusio, 2
Inside Palazzo Cordusio Gran Meliá, Giardino Cordusio is the bistro and cocktail bar that every Sunday, from 11am to 3pm, turns brunch into one of the most eagerly awaited rituals of the week. The concept takes its cue from the 1980s, reimagined with a contemporary eye, and it shows: from the kitchen, the Avo Supreme with house-made Danish pastry and spinach hollandaise sits alongside vitello tonnato, sliced to order, and pennette with salmon and confit datterini tomatoes. The buffet brings freshly baked viennoiserie, fruit, a chocolate fountain, and cured meats and cheeses. The cocktail list more than holds its own, with the 80’s Wave section and four takes on the Bloody Mary, from the Cordusio Mary to the kimchi and yuzu Oriental Mary. An elegant DJ set accompanies it all.
Etereo
Piazzetta Maurilio Bossi, 2
On the eighth and top floor of Casa Brera, a short walk from Piazza della Scala, Etereo has interiors by Patricia Urquiola, who redesigned the hotel within a late-1950s rationalist building by Pietro Lingeri. Every Sunday from 12.30 to 3pm, the terrace sets the scene for executive chef Antonio Gentile‘s Sunday Brunch, split between a lavish seasonal buffet of smoked specialities, salads, cured meats, cheeses, bread, fruit and pastries, and one dish of your choice from the menu. The options run from the classics, such as avocado toast with smoked wild salmon and a poached egg or an omelette with your choice of filling, to more unusual dishes like linguine cacio e pepe with red prawn tartare, and on to pancakes with red berries and maple syrup. Lunch comes with a DJ set and a selection of cocktails created especially for brunch.
Ralph's Bar
Via della Spiga, 5
On Via della Spiga, inside the Ralph Lauren flagship, a historic palazzo reimagined as a grand Italian residence, Ralph’s Bar opens onto a courtyard and lays on brunch at the weekend. The interiors are warm and elegant, with reclaimed wood floors and mahogany, oak and walnut panelling. On Saturdays and Sundays from 10am the menu is set: you start with a mimosa or a Bloody Mary and Ralph’s bakery basket, then choose a main, from avocado toast, a breakfast sandwich and smoked salmon Benedict to a lobster roll or Ralph’s Burger, and a dessert, from Ralph’s Brownie with vanilla ice cream to coconut cake or Silver Dollar Pancakes with berries and Vermont maple syrup. The dress code is smart.
Sant Ambroeus
Corso Giacomo Matteotti, 7
Opened in 1936 and redesigned in 2022 by Fabrizio Casiraghi’s studio, Sant Ambroeus is one of Milan’s historic salons: in the high-ceilinged main room you dine beneath the twelve coats of arms of the Lombardy region. The kitchen of executive chef Walter Casiraghi looks to Milanese and Tuscan tradition with an eye on America, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 11.45am the brunch menu proves it: scrambled, poached or soft-boiled eggs, pancakes, the Sant Ambroeus French toast made with raisin brioche, berries and Chantilly cream, and a New England lobster roll. Milanese classics are there too, such as the veal cutlet and ossobuco with riso al salto (a crisp saffron rice cake), as well as several vegetarian dishes, from aubergine parmigiana to Tuscan gnudi. To drink, a Bloody Mary, a Pink Spritz or an Amalfi made with limoncello and Campari.
PAN deli
Piazza Einaudi, 6 (entrance through the inner courtyard of Pirelli 35)
In the quiet inner courtyard of Pirelli 35, in Portanuova, PAN deli is the latest chapter of PAN, the brand born from the partnership between chef Yoji Tokuyoshi and Alice Yamada. During the week it’s a quick but carefully considered lunch stop; on Saturdays and Sundays, from 8.30am to 5pm, it slows down with a new brunch menu built around bread and shokupan, the Japanese milk bread that is the brand’s signature. It ranges from homemade bread, butter and jam (or with peanut butter and anko) to the Classic shokutoast, with ham, Comté and mustard, and the Truffle, with truffle sauce, to a BLT on laminated shokupan with pork belly, roast tomatoes and tartare sauce, through to avocado toast with a soft egg, shichimi and yuzu, and oeuf forestière with cavolo nero and chanterelles. For something sweet, granola with Greek yoghurt or French toast with ricotta and matcha cream. To drink, LILU matcha and a blend created for PAN by Nudo Artisan Coffee.
Ditta Artigianale
Corso Magenta, 31 · Via Vincenzo Capelli, 2
Founded in Florence in 2013 by Francesco Sanapo and Patrick Hoffer, Ditta Artigianale is one of Italy’s leading speciality coffee roasters, and in Milan it has two cafés: one on Corso Magenta, named best café in Italy at the 2025 Barawards, and one on Via Capelli, right by Piazza Gae Aulenti. Brunch is served every day until 3pm, and this autumn it leans on pumpkin and mushrooms: the Autumn Pumpkin Toast on semi-wholemeal bread, with pumpkin cream, miso-braised leeks, Taleggio fondue and a final dusting of coffee, the Tamagoyaki Mushroom Omelette with house brioche, plus a cauliflower and coconut milk velouté, the Chocolate & Pear French Toast and an apple and cinnamon porridge. Pair it with a coffee, from Modern Italian Coffee to filter, or a signature drink such as the Coffeemisù, with espresso and mascarpone cream, or the Lotus Danish Latte.
Baobar
Via Bartolomeo Eustachi, 24
On Via Eustachi, close to Lima on the M1 line, Baobar is a cocktail bar and bistro furnished with reclaimed materials, with a bright main room looking onto the bar, the cosier Atelier and Gallery spaces, and outdoor seating running along two sides. Every Sunday from noon to 3pm, brunch means choosing from six set menus, each with a main and a dessert: from the club sandwich on sandwich bread from micro-bakery TraMa to pancakes with eggs, bacon and potatoes, from dill-cured salmon to the Big Fat Burger made with Piedmontese Fassona beef, through to poached eggs with avocado and spinach, and a vegan menu. All come with an Americano, orange juice and water, and the eggs are organic uovo di selva from Valtellina. There are gluten-free options, and booking is recommended.
Bluesquare
Via Tortona, 33
On Via Tortona, Bluesquare is a go-to for aperitivo that turns into dinner over tapas, cocktails and music. Every Sunday from 12.30 to 4pm it brings the same cosmopolitan spirit to the daytime with a Japanese-Mediterranean brunch created by chef Fabrizio Loris Melchiorre. The deal includes bottomless coffee, a soft drink, juice or freshly squeezed orange, a main, a side and a homemade dessert. Mains include the Japanese-Mediterranean shakshuka with white miso and an onsen egg, Korean fried eggs with gochugaru butter, toast with bluefin tuna tartare and kimchi hollandaise, and a soba salad; sides include kimchi potatoes and Tokyo slaw. To finish, brownies, apple cake or gluten-free tiramisù, or, for a supplement, Japanese French toast. Every dish can also be made vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free.
Gelsomina
Via Carlo Tenca, 5
On Via Tenca, between Repubblica and Porta Venezia, Gelsomina is a pastry shop with a kitchen that runs from breakfast to lunch, with a nod or two to southern Italy, from homemade panelle (Sicilian chickpea fritters) to maritozzi. Brunch is served every day, from 9am to 4pm, à la carte: eggs royale on savoury brioche with cured salmon and dill hollandaise, salmon open toast with a poached egg, avocado toast on ancient-grain bread, omelettes, gravlax bagels and the bacon & eggs maritozzo. On the sweet side there are pancakes with maple syrup and berries, brioche French toast, hazelnut waffles and chocolate porridge, while the pastry counter offers maritozzi filled with whipped cream or pistachio cream. To drink, freshly squeezed orange, fresh juices, matcha latte or a glass of Franciacorta. Gluten-free bread and pasta and vegan options are available on request.
Dhole
Via Gerolamo Tiraboschi, 2
In Porta Romana, Dhole is the cocktail bar with a kitchen from the team behind Eppol, where the bar counter and the vertical garden steal the show. At the weekend, from noon to 3pm, brunch follows a simple, well-thought-out format: you start with something sweet, choosing from pancakes, porridge, a yoghurt bowl or banana bread, then a main, from the super avocado toast to the croque monsieur, from the smash burger to the egg royale, with a side and a soft drink or a coffee. Children get a menu all of their own, which is no given in a cocktail bar.
Eppol Pie
Via Lecco, 4
On Via Lecco, in the heart of Porta Venezia, Eppol Pie is the sweetest address from the group behind Eppol and Dhole, with the feel of a Parisian bistro: woven chairs, vintage tables and homemade cakes on show under glass domes. At the weekend the day begins with breakfast and brunch, with eggs and savoury dishes, and carries on at an unhurried pace until aperitivo. Leaving without a slice of cake, though, is easier said than done.
MOGO
Via Bernina, 1C
Among Milan’s brunch spots, MOGO is one that genuinely surprises. Near Scalo Farini, this hi-fi bar & dining room is the ideal place to enjoy brunch in the fullest sense: excellent food, carefully made drinks, considered design and great sound. Every Sunday, MOGO opens the day with a brunch that blends East and West beautifully. The kitchen draws as much on Japanese cuisine as on familiar Italian flavours: from tuna ajitama and hamachi crudo to focaccia with mortadella or bread with butter and anchovies. Drinks range from classic and signature cocktails to natural wines and an exclusive selection of Japanese whiskies, gin, mezcal and sake.
June Collective
Via Galvano Fiamma, 37
After its pop-up at Certosa District, June Collective has found a home on Via Galvano Fiamma, near Piazza Risorgimento, in a space with no sign outside. In the kitchen is Mythila Shilke, from Bangalore, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco and has worked at Noma, Hiša Franko and Gaggan; front of house is her business partner Ilze Sire, from Riga. On Sundays brunch follows a seasonal menu, heavy on vegetables and pulses and made with produce from small farms: pancakes with cardamom butter and mascarpone cream, the June shakshuka with sauerkraut and spiced tomato, and a cardamom and saffron bun. To drink, speciality coffee, matcha or Thai latte, fresh juices and natural wines. No bookings: just turn up.
