The Best Cocktail Bars in Milan

Nottingham Forest has been on the international cocktail circuit's radar since the 1990s and remains one of the most singular bar experiences in Europe. The owner Dario Comini approaches cocktails as installation art — expect dry ice, unusual serving vessels, sounds, and drinks built around multi-sensory concepts. This is not a bar for those who want a quick Negroni; it is for those who want to understand what cocktails can be when someone applies genuine conceptual thinking to the format.

Order: Whatever the current signature concept is — describe a mood or a memory and let Dario translate it into a drink.

Mag Café sits on the Naviglio Grande canal and has been a benchmark for the Milan Negroni since it opened. The room is small — fourteen seats at the bar, a few more at tables — and the drinks list is compact by design. Every classic is made with precision: the Negroni uses a house-blended vermouth, the Martini comes correctly cold, the Old Fashioned has been calibrated over years of repetition. This is the bar that Milanese bartenders go to on their nights off.

Order: Negroni — the house vermouth blend changes seasonally and is always worth trying.

Dry Milano pioneered the cocktail-and-pizza format in Italy and has maintained its position through genuine quality on both fronts. The cocktail list is serious — a rotating selection of originals alongside well-executed classics — and the bartenders trained here have gone on to open several of the other bars on this list. The Brera location has a buzzy, fashion-conscious energy; the cocktail programme is more rigorous than the atmosphere suggests.

Order: Dry Martini — they maintain a specific ratio and a specific gin selection that is worth experiencing before asking for substitutions.

1930 is accessed through a tailor's shop in the city centre and operates as a genuine speakeasy — a reservation system, a minimum spend, and a bartender who functions as a guide rather than an order-taker. The drinks are exceptional and the experience is theatrical in a way that never feels forced. The bar programme draws on vintage cocktail books and pre-Prohibition techniques. This is the bar people remember specifically when asked about their best night in Milan.

Order: Dealer's Choice — give the bartender your preferences and trust the programme.

Botanical Club in Porta Venezia runs a dedicated gin programme built around botanical sourcing — the back bar carries over 200 gins organised by botanical profile, and the bartenders can walk you through the differences between a citrus-forward and a juniper-forward expression with genuine authority. The cocktail list is gin-centric but not exclusionary; the house vermouth sodas and lower-ABV options reflect a bar paying attention to how people drink in 2024.

Order: Gin Garden — botanical gin, elderflower, cucumber water, and fresh herbs from the bar's own selection.

Lacerba in Porta Romana occupies a former printing workshop and carries the typographic heritage in its interior — exposed metal type, original printing equipment, concrete floors. The cocktail list leans amaro-heavy, which in Milan means it leans Italian and seasonal. The amaro sour here changes base ingredient by month and functions as a tasting note for whatever the bartender has been obsessing over. Prices are significantly below anything comparable in Brera.

Order: Monthly amaro sour — ask what the current base is and let them explain why they chose it.

Ceresio 7 occupies the former Enel power company headquarters on Via Ceresio with two rooftop pools and a cocktail programme that has quietly become one of the most consistent in the city. The clientele skews fashion-industry during Fashion Week and equally stylish local professionals at other times. The cocktail list avoids novelty in favour of quality: house-infused spirits, seasonal adjustments, and a Negroni Bianco using Cocchi Americano that is among the best we have had anywhere.

Order: Negroni Bianco with house-infused gin and Cocchi Americano.

The rooftop terrace of the Triennale di Milano design museum sits above Parco Sempione with views towards the Arco della Pace and the Alps on clear days. The cocktail programme is designed to complement the museum's exhibitions — it rotates with the curatorial calendar and references design movements and Italian aesthetics. A more interesting option than it sounds on paper; this is a bar that takes its cultural context seriously.

Order: Design Aperitivo — the seasonal cocktail tied to the current exhibition, whichever that happens to be.

HiSo in Milan's Chinatown neighbourhood operates as a rooftop bar with a cocktail programme that takes the city's Southeast Asian influences seriously — the area around Via Paolo Sarpi has the best Chinese food in Italy, and HiSo leans into the neighbourhood with drinks incorporating five-spice, jasmine, and lychee in formats that work as cocktails rather than novelty items. The crowd is young, the prices fair, and the sunset view across the rooftops of northern Milan is worth the trek.

Order: Jasmine Negroni variation — jasmine-infused gin, Campari, and a house vermouth reduction.