Italy is undoubtedly the home of superior quality food with great ingredients, and this concept also applies to street food. If you need a break between your various commitments during the day – whether they’re business meetings or intense shopping sessions – you can treat yourself to a quick lunch or snack without compromising on quality. These are 3 of the best places for street food in Milan.
PORCOBRADO
This name literally translates as “free-range pork”. And for a reason. Their pork sandwich was declared “the best sandwich in Europe” in 2017 and 2022, and the secret of Porcobrado’s success lies in the quality of the meat it uses, which is exclusively produced in their farm located in the Tuscan hills. Porcobrado’s pigs are truly free-range as they are raised outdoors, where they can run all day and graze undisturbed. They are also fed locally sourced products such a barley and field beans – avoiding ingredients used in industrial farms.
The result is top quality meat, which then undergoes a very long process that includes smoking, marinating and eventually cooking it and basting it with its own fat in a specially designed barbecue.
And the bread they use for Porcobrado sandwiches is equally great, because it’s made with Verna wheat flour (an ancient, soft, low-gluten and rigorously stone-ground wheat from Arezzo in Tuscany) mixed with a blend of 100% Tuscan flours, kneaded with sourdough starter.
The sauces for these special sandwiches are produced in Porcobrado’s laboratories without the use of preservatives. In other words, quality at its best.
PORCOBRADO Store Milano
Via Jacopo dal Verme 17, Milan
Tel. +39 338 3339120
www.porcobrado.com
And if you want to order their special PORCOBRADO boxes online, check out their website.
Cesarino Panini Milano
Cesarino is really synonymous with excellence in the art of street food in Milan (sandwiches in particular). Its founder used to help his father, a baker, make the most delicious bread. Very soon, Cesarino learnt the art of bread-making and his “panini” became so famous in the neighbourhood that they started being called “Cesarini”, after his name.
Today, you can try the most delicious Cesarini panini at their shop in the centre of Milan, at a stone’s throw from the Duomo cathedral, or at the one in Corso Como.
The ingredients used to fill the sandwiches are the very best you can find in Italian food tradition: buffalo mozzarella from Campania, porchetta from Ariccia, mortadella, speck Alto Adige, Datterino tomatoes, squacquerone emiliano, coppa piacentina, fresh seasonal vegetables.
You really have to try these amazing sandwiches!
And Cesarino’s shop in Via Pattari is lovely and has a cosy atmosphere, with decorated majolica tiles on the floor and ceiling.
Cesarino Panini Milano
Via Pattari 2, Milan
Corso Como 12, Milan
For opening hours, visit:
www.cesarinomilano.it
Giannasi 1967
Since 1967, Giannasi has been a veritable temple for anyone who wants to try the best roast chicken in Milan, at the legendary kiosk in the Porta Romana area.
As well as being perhaps the most iconic place for street food in Milan, Giannasi is also considered a symbol of Milanese history and tradition.
It is also a symbol of the resistance of local businesses in the face of anonymous international street food chains. Because quality, and street food quality as well, is key in Milan (and in Italy in general).
The variety of chicken dishes you’ll find at Giannasi is extraordinary: roasted chicken, grilled chicken, chicken meatballs in sauce, fried chicken curry, chicken cutlets, chicken salads and much more (including their potato croquettes)!
If you aren’t familiar with it, you’ll love discovering Giannasi.
Giannasi 1967
Piazza Buozzi 2, Milan
Tel +39 320 8576881
For opening hours, visit:
www.giannasi1967.com
This post was all about 3 of my favourite places for top-quality street food in Milan.