UPDATE DECEMBER 2020: as we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic has blocked every dinner and every Christmas table. Many of these restaurants work with takeaways (check their websites about it), but we will have to wait a long time to be able to sit at the table again with many friends.
Look for a restaurant where you can make some tables of 20-30 people on special occasions such as i birthdays, the business dinners or the Christmas dinner it is not easy. In Milan sometimes it seemed almost impossible to me. Maybe now you have to book well in advance even a table for 2 at the pizzeria under the house .. let's imagine when you are half of a thousand!
Unfortunately or fortunately, in spite of myself, in my company I find myself very often to be the chosen one, the one who has to look for and book the famous table for 20 and over the years I can say that I have booked and tried many restaurants for groups. In this article I tell you about those that I feel I approve of; there are a little of all kinds, the more free-range ones like a trattoria and those a little prettier. I have deliberately omitted those where the bill exceeds 50 euros.
1) The Terza Carbonaia (Porta Venezia area)
La Terza Carbonaia is a Tuscan restaurant that has existed for more than 20 years and has become famous above all for its grilled meat. Upon entering, it has several indoor rooms before arriving at a large winter garden (open in summer and closed by a veranda the rest of the year). It has a lot of seats and is perfect for noisy tables (but which ones aren't?). The staff are friendly and efficient and the meat is great. The first courses are also good but the highlight are definitely the Florentine, the tagliata, the fillet and the rib.
The Terza Carbonaia
Via Degli Scipioni, 3
Tel. 02 2953 1704
Closing day: Sunday and Monday for lunch
Average price: 40 €
2) Carlsberg OL (P.ta Nuova area)
This large restaurant is spread over 2 floors and can be entered both from the Bastioni di Porta Nuova and from Via Solferino. Most of the tables are located in the immense cellar (about 400 seats) with exposed bricks and classic red and white checked tablecloths. To facilitate ordering, they offer different types of menus from 20-25-30-35-50 and 50 euros; the cuisine is traditional and offers fried dumplings with meats and cheeses, risottos, pastas, grills and pizza. In summer they also put the tables outside on Via Solferino.
Carlsberg OL
Bastions of Porta Nuova, 9
Tel. +02 655 5560 XNUMX XNUMX
Closing day: never
Average price: 25-30 euro
3) Osteria del Treno (Central Station area)
As the name suggests, this Osteria is located in a former railway station not far from the Central Station and has been a classic for more than 25 years. It mainly offers Milanese cuisine with an eye to Slow Food presidia. In addition to the rooms of the Osteria it also has a Great Liberty Room for dinners and private events where they organize weekly the Milonga, the Osteria Cantata and other events. The alpine ravioli with diced apples and Vèzzena, the whole wheat strangozzi with escarole, anchovies, pine nuts and raisins and boiled meat are excellent. Great choice of cheeses and cold cuts.
Tavern of the Train
Via San Gregorio, 46
Tel. +02 670 0479 XNUMX XNUMX
Closing day: Saturday for lunch and Sunday for lunch
Average price: 35-40 euro
4) Trattoria Bolognese da Mauro (Navigli area)
Historic trattoria (it has existed for 30 years) with an informal and homemade atmosphere that offers the classics of Bolognese cuisine: fried gnocco with salami, tortello with butter and sage, strozzapreti, tagliatelle with meat sauce, tortellini in broth, baked stico, etc. Mauro and the rest of the staff are extremely approachable and very helpful. Perhaps one of the few real trattorias with a capital T left in Milan.
Trattoria Bolognese Da Mauro
Via Elia Lombardini 14
Tel. +02 837 2866 XNUMX XNUMX
Closing day: Saturday for lunch and Sunday for lunch
Average price: 30 €
5) Osteria dei Vecchi Sapori (Isola area)
Maybe I have been going there for 15 years, but I am particularly fond of Osteria dei Vecchi Sapori. Initially it had 2 nearby locations, now one remains but much larger, in one of the most popular streets on the island. Always frequented by young people, there is a noisy and festive atmosphere. Many covered with wooden benches and chairs for Lombard and Nordic cuisine in general. Excellent tortelli with pears and cheeses with melted butter, saffron and Parmesan, the Pontremolese testaroli with mushrooms, the classic Milanese risotto, salamella, ossobuco, polenta and many other traditional dishes. Extensive wine list.
Osteria dei Vecchi Sapori
Via Francesco Carmagnola, 3
Tel. +02 668 6148 XNUMX XNUMX
Closing day: Saturday for lunch and Sunday for lunch
Average price: 30 €
6) From Giannino L'angolo d'Abruzzo (P.ta Venezia area)
Founded in 1965 and now in its 3rd generation, this trattoria is a real "Abruzzese corner" in the heart of Milan. The restaurant is actually not very big but by booking early you can make tables for a maximum of 15-20 people. The cuisine is genuine and offers the classics of the Abruzzo tradition with some forays into other regions as well: arrosticini, olives all'ascolana, slaps with sauce, guitars with lamb sauce and much more to close with a bitter for which you should ask for the port. of arms. The place is noisy and jovial like the service, and often in the middle of the evening a singer armed with a guitar arrives and the choirs start in an instant. In more recent years it has also opened a second office in Via Padova.
From Giannino The corner of Abruzzo
Via Rosolino Pilo, 20
Tel. 02 2940 6526
Closing day: never
Average price: 30 €
7) Trattoria Aurora (Tortona area)
The Trattoria Aurora (together with the Osteria dei Binari, of the same property) is an institution in the Tortona area. It is a restaurant with a slightly retro décor and atmosphere, especially in the beautiful room with a fireplace that you meet upon entering immediately on the left (perfect for a table of 25-30 people). Further on there is a garden (covered in winter). The cuisine is mainly Piedmontese: braised agnolotti, ricotta gnocchi with herbs, porcini mushroom tajarin, Barolo risotto, bagnacauda, boiled meat and much more (all excellent). The wine list is remarkable and the service is always courteous, efficient and competent.
Trattoria Aurora
Via Savona, 23
Tel. +02 832 3144 XNUMX XNUMX
Closing day: Monday
Average price: 40 €
8) Baja Sardinia restaurant (Piazza Lodi area)
Perhaps it is a gamble to include Baja Sardinia among the restaurants for group dinners, but if you move in advance you can book a table for 15-20 people. The room is small and the tables are very close together, but the game is absolutely worth the candle. This noisy fish restaurant offers Sardinian cuisine at great value for money. On the menu you will find linguine with lobster, Sardinian fregola with clams, Catalan lobster, raw prawns, shrimp with artichokes and bottarga, as well as some ground dishes for those who do not eat fish.
Baja Sardinia restaurant
Via Tagliamento at the corner of Via Don Bosco, 11
Tel. +02 569 5314 XNUMX XNUMX
Closing day: Wednesday
Average price: 30-40 euro
9) Balera dell'Ortica (Lambrate-Ortica area)
The Balera dell'Ortica is one of the few places in Milan where it is possible to "manage" tables that arrive (and exceed) 50 people. There are the bowling green, the table football, the trattoria with Mamma Rita's home cooking, but above all the dance hall where old and young people compete with boogie, smooth, indie hop, etc. The cuisine is traditional Italian and every day there is a menu of your choice with 3 first and 3 second courses (the Abruzzo arrosticini are inevitable). Excellent value for money.
La Balera dell'Ortica
Via Amadeo 78
Phone. 02 7012 8680
Closing day: Sunday and Monday (the other days it is open only for dinner)
Average price: 20 €
10) Trattoria Casottel (Corvetto area)
Casottel is a dialect term that indicates the structure that houses the restaurant: a hut, a farmhouse with a courtyard and bowling alley on the outskirts of Milan. Casottel is a place from the past to which I am particularly fond of because it seems to be at my grandmother's house, with Mrs. Isa who lovingly cooks the typical and genuine dishes of the Milanese tradition, with an eye for that Mantuan land of origin). In summer you can also eat outside under the pergola, but in my opinion it pays more in winter, with the fireplace lit and the polenta flowing in rivers.
Trattoria Casottel
Via Fabio Massimo, 25
Tel. 02 57403009
Closing day: Tuesday
Average price: 30-35 euro
11) Trattoria Caprese (Romolo area)
Trattoria Caprese is a restaurant / pizzeria where the cuisine is naturally Neapolitan. The menu is very wide and ranges from first courses (sea and land), to second courses with a wide choice of meat and fish, up to the delicious assortment of desserts, without forgetting the main course: the "pizza". To be tasted strictly as an appetizer is the Neapolitan fried. The room is very large and the furniture is in warm colors that recall the seaside taverns. It is an informal place where you can eat well and spend the right amount. In addition to this in Viale Cassale, there are 2 other restaurants of the same chain in the Isola area and in the Marghera area.
Trattoria Caprese
Viale Cassala, 59
Tel. 02 57403009
Closing day: open 7 days a week
Average price: 25-30 euro
Cover photo @Necci
