Milan has one of the most exciting modern coffee scenes in Europe. Discover five Milan coffee shops that embrace coffee’s third wave by serving specialty coffee drinks crafted with the finest coffee beans.
Milan wasn’t the first Italian city to embrace coffee – that honor goes to Venice, However, Italy’s most fashionable city has been associated with the caffeinated beverage for more than century thanks to Luigi Bezzera, a Milanese engineer.
Bezzera modernized the process of making espresso when he introduced his innovative espresso machine at the 1906 World’s Fair in Milan. Espresso, simply called caffè in Italian, made with darkly roasted robusta beans eventually became the signature coffee drink in Milan as well as in all of Italy.
Fast forward to the present and the Milanese still drink a lot of espresso. They drink the steamed coffee drink at home. They down the stuff while standing at neighborhood coffee bars where one-ounce shots typically cost a euro. And, when they have time, they pair espresso-based drinks (cappuccinos and shakeratos) with Italian pastries at sit down cafes.
However, much to our surprise and satisfaction, Milan has a surprising range of specialty coffee shops that have broken free from Italian coffee traditions.
Discover must-eat Milan food favorites plus great Milan bars, pizzerias and restaurants.
While there’s something special about drinking old-school espresso in Italy, we crave coffee made from the finest beans in the world. The city now has several cafes that tranform lightly roasted arabica beans into flat whites and pour-overs for discerning locals and visiting coffee connoiseurs.
Yes, the Milan has joined coffee’s third wave movement. Since we’re visiting coffee connoiseurs when we’re in Milan, we wholeheartedly approve.
Our Favorite Milan Coffee Shops
We felt lucky to find and drink flat whites during our first trip to Milan. Back then, in 2022, the specialty coffee concept was fairly new to the city. Things have changed. Milan now has several cafes that serve specialty coffee. Some also serve tasty treats. These are our favorites:
1. Orsonero Coffee
Milan joined the global third wave coffee movement in 2016 when Canadian barista Brent Jopson and his Italian wife Giulia Gasperini opened Orsonero Coffee on a leafy Porta Venezia corner. A lot has changed in the past decade. Specialty coffee is no longer a novelty and Orsonero is no longer the new coffee kid on the block. Yet, Orsonero has stayed relevant by featuring a rotating slate of roasters that includes Italy’s Gardelli plus European heavyhitters like La Cabra, Prolog and Tanat.
Orsonero bustles with a mix of locals and travelers who traipse through its doors six days a week. Some linger over coffee drinks and baked treats while others quickly down espresso shots at the bar. The vibe is friendly and the menu is succinct. Plus, weather permitting, Orsonero’s outdoor seating makes it a great place to see and be seen.
Pro Tip
Don’t be deterred by an invevitable long queue. The business-oriented Milanese tend to move briskly through their day, so the line should move quickly.
Orsonero Coffee is located at Via Giuseppe Broggi, 15, 20129 Milano, Italy.
2. NOWHERE
The team at NOWHERE belies the negative concept of going nowhere fast. They opened a specialty coffee shop in 2020, started roasting single origin beans in 2021, moved the coffee shop to its current bigger space in 2023 and opened a bakery in 2024. And, as if that’s not enough, they also operate a kitchen that makes comfort foods like avocado toast and kimchee grilled cheese. Phew!
Located inside Parco Giovanni Paolo II (i.e. John Paul II Park), NOWHERE’s coffee shop is a great spot to chill in the Porta Ticinese neighborhood. Open every day except Monday, NOWHERE offers an all-day food menu and separates its coffee drinks into four categories – base, rare, exceptional and competition – with prices set accordingly. Consider making an online reservation if you plan to go for brunch or lunch.
Pro Tip
Don’t ask for sugar whether you order a flat white or V60 at NOWHERE. The coffee shop doesn’t serve sugar with its single origin specialty coffee drinks.
The NOWHERE FUTURE COFFEE ROASTERS coffee shop is located at Via Vetere, 14, 20123 Milano, Italy. NOWHERE’s bakery is located at Via Caminadella, 15, 20123 Milano, Italy.
3. Cafezal
At first glance, Cafezal seems to be in the wrong country. The Milanese coffee shop’s name literally translates to coffee plantation in Portuguese and its menu features the pastel de nata, Portugal’s iconic egg tart. The Portuguese connection can be traced to Cafezal’s founder, Carlos Bitencourt, who immigrated to Italy from Brazil. (Cafezal is opening a coffee shop in Lisbon, where those pasteis de nata should be right at home, later this year.)
Bitencourt started roasting beans in Milan in 2017 and opened the first Cafezal coffee shop a year later in Milan’s artsy Brera district. There are now multiple Cafezal coffee shops in Milan plus a multi-purpose Cafezal Coffee Hub. More than a coffee shop, the hub also operates as a roastery, co-working space and coffee academy.
Not surprisingly, Cafezal sources many of its beans from cafezals (i.e. coffee plantations) in Brazil. You can buy a bag of Brazilian beans to brew later unless you’d rather buy beans sourced from another country like Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Panama or Rwanda.
Pro Tip
Book a class at Cafezal’s coffee academy if you want to ramp up your cupping or latte art skills.
Cafezal has multiple locations. We visited the Porta Venezia cafe located at Via San Gregorio, 29A, 20124 Milano, Italy.
4. Loste Café
Milan got a taste of Copenhagen in 2021 when Stefano Ferraro and Lorenzo Cioli opened the original Loste Café in 2021. The talented duo met while working at the Danish city’s legendary restaurant Noma. Ferraro honed his skills working as the acclaimed resturant’s head pastry chef and Cioli developed a passion for specialty coffee while working as a sommelier.
Cioli doesn’t roast the cafe’s coffee. Instead, he sources beans from quality roasters like Copenhagen’s April. During our visit, a barista crafted our flat white with Kenyan beans and poured filtered coffee that had been brewed with washed Costa Rican beans. The latter’s flavor had hints of both brown sugar and cherries.
Beyond coffee and similar to Copenhagen coffee shops, Loste Café’s menu includes an array of laminated pastries including cinnamon buns, cardamom buns and pear danishes. We tried a couple and especially enjoyed Ferraro’s buttery kev pastry filled with raspberry and cream. However, since Loste Café is in Italy, pizza and tiramisui are on the menu too.
Pro Tip
Arrive early – both Loste Café locations open at 8am every day. Otherwise, be prepared to wait for a table. Also, worth noting, you can’t sit at a table until after you place your order.
Loste Café has two locations. The original cafe is located at Via Francesco Guicciardini, 3, 20129 Milano, Italy.
5. Mascherpa
Open since 2018 in a compact space not far from the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, Mascherpa specializes in just two things – tiramisu and specialty coffee. The cafe, which makes the dessert in house, serves their tiramisu in a range of flavors that include pistachio, nutella, hazelnut, matcha and salted caramel. During our visit, we paired their O.G. classico flavor with a cup of specialty coffee brewed with lightly roasted Kenyan beans.
The team at Mascherpa sources its coffee from Matteo Pavoni’s Peacocks Coffee Roasters in Casatenovo, just an hour from Milan. Also open since 2018, Peacocks doesn’t have a cafe yet. You can buy their beans at Out of the Box and Sisu in addition to Mascherpa.
Pro Tip
Combine your specialty coffee and tiramisu passions by ordering a tiramisu cappuccino at Mascherpa.
Mascherpa is located at Via Edmondo de Amicis, 7, 20123 Milano, Italy.
Additional Milan Coffee Shops
After you visit our favorite Milan coffee shops, visit one or more of the following coffee shops to find your personal favorite:
Frequently Asked Questions
Coffee isn’t just popular in Milan. It’s a key part of the Milanese lifestyle.
Yes, Milan has several specialty coffee shops.
Expect to pay around a euro for a shot of old school espresso. Specialty coffee drinks are more expensive, typically ranging from 2 to 5 euros.
The best Milan speicalty coffee shops include Orsonero Coffee, NOWHERE, Cafezal, Loste Café and Mascherpa.
Yes. Milan’s flagship Starbucks location opened in 2018. The coffee chain currently operates multiple coffee shops in Milan.
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