A Santa Lucia

For this restaurant, I struggled to give a 4-star. But for its ambience, yes, it is 4-star because of its location——on a small lane near Corso Vittoria Emmanuele II. Their food pricing is like any major city elsewhere. Spaghetti with clams €22, with prawns €30, wine €8, dessert €10. Do note that, while it is uncommon in smaller towns in Italy, this restaurant in Milan charges Coperto (cover charge) €4,50 per pax, which includes bread. We were given a basket of bread to share, but the bill showed €9 for 2 persons.

My favourite place in Milan. I come here every time I’m in the city. Traditional Napolitano restaurant with amazing service, incredible food and tasty wines. Try everything with octopus and the burrata…

As a tourist visiting the area, I’d hoped to enjoy a warm, authentic Italian meal here. Unfortunately, my experience was marred by inconsistent service and glaring oversights that left me feeling unwelcome compared to local patrons. While the staff appeared cheerful and attentive to nearby tables (greeting regulars by name and engaging in friendly banter), our table was treated with indifference from the start. For instance, other diners were promptly served bread with olive oil and vinegar, but despite requesting it twice, ours never arrived—a frustrating contrast. The food issues compounded the disappointment. I ordered the beef fillet medium rare, but it arrived overcooked, dry, and flavorless. When I politely pointed this out, the server dismissed my concern, insisting it was prepared correctly. After pressing further, the kitchen re-fired the dish to medium rare, but this "fix" came at a cost: the mixed salad I’d ordered at the beginning of the meal was completely forgotten. What stung most was the lack of accountability. The staff never apologized for the overcooked steak or missing salad, nor did they acknowledge the disparity in service. As a visitor, it felt disheartening to watch locals receive gracious, personalized attention while our table struggled to get basic requests fulfilled. While the corrected beef fillet was decent, the cumulative effect of dismissive service, uneven treatment, and unresolved errors overshadowed any redeeming qualities. For a restaurant that prides itself on Italian hospitality, this experience fell tragically short. I urge management to train staff on consistency and inclusivity—tourists and locals alike deserve respect and attention. Until then, I cannot recommend this restaurant to fellow travelers.

Entering this restaurant is like going back in time. In a good way. Waiters (all male of course 😉) in white jackets and ties, white tablecloths and napkins, crockery bearing the Santa Lucia logo, walls adorned with autographed photos of bygone and current stars (apparently this was Frank Sinatra’s go-to in Milano.) We walked in a 7pm with no reservation and they were able to accommodate us as dinner in Italy is usually a later affair. The restaurant was steadily filling up throughout our meal, including with a local regular who knew everyone by name and vice versa. She was a very chic woman so good people watching also :) Excellent vitello milanese and perfect Aperol spritz (generous pour and not too sweet). We didn’t get to try the Neapolitan dishes which is what they’re known for and we’re looking forward to having pizza here. Fair prices. Waiters are busy and helpful. Our waiter called us a taxi as our kids were jet lagged and fast asleep at the table — oops. And he sent us off with a generously filled bag of cookies for the kiddos. I wish I could remember his name.. Here’s a photo of him in action. Grazie mille! Cover charge is €4,50 per person (this is normal in Italy) and they only charged for the 2 adults. By the way, our taxi driver Alberto was such a lovely gentleman and was gracious about my daughter throwing up in his cab (remember the bag of cookies? We never got to taste them as that was the first bag I could grab…) Please do call him for your excursions outside Milano or any other driving you need… he deserves the good karma and clientele. Will add his number here soon.

The food was bellow average, but the service was really bad. The waiters were arrogant and waited a long time before taking our order although we were the only customers in the outdoor area. We saw one of them take a piece of the bread which was offered to us and eat it. The pastas were okayish but the stake was not rare as requested. We asked to pay by card, the waiter brought the check and probably forgot our request. When we reminded him, he told us to pay inside even though he had a POS machine with him.

I don’t understand how this restaurant can be so underrated here, because this place is delicious! The pasta with bolognese sauce was amazing! The steak was butter soft, just missed a bit of salt, but you can add up yourself at the table. The service was also great in my experience, really nice “Italian” atmosphere!

One of my fav restaurants in duomo milan, very delicious and great hospitality

Very traditional Italian restaurant. Great food and drinks as well as lovely staff! Recommend to sit inside

Dinner was good. Service was good. Ambiance was good. Even if it's in the tourist zone, it didn't feel touristy. There was a line but it moves quickly.

ZERO stars, VERY BAD SERVICE - very, very rude staff. We had a reservation for lunch at 12 o'clock. Waited outside where the tables were but no one came. Other guests were also waiting. When I went inside shortly after 12, a waiter screamed over to me loudly in a rude tone "What do you want?". Explained that I had a table, he rudely answered that they are still close as he still wants to have his coffee first and waved with his pack of sugar in my face. Very arrogant, they merely get by due to their location close to the duomo. The service is not acceptable at all.

Awful, I ordered chicken that was dry and crunchy. They served my sister a plate of pasta with sauce that was straight out of the fridge cold. The ambience and scenery was nice and service was quick. However, I don't recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting to stop for a bite after shopping in downtown Milan

Food was amazing. Our waiter was a bit condescending when we asked questions. Good experience overall.

This is Italy you know! The food was excellent and the service was great. The wine selection was also nice. Of course I want to return here!

We were walking to our favorite restaurant (see my other review in Milan) and this restaurant was on the same street about 50 yards away. The next day for lunch we looked at the menu and it had my favorite veal dish, Saltimbocca alla Romana. Veal in a butter and wine sauce with sage and prosciutto ham. We decided to give it a try. We were not disappointed and it was a great rendition of this southern Italian dish. Wine was good. Bread excellent!

Happened upon this place for a late supper. Right off the tourist area but quiet. Food was good and came out crazy fast. Pretty reasonable prices. Staff spoke some English

Do not even think about entering. We were on Sunday 3/25/18. Very expensive, we were 4 ordered 1 risotto, 1 pizza margarita and two lasagna, they charged us 93 euros, a scam, and very normal food pulling bad. Coffee at 3 euros, the surprise we took when we saw that we were charged 18 euros per person and covered. If you can avoid it, do not go.

Very poor food and service. These people are only interested in the money and not in the food or there customers. when we were having our starters for two minute, they already served the some main courses. When I asked them to wait a little bit longer with it, they told us that our mains would become cold. The filte I ordered was highly overdon, although I asked for medium/ rare. The chicken was totally black and tasted lIke burned wood. They forgot about some dishes we ordered and they not even apologized, but it seemed they didn't care. When we walked out halfway, because we were so upset ( after paying the full price for this disaster) they not even spoke to us but were only interested in taking new customers in. We made the mistake by not inspecting this restaurant in advance, but for sure it was the biggest disappointment I ever had.

Had a great time. Got in before the dinner rush which was nice. The tortolini and bolognaise was amazing. Wife had Sicilian something eggplant with noodles and it was outstanding. Service was great and the house wine is better than Trader Joe's wine. No fuss no extra crap service. Would go again and bring mom. Also we had the motsorella with tomato thing, holy cow was that delish.

Very authentic Italian pasta and pizza for sure! I love all the people there, they are very nice and friendly. The price is reasonable as well. I wish we could go back try more dishes for dinner!

I don't agree with the other reviewers. We've been eating all week st great restaurants in Tuscany and this ranked up there for the piece. It's not going to get a Michelin star because it's not inventive. But it's really god. The spaghetti with sardines and the beef carpaccio were exceptional. And the lemon sorbet was clearly homemade.

The best little spot to eat in Milan. Out of this world!!! The simple pasta with tomato sauce that's in the photo on this sight.... Wow!

Amazing. Stumbled upon this place trying to avoid the crappy 'menu turistico' places that are ubiquitous around the area, and was transported to Napoli in this historic place that folks out for a night out at the opera have frequented since the 1920's. 2 words Rigatoni Strascicati. DIVINE

This place was recommended by a local person n we actually enjoyed the half chix n the eggplant parmesan. Both dishes has good flavors. However, they do charge sitting fee about $14 for two peep.

Came here for dinner during MFW. Experience was just Meh. I was disappointed with the overall experience. I had high expectations of this place before trying it. Ordered a traditional pasta dish, spaghetti, which I was craving and it was nothing special. Bread served before meal was hard and host was not really attentive.

Quaint out of the way place. Good food, quick wait staff. Prices were good given the proximity of the Duomo

Maybe we were just unlucky with the food, but it was terrible. Really uncooked (no, not al dente, we didn't have any problem with pasta anywhere else in Italy) and too salty. When we asked to return it there were condescending stares, and when it came back it was still in a terrible state. Mediocre food and terrible service. Worst experience in our whole trip in Italy.

I had a great experience, especially for a late night meal. I wandered in about 11:15pm. Friendly staff, an understanding waiter (with my lack of speaking Italian) who quickly provided me a menu in English. My meal was delicious. Spaghetti Sicilian style..

Don't be lured and fooled by the outdoor tents right off the Duomo. Walk an extra block for a better experience. Could've rated this a 5 but it might have been a bit of a stretch. I had the opportunity to eat here a few weeks back with the President of our company and I've been waiting for an opportunity to write the a great review ever since. This restaurant is old school and I loved every minute of my visit, starting with the pictures all over the walls of past guests. The extremely attentive wait staff joked with me in Italian because I tried to pronounce a few items really poorly. It was perfect and the joking welcome. But they were patient and helped make a couple fine selections. My boss and waiter talked me into the prosciutto (cut fresh) with cantaloupe and I honestly could've eaten four orders. Delicious. Who knew these went together? Not me. I had to try the pasta because I was hooked on the amazing sweetness of the pasta sauce in Italy and it was the best I had on my visit. A great experience if you're looking for an authentic meal in an authentic Italian atmosphere.

If you're not Italian don't come! We waited half an hour for a table for two and they let an Italian couple behind us take our table. Rude service! Don't come!

Bad service considering the high coperto price. Need to serve the plates, oil, vinaigrette, even the desserts ourselves. The food is ok, but the waiter's attitude really annoys me. I don't recommend this place.

This place had great great pizza and pasta. I'll never forget the simple dish of pasta in olive oil & garlic, and though so basic it was perfect for me. It's a little more al dente than usual but it was wonderful. We also ordered a simple pizza and that was great as well. What wasn't that great was the service, where the servers basically ignore you and and are super slow but I just took it as part of the experience.

Could be the Worst Italian food I ever had!!!!! Service wasn't good. The 2 pasta dishes we had were under cooked!!! Meat served without anything. The meat dish was ok though. Mixed Cooked vegetables is just simply boiled in water. No tastes at all.

Decent Italian food, I had many business lunches here and I never ate something bad. May be the only shortfall is the pricing which is a little bit expensive especially if you indulge in the starters and the non pasta dishes. If you like pasta i would suggest the maccheroni strascicati which might be trivial but at the same time very very good

bad experience there, for tourist who do not understand Italy, no English menu and bad service attitude.

Terrible service. The food was decent (focaccia, spaghetti with squid, and veal), but that couldn't make up for how rude our waiter (the one in the picture, actually!) was or the fact that the host rolled his eyes when we asked for the English menu. Our waiter refused to serve us tap water even though the table behind us had a carafe of it. From there on out, he was rude and didn't speak a word to us when he dropped off or picked up our plates. However, there was a large party of English-speaking American tourists behind us ordering bottle upon bottle of Pellegrino and wine, and he was more than happy to chit-chat with them and shake their hands when they finished the meal. Guess they looked like they were going to tip. Before going here, check out the reviews on TripAdvisor -- they're much more in line with what we experienced. If you do end up here, make sure you check for the coperto charge in the fine print on the menu -- we didn't see it. The service quite frankly ruined our night, which is a shame considering it was our only one in Milan this trip. I wish we'd checked TripAdvisor and saved ourselves 62 Euro.

Has become a staple in my Milanese diet. Love this place for its Neapolitan ambience, the service, the simplicity. Linguini vongole is superb!