Milan never had its own historic pizza tradition, pizza arrived from the South with the internal migration of the 1950s and 1960s. But instead of imitating the Neapolitan one, Milan developed something of its own: the tall, soft pizza in teglia, the trancio to go, and today a scene with research pizzerias among the best in Italy. The best pizza in Milan is not where you think.
The confusion is widespread and understandable: many pizzerias in Milan serve Neapolitan pizza (round, high soft rim, baked in a wood oven at 450 to 480°C in 60 to 90 seconds). There is nothing wrong with this, some are excellent. But the original Milanese tradition is different: the pizza in teglia (high-hydration dough, long 24 to 48 hour proofing, baked in a rectangular pan at 280 to 320°C, 2 to 4cm tall, open crumb) and the trancio (sold by weight or by the piece, to go, with no pretense of being Neapolitan). They are two different products expressing two different bread cultures.
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Forno Collettivo (Via Lecco 11, Porta Venezia): dough with semi-wholemeal flour and sourdough, 36-hour proofing, baked in a gas-fired pan. The white pizza with mortadella and pistachio is the product that made this pizzeria famous. €4 to €6 per slice. An unavoidable queue from 12:30 to 13:30 on weekdays, arrive before 12 or after 14. Berbè (Via Muratori 10, Navigli, several locations): pioneers of research pizza in Milan since 2014. Dough with organic flours, unconventional toppings (e.g. octopus with bean cream, squash and gorgonzola). €12 to €20 per round pizza. Often with a wait, booking advised in the evening.
50 Kalò di Ciro Salvo (Via Spadari 11, center): the Neapolitan pizzaiolo Ciro Salvo opened the Milan location in 2019. The dough is the one from the historic Naples location, high hydration, long proofing, a rim that smells of sourdough. The margherita with Fiordilatte di Agerola is the correct test to judge a Neapolitan pizzeria: here it passes. €10 to €16 per pizza. Levitià (Via Amerigo Vespucci 5, several locations): born in Milan with a focus on the quality of the flours and toppings. Ingredient producers listed on the menu, rare transparency in the sector. €12 to €18 per pizza.
The Mercato Metropolitano (Viale Papiniano, Navigli area, open Friday to Sunday) has two artisan pizza-al-trancio stands you will not find in the tourist center. The pizza counter with flours from ancient Sicilian grains (Tumminia and Perciasacchi) is open Friday afternoon and Saturday from 10am. €3 to €4.50 per slice. The Mercato del Suffragio (Piazza Santa Francesca Romana, Bicocca district) has an artisan pizza-in-teglia counter on Saturday morning: less known, high quality, neighborhood-market prices.
The area with the highest concentration of research pizzerias per km². Berbè, Dry Milano (cocktails plus pizza, excellent level), Atomica. Prices from €12 to €20 per round pizza. Thursday to Saturday evening a booking is essential for the better-known places.
A lively residential area, a mix of historic neighborhood pizzerias and new openings. Forno Collettivo is here. Average prices 20 to 30% lower than the Navigli. Less touristy, more authentic as a Milanese experience.
Evolving districts northeast of the center. Some of the most experimental pizzerias in the city. Pizzium (Via Nino Bixio 34, the original location), the Milanese chain born in 2017 with a focus on Italian regional pizzas: each pizza bears the name of a region and uses regional ingredients. A smart concept, consistent execution. €10 to €16 per pizza.
50 Kalò di Ciro Salvo (Via Spadari 11) is the honest answer. Ciro Salvo is one of the 5 to 6 most respected Neapolitan pizzaioli among professionals in the sector, and the Milan location faithfully replicates the Naples one. The dough is identical, the flours come from Naples, the Fiordilatte di Agerola comes from a specific producer in Campania. For a Neapolitan judging pizza by Neapolitan parameters: this is the place. For a Milanese who wants something rooted in the local territory: the pizzerias with high-hydration dough like Forno Collettivo or Berbè are more interesting.
Pizza al trancio at a deli or artisan bakery: €3 to €6 per slice (200 to 250g). Round pizza at a quality pizzeria: €10 to €16 margherita, €14 to €22 special toppings. Pizza in teglia to go: €18 to €26 for a pan for 4 people. Pizza in the design pizzerias of the Navigli with a paired cocktail: €20 to €30 per person all in. The best pizza in Milan is not necessarily the most expensive, the €4 slice at Forno Collettivo is superior to the €18 pizza of many Instagrammable places.
It is not the right question. They are different products with different aims. Neapolitan pizza STG (Traditional Specialty Guaranteed by the EU since 2010) is codified in 11 pages of regulations: thickness of the cornicione, oven temperature, cooking times, type of tomato (San Marzano DOP), type of mozzarella (Fiordilatte or Bufala DOP). A Milanese pizzeria that makes Neapolitan pizza is measured against those parameters. A Milanese pizzeria that makes pizza in teglia with long-proofed dough is measured against different parameters: crumb structure, lightness, ingredient quality. Both are excellent in their best examples. The comparison is idle, it is like asking whether Barbaresco is better than Barolo.
Quick weekday lunch: Forno Collettivo (Via Lecco 11) opens at 11:30am, arrive by 12:15 to find the best slices still available. Alternatively, any artisan bakery in the neighborhood you are in, search the words "forno" or "pizzeria al trancio" on Google Maps without reading the reviews, filter for lunch opening, go into the one with the most movement at 12:30. Turnover is the main indicator of freshness. The bakeries of the Milanese covered markets (Mercato Wagner, Mercato di Piazza Sant'Angelo) have artisan pizza in teglia at €3 to €4 per slice.
The pizza with luganega, the aromatic sausage typical of Lombardy, sweet and with traces of white wine, on a white base with stracchino. It is not a dish invented by a specific pizzeria, it is a combination that has been around for decades in Milanese neighborhood pizzerias without ever having an official name. You find it in the historic pizzerias of areas like Affori, Baggio, Greco, the working-class Milanese districts far from the tourist center. You rarely find it in the Navigli or on Corso Buenos Aires: it is too Milanese for the crowd that frequents those areas.
Yes, on average 20 to 30% more than Rome, 15 to 25% more than Naples. The rent of premises in Milan is among the highest in Italy, it inevitably reflects on menu prices. The round pizza that costs €8 to €9 in Naples costs €12 to €14 in Milan, with comparable flours and ingredients. The exception is pizza al trancio to go, where Milanese prices (€3 to €4 per slice) are comparable to or lower than the Roman ones (€3 to €5). If the budget is tight: trancio > sit-down pizzeria, and the residential neighborhoods > Navigli and center.
Milan has 13 historic municipal covered markets built between 1925 and 1940, almost all with a pizza counter or artisan bakery inside. They are the most ignored circuit of the Milanese food scene, no food blogger reviews them because they are hard to photograph and the target is the neighborhood pensioner, not the Instagram foodie. But the prices are real (€2.50 to €3.50 per slice) and the quality in many cases beats the design pizzerias.
The most interesting: Mercato Wagner (Piazza Lavater, Pagano area), the most beautiful architecturally, art deco from 1929, with a pizza-in-teglia counter open Tuesday to Saturday 8am to 1pm. Mercato di Via Cardano (Città Studi district, near the Politecnico), frequented by the engineers and researchers of the Politecnico, pizza al trancio at €2.50, artisan quality, no tourist aspirations. Mercato di Piazza Sant'Angelo (Moscova area), the smallest, open Monday to Saturday morning, with a woman who has made pizza in teglia with Lombard fior di latte at €3 a slice for 20+ years.
Before 1950, Milan did not have its own pizza tradition. Lombard focaccia and bread with oil and salt were the city's street bakery products. Pizza arrived with the massive internal migration of the 1950s and 1960s, the so-called "economic miracle" brought between 1 and 1.5 million people to Milan from southern Italy in under twenty years. Campanian and Calabrian families opened the first northern Neapolitan pizzerias in 1955 to 1965, concentrated around the stations (Porta Garibaldi, Loreto, Sesto San Giovanni) where the trains from the South arrived.
In the 1970s the Milanese pan version developed: the bread bakeries began producing pizza as a secondary product for the workers' lunch break. The dough was similar to sandwich bread, low hydration, 12 to 18 hour proofing. In the 1990s and 2000s the Milanese pizza in teglia evolved toward high hydration and long proofing, following the push of the Roman artisan bakers (the so-called school of Gabriele Bonci) and the Campanian pizzaioli who were opening in Milan with high technical standards. Today the best pizza in Milan is the result of these 70 years of cross-pollination.
Home delivery has changed pizza consumption in Milan more than in any other Italian city, thanks to the demographic target (professionals 25 to 45, single, very high housing density). The delivery apps (Deliveroo, Just Eat, Glovo) cover almost all the quality pizzerias. But the best pizza in Milan for takeaway is ordered directly by phone from the artisan pizzerias that do not work with the platforms to avoid paying the fees (20 to 30% of the price). The advantage: lower prices, pizza not reheated in a thermal bag for 30 minutes. The downside: you have to go and collect it. The artisan bakeries open for direct pickup without delivery: Forno Collettivo, Panificio Davide Longoni (several locations), Princi (Via Speronari 6 and other locations).
Related reading: Milan Guide | Milan Coffee | Aperitivo in Milan | Lombardy Guide
A slice from an artisan bakery, an aperitivo in the Navigli, neighborhood markets, with someone who knows Milan beyond the tourist circuits.
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