When Dan and I spent 24 hours in Milan earlier this year (after visiting Bolzano, the Dolomites, Innsbruck and Munich for Oktoberfest), we wanted to squeeze in lunch before leaving for the airport at 1:00 PM. Problem is, most restaurants do not open until 12:00 for lunch in Milan! I searched the internet high and low and eventually found Ristorante Galleria inside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. While I assumed it would be super touristy given its name and location, I made an 11:00 reservation and we showed up right on time after visiting the Duomo.
Ristorante Galleria in summer (well, September).
View from our seat inside Ristorante Galleria.
Ristorante Galleria actually turned out to a beautiful restaurant situated literally inside the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Think over-the-top, swanky, and very European. There is indoor and outdoor seating, and we were seated outside per our preference (I think think is more popular because you can people watch in the Galleria – make a resy for guaranteed seating here). Menus were promptly brought over, and we both wanted pizza. I mean, it was our last meal in Italia for a while! Unfortunately for us, our waiter advised that the pizza oven does not start until 11:30. VERY, VERY SAD. We weighed whether to wait and eat very fast or order something else, but we never had to decide because our waiter returned and said we could order the pizza early. THANK GOD (LOL).
The pizza menu at Ristorante Galleria. The restaurant also has a full regular (i.e. not pizza) menu.
Wine at Ristorante Galleria
We also, of course, had to order a bottle of wine since it was our last real meal in Italy. We opted for an inky Aglianico, and it was delicious. Ristorante Galleria has a full wine menu and also offers wine by the glass. We also noticed a few tables some with delicious looking spritzes.
Our Aglianico.
Pizza from Ristorante Galleria
As you already know, we both ordered pizza. For me, I selected the Margherita, which was an Italian style pizza (duh) cooked in a wood oven topped with tomato sauce, olive oil, pesto and tomatoes. Dan ordered the Diavola, which is the same pizza topped with tomato sauce, spicy salami, and black olives. And pro tip for Americans, the Diavola pizza is the closest thing to American “pepperoni pizza” in Italy (“pepperoni” in Italy is a red pepper). These pictures don’t look amazing, but I can confirm that their taste was certainly 100%. We ate everything between the two of us.
Dan’s Daivola (we moved the olives as neither of us really like black olives).
Dessert from Ristorante Galleria.
We ended up with a bit of time and wine after finishing our pizzas, so we both ordered dessert – a canolo for me and tiramisu for Dan! Unfortunately, these desserts were not fantastic, and I think they were probably frozen. However, after we finished our ordered desserts, Ristorante Galleria brought out complimentary cookies and cold mini ice cream squares covered in chocolate, called BelBele Fior di Panna. These BelBele Fior di Panna were incredible and absolutely satisfied our Italian dessert desires!
My connolo.
Dan’s tiramisu.
These chocolate covered ice creams were amazing!
Fresh cookies for the table.
STEAL OUR TRIP
Ristorante Galleria: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, 75, 20121 Milano MI, Italy. Open daily (except December 25th) from 10:00 to 12:30 AM and after the Scala’s shows. I recommend a reservation given the restaurant’s location and accessibility to tourists.
ON A BUDGET
If you are on a budget, skip sit down Galleria and stop by Luini for a panzerotto! I wrote about it here!
Panzerotti Luini: Via Santa Radegonda,16, 20121 Milano. T. +39 02 86461917. Open Monday 10 – 3, Tuesday – Saturday 10 – 8. Closed Sunday. No reservations and no seating area. The line moves quickly.