Eat for free in Milan

Bar hopping for stuzzichini (snacks) during aperitivi (happy hour) in Milan, Italy

Aperitivi ("aperitifs") is a simple idea: basically, it's Happy Hour with free nosh. During the daily see-and-be-seen passeggiata strolling hour between the end of the workday and the start of dinner, many bars and cafes in town will lay out stuzzichini (little snacks) to draw in patrons.

It usually runs from 5pm to 7pm or so, though increasingly they are starting later (around 7pm) and/or lasting longer. This phenomenon started in Northern Italy (most people say here in Milan, but I swear I encountered it in Turin years before I saw it in Milano), but happily has recently spread to Rome and other Italian cities as well.

What kind of food do you get at aperitivi bars?

In some cases, the fare is just basic bar snacks (olives, nuts, and salty crunchy things in the chips/crisps family), but an increasing number of downtown bars—especially trendy ones—load down the bar or long tables with dozens upon dozens of mouth-watering canapés, tapas, and tidbits.

You'll find trays piled high with salamis and cheeses, tiny pizzas, various pates and cured meats atop rounds of bread, fried rice balls gooey with mozzarella, grilled veggies, stuffed frittate (a cross between an omlette and a quiche), pretty much any food you can spear on a toothpick, and all sorts of pastries, tortes, and cookies. Bar-hop your way from one cafe to another and you can easily make a full meal out of it.

Is it really free food?

Best of all, it's all absolutely free. I mean, they expect you to order drinks as well, but no one slaps your hand away from the food platters if you're not holding a glass in the other hand.

I do, however, "splurge." I order something to drink at each bar to accompany my stuzzichini, rending my meal, technically, not free. When I have wine and snacks at one bar, wine and snacks at a second one, espresso and desserts at a third, I'm stuffed—and all dinner cost me was about €5–€8 in vino and coffee.

How to find stuzzichini bars in Milan

The best and latest hotspots for snacking change regularly. I find pretty good luck just wandering the downtown streets in search of crowded bars. However, you can find lists of good snacking cafes at the following websites.

• MilanoNotte.it (www.milanonotte.it/aperitivi_milano.htm) - Comprehensive list of spots in Milan.
• MilanoDaBere.it (www.milanodabere.it/milano/aperitivi) - Another good list for Milan.
• New York Times Frugal Traveler blog - (frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/in-milan-the-best-meal-deal-in-italy/) - Focus on Milan.
• ToNight.eu (www.tonight.eu) - Network of dining/nightlife guides to 16 European cities, including Rome, Florence, Milan, Genova, Verona, Turin, Bologna, and Brescia. Those links should take you directly to the aperitivo section of each city, but in case they change it: within each city guide, click on "Venues", then, under category, select "Aperitivi" (filed under the "bere" section).

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