Milan has long lived by the slogan "Milano da bere" - Milan to drink - from a 1985 Amaro Ramazzotti advert. Four decades later, the phrase has a fresh claim to truth: in the 2026 World's 50 Best Bars ranking, Moebius Milano took second place globally and was named the best bar in Europe, the highest position ever reached by an Italian bar. The awards ceremony itself was held in Milan on 7 October, the first time the event has come to Italy.
Moebius opened in 2019 near Milano Centrale, inside a former textile warehouse. It's a big, unusual space - 700 square metres mixing bar, restaurant, live music venue and record shop. A 700-year-old Andalusian olive tree grows through the room, and a huge concrete display of hundreds of spirits towers behind the bar. Under bar manager Giovanni Allario, the drinks take kitchen-led liberties: the signature pesto martini blends vodka, vermouth, homemade pesto and white balsamic vinegar, while the carrot bamboo pairs vermouth, gin, manzanilla sherry, carrot, yuzu and shiso. Food matters too - Tapa Bistrot serves sharing plates downstairs, and Moebius Sperimentale offers fine dining under chef Enrico Croatti upstairs.
The ranking success caps a steady climb: Moebius came seventh in 2025, picking up the Highest Climber Award. But the city's wider scene deserves equal attention. 1930, once a strictly invitation-only speakeasy, moved to a public space beneath MAG La Pusterla in 2025 and pours a caviar martini and a parmigiano colada; it landed at number 94 on the extended 2026 list. Lubna, another project from the Moebius team near Fondazione Prada, is a listening bar and restaurant built around fire-cooking-inspired cocktails. Madrid's theatrical Salmon Guru, from bartender Diego Cabrera, has opened near the Arco della Pace with comic-book interiors and neon. And for tradition, Rita in Navigli has been mixing since 2002, its Gin Zen with gin, ginger and lime a favourite since 1998.
Milan's drinking credentials run deep. Campari opened its café in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II back in 1867, and the city claims the negroni sbagliato - supposedly invented by accident with prosecco instead of gin at Bar Basso in the 1970s, long before its 2022 viral moment. Camparino in Galleria still draws crowds for a classic aperitivo.
For travellers, this makes Milan a genuinely serious bar-hopping destination, not just a stopover between fashion and design sights. Book Moebius in advance and plan an evening around it - arrive early for food, stay for the live jazz, soul or bossa nova. Then pair it with an aperitivo at Camparino, a night at 1930 and a relaxed Gin Zen in Navigli to see both ends of the city's drinking culture.
