San Babila Café

Bitter sweet coffee.

From breakfast to aperitif, ideal place for a downtown break. Informal flavor atmosphere. Since 1905.

In the elegant, fast-paced heart of Milan, San Babila Cafè has been a landmark since 1905, when it obtained license number 5 from the State Monopoly for Milan’s tobacconists. More than just a café, it is a living fragment of the city’s collective memory – a place where generations of Milanese have sipped coffee, forged friendships, closed deals, and shared everyday moments.

In 1994, this history-laden venue encountered a new surge of energy thanks to four people who, in different roles, chose to intertwine their lives in a bold, family-driven entrepreneurial journey: Angelo and Gloria Bertoletti, together with their collaborators Carlo and Cristina. Today, Cristina is a partner and the holder of the tobacconist’s license connected to the business, representing an essential link to the past through her daily presence for over thirty years. Angelo is “the volcanic one,” an ultra-runner always in motion, constantly ready to innovate and propose new ideas. If Angelo embodies energy, Carlo was balance – his presence always discreet yet deeply reassuring, the administrative mind with a remarkable ability to manage and harmonize. Gloria is the creative soul of the group: a photographer and traveler who brings to San Babila Cafè an international sensibility that only those who have seen the world can possess. Always proactive and curious, she contributes ideas and insights that renew the venue’s image while honoring its tradition.
Between a carefully prepared espresso, a smile behind the counter, and the constant flow of those who live in or pass through Milan, this historic café continues its more-than-a-century-long story – one made of tradition, energy, culture, and, above all, passion.