The Brera, Milan

Fiori Oscuri – the 'Dark Flower' – is a hip hang-out where Milan's gliterrati come to sip and be seen. The colourful, organic interior with its curved wooden staircase, designer furniture, vaulted ceilings and vibrant red walls has a chilled out atmosphere and attracts a fashionable crowd who love fine wines, live music and excellent cocktails. Located on the via Fiori, the restaurant has a modern Italian menu – and locals love the gnocchi with plum tomatoes, roasted thyme and apples; the seared tuna fillet with a red onion, caper, basil and Sicilian tomato salsa; and the rich chocolate mousse for dessert.

Art Cafe is a pleasant bar in the Brera district, which is one of my three recommendations for evening buffets (see my tips on Art Factory and L'Altro Bastian Contrario for the other two). If you go along between around 6-8pm there is a good selection of free food which customers can help themselves to.

Other than the food I wouldn't say it's anything special (good cocktails, average prices), but in the summer you can sit outside (just mind the mosquitoes after dark, I was eaten alive in July).

Dress Code: none

Another bar- and restaurant-area in Milan is Brera. 4-5 streets with pubs, restaurants and also some discos. The best bars, according to me, is SanSegal, Bar Brera and Art Cafe. Don't forget to take a Tennents beer for me at Bar Brera... ;-)
The prices is different for different places. Bar Brera and Art Cafe sells beer for around 4,50-5 euro, while it costs 7,50 at SanSegal.
During the spring and the summer Brera is full of people. Actually the area is more than full... You might need a bulldozer to get around...
It's also full of people who tries to sell everything, everything from lighters, fake-cd/dvd to bags and wallets. Not to mention to old ladies who wants to tell you about your future by reading her cards...
Take for granted you'll be paying to much whatever you pay, and you might be pleased with your buy... :-)
Brera is the perfect place to walked around in, with so many bars close to eachother you can test a lot of them during one night. But when it's really crowded during the warm nights you should stay at a place if you're fortunate enough to find a place to sit down at... Try to find a place at one of the chairs outside a bar, and you can sit there all night long and look at all the people that walks by.

Dress Code: For bars - nothing special. For some discotecs you might have to dress up a bit.

There are plenty of places to go sit, have a drink and either socialize with friends or sit and people watch. You can also find any kind of music to hear on almost any given night (Mondays are a little tough). You can grab a free weekly publication at any Metro stop that will list all the weeks club goings on. The paper is called Metro conveniently. It's in Italian but very easy to understand. Try the Brera for a casual drink with friends. There is also street vendors out there late nights about five days a week so you can do some browsing too.
The Brera seems to be the place for the good-looking 20-30 something crowds who aren't going to the discoteque that night or aren't there quite yet. The disco's are good, great music especially by American standards but can be very crowded after 1am. They are where the very good-looking people go so look your best.

Dress Code: Ladies, good but not skimpy. Men, nice, almost professional with nice slacks and a button up shirt.

The general area of Via Brera. Lots of great bars and restaurants.
A unique atmosphere with lots of good outdoor restaurants and bars with live music. Also, lots of stalls late evening selling hand made jewellery and crafts and fortune tellers if you like that kind of thing!

Dress Code: Anything goes