Nope, it’s not the castle. It’s the small kiosk in front of the castle! It’s called Chiosco Squadre Calcio (Football Club Kiosk) and they serve fabulous panini sandwiches. All sandwiches are named, surprisingly enough, after famous football clubs like Juve, Barça, ManU etc.
Castello Sforzesco and Chiosco Squadre Calcio in December 2015.
What makes this place so great? Well, first and foremost the sandwiches truly are great! The ingredients are fresh and the bread is warm and soft. They even have a few good vegetarian/vegan versions. Second, the location is stunning. Castello Sforzesco and the surrounding Parco Sempione are famous attractions in Milan. The downside is that you will always have a lot of tourists around here.
Third, the prices are affordable, which is quite rare in Milan. My favourite panino and a bottle of sparkling water costs 4,50 euros in total. Finally, the service is friendly and fast, and that too is something of a rarity nowadays. As a bonus they have a big screen on the wall which shows – yes you guessed it – football games.
By the way, I’m not the only one who has discovered this place. It made headlines earlier this year when it temporarily reached the #1 spot in TripAdvisor. That’s pretty amazing because TripAdvisor has nearly 7.000 restaurants for Milan. The current ranking is #153, which isn’t bad either, and it means that almost every review is five stars.