Da Luisa

On our first visit to Milan, my wife chose an Airbnb that was reasonable... but not in Milan, y'know? It was here, on a metro line 20 minutes north of center city. Needless to say, the restaurants were fewer and farther between, so I turned to Yelp to give a guy a chance to find something good. That's how we wound up at this place.

A scant 15 minute walk from our lodging, I had to check my phone twice that we were going the right way. It turns out that this place isn't on the tourist circuit - it's a local, mom-and-pop kind of place that serves its neighborhood. Imagine only one table where people were actually eating, and another four (on the other side of the entrance) where locals were enjoying some vermouth over a game of dominoes. So when we walked inside, we knew everything was going to be alright. It had a homey vibe.

Side note: I speak English and Spanish fluently. My Catalan and my French are just okay; my Italian is sorely lacking. It turns out our hostess/waitress/server was from the Dominican Republic, married to the Italian man who co-owned the place with her. Language barrier resolved! As for the menu... there really wasn't one. She had started naming the few dishes that they had prepared for that day, but when we connected our Caribbean roots she told us to hold on... she'd hook us up. ...and she didn't lie! Some of our dinner made me think we were in the West Indies, and the rest would make the local clientele proud.

We left the restaurant feeling like we'd just left a big family dinner, stuffed, happy, and talking about it all the way back to our lodging. This dinner was special. If you're ever in the neighborhood, DO give these guys a try!