Milano is a busy Temple Bar pizza spot that can deliver genuinely good thin-crust pies, especially for casual meals and families, but service inconsistency, fly problems, and some value complaints keep it from being a safe blind bet.
Milano delivers solid casual Italian-American dining with strong pizza execution when properly prepared and a convenient central Temple Bar location. However, inconsistent food quality and service reliability across visits, combined with recurring hygiene concerns, prevent it from reaching higher standards. Best suited for quick lunches and family-friendly pizza rather than dependable special occasions.
Milano feels like a central Temple Bar workhorse: busy, casual, and usually best when it leans into what it does well, namely thin-crust pizza, quick lunches, and easy family dining. When it’s on, people describe the food as fresh, tasty, and pleasantly straightforward; when it’s off, the complaints get loud fast, especially about slow service, undercooked or soggy dishes, and the occasional fly problem. A vivid pattern in the reviews is that this place can feel like a reliable city-center stop one night and a total shambles the next. The culinary approach is approachable Italian-American comfort food rather than anything adventurous. Think pizzas, baked pasta, dough balls, and desserts that aim for broad appeal, with enough vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free choices to keep a mixed group happy. The menu is not especially creative in a fine-dining sense, but it does offer plenty of familiar crowd-pleasers, and several reviewers specifically praise the Roman-style pies and the thin-crust pizzas when cooked properly. It’s a better fit for casual eaters, families, and tourists who want something familiar than for anyone chasing deep regional Italian cooking. For families, the current menu is genuinely workable: kids can eat Margherita, plain pizza, garlic bread, mac and cheese, or simple pasta-style dishes, and reviews mention a proper kids menu with starter, main, and dessert. That said, one recent review says a child was turned away while asleep in a pram, so family friendliness seems inconsistent in practice even if the menu fits kids just fine. If you’re bringing picky eaters, this is solid pizza-and-pasta territory; if you’re bringing adventurous little food critics, the safest bet is the classic pizza or mac and cheese rather than the more saucy or Roman-style specials.
Area vibe: Touristy cultural quarter with lively nightlife and arts venues.
Safety: Busy and well-lit at night but can be crowded; petty crime like pickpocketing occurs after hours.
What's nearby: Central Dublin near Dublin Castle, the River Liffey, Trinity College and numerous bars, restaurants and theatres.