📜 History · 1980s
The Paninari: when a sandwich bar named a generation
How Milan's 'Al Panino' bar gave its name to Italy's best-known 1980s youth subculture.
In early-1980s Milan, groups of teenagers began gathering at a small sandwich bar called Al Panino, near Piazza Liberty and San Babila. The press soon called them 'paninari', from panino (sandwich). The name stuck to a whole subculture of the 'Milano da bere' years.
The paninari had their own slang, motor scooters and a strict uniform of puffer jackets, Timberland boots and American-style labels. They later moved on to the new fast-food restaurants, including the Burghy burger bar in Piazza San Babila. The trend swept Italy, inspired comics and TV sketches, and even gave its name to a 1986 Pet Shop Boys song, 'Paninaro'.
The movement faded by the end of the decade, but it shows how central the panino is to Italian life. Milan's sandwich bars, from classic 'bar dei panini' to new gourmet counters, are still a lunchtime institution.
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