Piano 35 Lounge Bar

Turin's Cocktail Scene, Placed in Context

Italy's craft bar culture has consolidated around a handful of cities, with Milan drawing the most international attention and Rome offering the broadest range of formats. Turin occupies a quieter position in that conversation — quieter, but not lesser. The city's drinking identity is rooted in its vermouth heritage: this is where Carpano and Cinzano were born, and that history gives Turinese bars a particular relationship with the aperitivo tradition and with the fortified, bitter, and aromatic spirits that support it. Bars that do well here tend to do so because they understand that provenance, not because they import a generic cocktail-bar formula from elsewhere.

Piano 35 Lounge Bar, located on Corso Inghilterra, sits inside that tradition. Its 2025 ranking at #361 in the Top 500 Bars places it in a tier of Italian bars that compete on depth of selection and technical execution rather than on volume or visibility. For context, Italy's representation in that ranking is spread across cities and formats, and a Top 500 placement from Turin specifically signals that the bar is operating at a level the international bar community has noticed. Peer bars at comparable positions in the ranking, such as L'Antiquario in Naples, tend to share a common trait: a back bar that rewards scrutiny.

The Back Bar as Editorial Statement

In the current generation of serious cocktail bars across Europe, the back bar functions as a kind of argument. It tells you what the programme values, how far the team has looked to build their selection, and whether the approach is cosmetic or substantive. A densely stocked wall of bottles curated without logic is theatre. A back bar organised around a point of view — around a particular category, region, or production method , is something more useful to the drinker who knows what to ask for.

The spirits collection at Piano 35 is the primary reason the bar appears in rankings at all. Turin's vermouth tradition makes it natural for a serious bar here to anchor their programme around Italian aperitivo spirits and bitters, but the most credentialed bars in the city have used that foundation to extend outward: aged Italian amari, small-production grappas, and the broader world of barrel-aged and botanical spirits that sit comfortably alongside vermouth in a well-considered glass. The editorial angle here is curation , the sense that what is behind the bar has been chosen, not accumulated. That distinction is what separates a lounge with bottles on shelves from a bar with a genuine spirits programme.

Internationally, bars that have built their identity around collection depth and curation occupy a distinct tier. 1930 in Milan is a useful reference point for how an Italian bar can make the back bar the entire premise. Bar Leather Apron in Honolulu demonstrates the same logic in a very different geography. The through-line is that the most engaged bars at this level treat the spirits selection as a living editorial position, updated through allocation relationships, producer visits, and category knowledge that goes beyond what distributors send through. Piano 35's Top 500 placement suggests it is operating with that kind of intentionality.

The Address and What It Implies

Corso Inghilterra is not the city's most obvious bar strip. Turin's tourist drinking tends to concentrate around Piazza Vittorio Veneto and the aperitivo corridors of the Quadrilatero Romano, where La Drogheria and its peers draw the early-evening crowd. A bar ranked in the global Top 500 that sits away from those zones is making a deliberate choice about its audience. The clientele it attracts are not people who wandered in; they are people who looked it up, made a decision, and came specifically. That dynamic tends to produce a different kind of service interaction and a different kind of atmosphere from the walk-in aperitivo bar model.

The lounge bar format implied by the name suggests a format oriented toward seated, unhurried drinking rather than the stand-at-the-bar pace of a traditional Italian bacaro or the high-throughput model of a hotel lobby bar. This format is increasingly common among serious Italian cocktail programmes, where the pacing allows for longer conversations about what to drink and more deliberate service of technically involved cocktails. Gucci Giardino in Florence and Boeme in Rome represent comparable format choices in different Italian cities, where the bar operates at a register closer to a restaurant in its hospitality model.

How Piano 35 Sits in the Italian Bar Ranking

Italy's presence in the Top 500 Bars is spread across cities, formats, and price points. Turin has fewer entries than Milan or Rome, which makes a placement like Piano 35's more notable on a per-bar basis. The bar is representing a city whose drinking culture is less internationally documented than its food culture, and doing so at a ranking position that puts it in the same conversation as bars with considerably more international marketing behind them.

The comparison to Lost and Found in Nicosia is instructive: bars in cities not primarily associated with cocktail culture often build their reputation on a more defined programme, precisely because they cannot rely on the ambient credibility of a Milan or a London address. The discipline required to achieve Top 500 status from Turin is arguably greater than from a city where the bar scene itself generates tourism and press coverage.

Planning a Visit

Piano 35 Lounge Bar is on Corso Inghilterra in Turin. Contact details are not currently listed on EP Club's database, so confirming hours and reservation availability directly via the venue or a local concierge is the practical approach before visiting, particularly on weekends when demand at ranked bars in smaller markets tends to spike. Given the lounge format and the level of the programme, arriving without a reservation on a busy evening carries some risk. For a deeper orientation to what the city offers across drinks, food, and accommodation, consult our full Turin bars guide, our full Turin restaurants guide, our full Turin hotels guide, our full Turin wineries guide, and our full Turin experiences guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What drink is Piano 35 Lounge Bar famous for?

The bar's Top 500 Bars ranking (2025, #361) points to a programme built around spirits curation rather than any single signature drink. Turin's vermouth and aperitivo heritage makes botanical and fortified spirits a natural anchor for bars operating at this level in the city, and Piano 35's placement in the ranking suggests a back bar with range and selection depth beyond the standard cocktail list. Specific current offerings are leading confirmed directly with the venue.

What is the standout thing about Piano 35 Lounge Bar?

Its Top 500 Bars ranking at #361 (2025) is the clearest external signal of where the bar sits. Turin is underrepresented in international bar rankings relative to Milan and Rome, which gives a placement from this city more weight than the number alone might suggest. The lounge format and address on Corso Inghilterra indicate a bar oriented toward a deliberate, destination-driven clientele rather than walk-in footfall.

Do I need a reservation for Piano 35 Lounge Bar?

Phone and website details are not currently in EP Club's database. Given the lounge format and the bar's standing in the Top 500, a reservation is advisable on weekends or during Turin's busier event periods. Contact details can be sourced through the venue's social profiles or a local Turin hotel concierge before your visit.