At Pizza Artist their creative and innovative approaches to Pizza “alla Romana” will leave you floored with delight!
Alla Romana
In 2013 a native Roman named Marco decided to open up a new pizza joint in the university district of Bologna. His move was genius, as the “alla Romana” style of pizzerias didn’t exit before he came to town. And what a difference it has made. Business is good to the folks at Pizza Artist, whose name is no exaggeration. When asked why they chose the name artist, the manager Patrizio smiles before answering.
“Because they are artists in the sense of the ingredients we use.” Which is altogether true, after having sampled many different slices myself while visiting one day. That and the fact, he adds, “and one of the ingredients is love”. Oh, how very Italian of him. And while that may sound a bit corny, it’s actually quite true. The proof is in the pudding, or I guess in this case, it’s in the pizza. While the staff work hard (and after having just watched them for several hours, I was tired), they consider themselves a family more than employees and employer. The staff not only get along at work but apparently have lunch and eat dinners together as well. And no, I don’t suspect it’s always pizza.
Popularity & Taste
While you may find that it’s busy all the time, their peak hours are at lunchtime during the week. Being that they cater mostly to students (a cheap grab for any university student on the go), it’s no wonder there is a line forming outside of the hole-in-the-wall for well over an hour during lunch.
The pizzas are not expensive by any great measure, but art does come at a cost. Even pizza by the slice. The cheapest pizza is 12 Euro a kilo, while the pies with fancier ingredients can range between 15-16 Euro a kilo. Their most popular pizzas vary from customer to customer, but generally it’s a tie between three. Their Marinara pizza, the grana cheese, pumpkin sauce and sausage pizza, and finally their mozzarella buffula and mushroom pizza. Personally, I detest pumpkin but fell in love with their pumpkin sauce with sausage. I even had a second slice I enjoyed it so much! Clearly, they’re not just doing something right here but are quite clearly true to their name of artist.
Given that they are the only game in town that features pizza alla romana, it’s no wonder they’re so popular. Even the native Bolognese people appreciate the Roman style pizza, and the locals come in droves.
The Art’s in the Sauce
“If people want to eat excellent pizza they need to come here,” says the manager who is also native to Rome. Undoubtedly the owner would concur, and I do as well.
Their specialty pizzas vary from week to week, with the standards being the common denominator. But it’s not just what you see in the display case that’s available. Depending on what ingredients you want, you can request your own custom pizza – which is exactly what I did. And oh, yes. It was absolutely delicious. In fact, the creation I came up with was my own little piece of artwork, if I do say so myself.
Make sure to check out Pizza Artist the next time you’re in Bologna and need a quick bite to eat when you don’t want to spend a lot on a meal. And when you do drop in, make sure to let them know Lisa sent you!
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