If you read this blog on the regular, you may recall that Dan and I visited Bolzano, Italy last September before continuing to Oktoberfest in Munich and Innsbruck, Austria. Bolzano, or “Bozen” in German, is the capital of the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige and the third largest city in the Alps. Due to its location and changing of hands at the end of World War I, Bolzano is half-Italian and half-German, making for a very interesting Italian food scene where the “Italian classics,” such as pizza, are not common. In any case, we were in Italy and we wanted Italian pizza. We walked by one restaurant our first night that was busy and claimed to serve Napoletana pizza and we decided to try it. A very good choice!

Bolzano, Italy.

Forneria 38 is the name of said restaurant and its located right off Piazza delle Erbe in the center of Bolzano. While small, Forneria 38 has indoor and outdoor seating, both of which were full on our visit. We sat very close to Forneria 38’s kitchen.

A small menu matches the small restaurant, offering only pizza, salads, dessert, and drinks. We selected a bottle of Aglianico, one of our favorite wines from Southern Italy, to pair with our dinner.

Menu pic # 1.

Menu pic # 2.

Menu pic # 3.

Menu pic # 4.

Our Aglianico wine.

For our dinner, we, of course, both ordered pizza. Dan ordered the Diavola, which is a common Italian pizza with tomato sauce, cheese, and salami. This one also added pepperoni, which is a pepper in Italian (not the round red meat we have in the US). I selected one of the special pizzas served at Forneria 38. My pizza was topped with argula, burrata, sun dried tomatoes, and a small plastic tube of olive oil. Both pizzas were really great and tasted like real southern Italian pizza. The crust was fantastic and we definitely got our Italian pizza fix here.

Diavola.

My pizza. I loved the olive oil tube!

All in, our meal at Forneria 38 was very good. It was casual and fast, which was just what we were looking for this particular evening (I usually prefer longer dinners). Forneria 38 is also a good spot for what many tourists think of as more “traditional” Italian food, which, as I mentioned, is difficult to find in Bolzano and the Alto-Adige.

STEAL OUR TRIP

Forneria 38 Pizza Napoletana: Piazza delle Erbe, 39, 39100 Bolzano BZ, Italy. Open daily 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM. Reservations helpful for dinner, especially on the weekends. Reservations can be made by messaging via Instagram.