Al Borgo 1964

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Village Meeting Place Turned Award-Winning Pizzeria

Al Borgo 1964 began not as a restaurant but as a balera — a local dance hall in the Palesella quarter of Cerea, on the Veronese plain. Through the 1970s it evolved into a pizzeria, then a trattoria, gradually becoming a reference point for honest Veronese cooking. Since 1999 the Fiorini family has steered it with care, and today the place operates under the Gruppo Vertigo, led by director Enrico Fiorini. It was, in fact, the founding project from which all of the group's subsequent ventures grew.

The Pizza, the Flame, and the Table

The kitchen runs on two tracks. The pizzeria turns out high-hydration doughs — light, airy, and genuinely digestible — made with carefully selected fresh ingredients. Guests consistently single out the impasto: one reviewer described it as "leggero, soffice e ben digeribile, lavorato con grande maestria." Gluten-free options are available and taken seriously. Alongside the pizza offer, a wood-fired camino section handles grilled meats and broader table dishes, accompanied by a curated selection of Italian and international wines chosen to complement Veronese flavours.

The recognition the pizza has earned is hard to ignore. Gambero Rosso's Guida Pizzerie d'Italia awarded Al Borgo 2 Slices — with a specific mention to the front-of-house and kitchen brigade — confirming its place among Italy's pizza excellence. In 2022, pizzaiolo Emanuel Facchin took first place at the Campionato Mondiale della Pizza in Parma in the Pizza in Pala category, with a carbonara-topped creation that judges praised for technique and balance. That same year, the restaurant also earned a dedicated listing in the 50 Top Pizza guide. An earlier international nod came in 2018, when the Valpoterra — a pizza paying homage to Valpolicella produce — won "most original pizza in the world" at a Naples final.

Atmosphere and Hospitality

The rooms are described as luminous, with warm corners and the scent of wood from the oven. It is a place designed for brindisi, celebrations, and ordinary Tuesday lunches alike — family-friendly, wheelchair accessible, with outdoor seating and the capacity for private events and catering. The tone is deliberately domestic: the restaurant's own tagline is "vuoi sentirti a casa e mangiare bene?" — and the smiling, attentive service that guests describe suggests the answer is consistently yes.

For special occasions, the kitchen produces full seasonal menus — the Easter 2026 menu, for instance, moves through salmon croquettes, a branzino and asparagus risotto, and a slow-roasted guinea fowl, showing a range that goes well beyond pizza when the moment calls for it.