“Cosa succede? Cosa succede in città?" - "What is going on in the city?" Vasco Rossi, whose home around here, wondered in a 1985 song. We wondered that too: 7 pizzerias within 700 m and 4 openings in the last year! Will Modena be the new pizza hotspot? Here's what pizza makers think.
Modena, pizzeria boom phenomenon
It is news of about ten days ago the Altroconsumo's study on the cost of pizza and drink in some Italian cities. In this “ranking” does not appear Modena, but neighboring Bologna, which takes 10th place of 27, with an average of €11.80 for a pizza and drink menu in September 2024. Indeed, thinking of Modena brings to mind tortellini, balsamic vinegar, Massimo Bottura, Ferrari, Luciano Pavarotti. Certainly a non-exhaustive list, but one that would hardly be complemented in the collective imagination by pizza.
Yet in the past year the Ghirlandina tower city has undergone a peaceful invasion of signs - already well known nationwide - that have flanked an already rich and varied proposal present in the area. In fact, one cannot fail to notice and be left unmoved by the fact that right in the historic center - in the area of Via del Taglio - within a span of about 700 meters there are no less than seven pizzerias, four of them (relatively) recently opened.
Considering the city center, the following have opened in no particular order: Berberè, Fra Diavolo, Da Michele, tRe in Pomposa. Joining La Smorfia, Il Grottino, I Dissonanti, Mozzabella inside the Albinelli market. Widening the circle even further are the historic L'Altro Vesuvio and Vesuvio, Pizzeria del Viale, Gambero Rosso, as well as the new pizzeria at the historic Bocciofila Modenese, and the experience in the Modena Apennines of Malga Jack - which we reserve the right to tell you about in the future. For pizza by the slice, Rom'Antica opened, contrasting with the historic PizzAlt and Il Tramezzino.
In search of some numbers, we queried the city chamber of commerce, but unfortunately it is not possible to have a definite statistic, since restaurants and pizzerias have the same Ateco code (classification of economic activities). Within TripAdvisor - which may be more or less reliable on ratings but in this case is a source of valuable information - 178 restaurants serving pizza appear. Three restaurants in Modena (La Lanterna, outside the city center, Vesuvio and tRe in Pomposa) were included in Gambero Rosso's Pizzerie 2025 guide, for a total of seven signs considering the province as well.
We therefore wondered about the reasons for this “boom,” and we asked Matteo Aloe, founder of Berberè, a national and international chain of pizzerias that opened a store in 2023 in the space of a restaurant that has historically housed pizzerias, and Rosario Lopardo, owner of La Smorfia, a pizzeria that has been active and popular for many years. It is worth noting that the offerings of the two pizzerias are different in concept and target audience, but our focus is not so much on the product offered as it is on how two players in the industry live in today's situation.
Matteo Aloe, Founder of Berberè
Why the decision to open in Modena? Does the brand have any connections with the city?
The history of Berberè, born in 2010 in the province of Bologna, in Castel Maggiore, is linked to Emilia-Romagna. It was an almost natural transition, then, in 2023 to open a pizzeria in Modena, a city with a strong gastronomic tradition and a high attention to the quality and craftsmanship of raw materials, values that belong to us and in which we believe. We chose this city because of its strong connection with the culture of good food and its international scope, conditions that guarantee us to dialogue with an audience of foodies, who are particularly receptive to Berberè's artisanal pizza proposal.
Over the years, the location has often seen pizzerias - in the past it was called La Mamma and was the pizzeria of choice for cadets from the nearby military academy... are there any anecdotes to tell?
We know that prior to our arrival, the place was a pizzeria but we had no direct dealings with the previous ownership and had no opportunity to gather special anecdotes. We hope to become, in some time, the next landmark for cadets from the nearby military academy....
The area in the historic center where your place opened in the past year has become densely populated with pizzerias, in about 600 meters there are 6 others - including two national-international brands - in addition to all the others in the city and the surrounding area. Why do you think that is? How is such a high level of competition experienced?
We are proponents of what could be called “same street, same business” thinking. We like the idea that if someone is in Modena and has a craving for pizza, they go to Via Del Taglio. It's up to us, then, to become the place of choice; some people crave a Neapolitan pizza one day and another style the next.
One can eat pizza every day, and there can never be enough pizzerias to satisfy the craving for pizza! It must be said, too, that one of the reasons for the development of the number of pizzerias is due to the fact that in recent years there has been a rise in the quality of the offerings and more and more people are in the habit of eating pizza with family, friends, or on their lunch break. Any time is good to eat a good pizza!
Rosario Lopardo, owner of La Smorfia
You are one of the historic pizzerias downtown, how did you come to be one of the landmarks for the people of Modena?
It is very difficult to give an answer - perhaps we should ask those who choose us. We try to remain a simple pizzeria with popular prices, no latest fashions, few frills and a lot of substance on the table. Probably being very self-critical we manage to notice every point for improvement and literally try to keep up with every single customer. People having noticed all this now trust us, because they know they can always count on our attention.
And then there is the product: it is appreciated for its lightness, not even realizing that our pizza dough has more than 100 hours of maturation, there are no photos on social media that can convey what it means to eat a pizza with such a soft dough. To reach over 100 hours of maturation (5 days of work) we decided to take the risk of managing doughs that are constantly monitored in a temperature and humidity controlled cell, research and selection of various quality flours to create our blend, maniacal control of water values. A real stress, perhaps we are the only ones to do this, but worth it to ensure this unique experience for our customers.
Major brand competitors have come downtown, in your opinion why?
This is also a difficult question... Perhaps the most likely explanation is that there has been a great focus on tourism, which is developing more and more thanks to attractions such as Bottura, Pavarotti, Motor Valley... destinations to do at least once in a lifetime. But the new brands coming in from outside the city have not reckoned with the great bond that the people of Modena have with craftsmanship, especially when it comes to food. Tortellini, balsamic vinegar, prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano, gnocco fritto and tigelle remain at the top of the list ... and woe to those who dare challenge them. I can assume, however, that after seeing the fifth pizzeria open within 500 meters in the last 2 years, for the number of Modena's inhabitants including the tour of tourists, we have saturated the supply/demand ratio. In order not to distort Modena, I hope in the future to see more taverns than pizzerias.
Are they a stimulus or a threat?
For us, no ongoing threat! On the contrary, these new openings are getting more people used to taking a tour around the historic center because curiosity is obviously there. And it is precisely because of these new attractions in the area that we are working more and more. Remember though, as I said before, that here you are tied to artisanal food made by locals, including pizza. Artisanal food is defined as that made by a manual, slow and patient process using local suppliers and highly selected products. For example, we still shop for some products at Albinelli (the downtown market ed.) or from the farmer in the countryside nearby.
So ... can you imagine a Modena that gives up the craftsmanship of food to choose a business run by no one knows who, that no one knows what products it uses, that offers products on a national scale all the same as if they were industrial looking at Modena only as the center of its own business? To give an idea of the strong connection Modena has with food...can you imagine a Modena that gives up the "rezdora" to choose a franchise chain? It looks tough but in a few years, we will have all the answers. Let's leave it to time.
