The best Italian pizzerias and restaurants Northern Macedonia

The "Couscous" restaurant (Кус Кус) owes its name - which sounds very exotic here - to a French woman who founded it in 2003. She left, but the name stuck. Today, it's the address most often recommended by locals. No longer serving couscous, it still serves tabbouleh (French-style), good pizzas, pastrmajlija (the local version of pizza), falafel and meat dishes. We're not a big fan of the menu, but it's still more varied and polished than most of Bitola's other restaurants.

This bar-restaurant (Пелистер) is a must-visit with its large terrace on Macedonia Square. A former state-run establishment founded in 1961, it takes its name from the Pelister massif near Bitola. Nothing gourmet (pasta, risottos, salads, meats, desserts, hearty breakfasts), but the wood-fired pizzas are good. Otherwise, it's also a superbly located hotel: six rooms and apartments (from €60 for two with breakfast) with a breathtaking view of... the square's ugly monuments.

Set in a stone house, this pizzeria (Пицерија Ангела) is well placed with a terrace along the Black Drin promenade. It serves not only good pizzas, but also rather successful Italian-style pastas as well as a few local dishes: wild mushrooms sautéed in cream, spicy meat bowls(souflaka) and furnagiska, a variant of pastmalija (the national and traditional version of pizza) topped with pork or chicken. The pizza oven is also used to bake homemade bread. There are occasional evening concerts.