The best take-away restaurants Reggio Emilia

In this beautiful bakery you can buy the gnocco fritto, a fried bread dough that has the shape of a large ravioli and that the locals traditionally accompany with cold meats. There are also different kinds of breads, pizza slices, pies and pastries, as well as a wide variety of fresh pasta to be cooked later or eaten on the spot (tagliatelle, stuffed pasta, passatelli...). Bar open at all hours for a coffee or an aperitif; it's a pity that the service in the dining room is not always very friendly...

The room is tiny and neon lit, the walls and countertop are veneered with ugly green gyproc, the only decorative element is the sticky clock hanging above the wood oven. However, this pizzeria is dear to the hearts of Reggio's inhabitants who flock to it at lunchtime and in the evening. They buy small round pizzas, with or without anchovies. It's disconcertingly simple and it's just good, ideal for a quick lunch or an afternoon snack break while mingling with the locals.

Surrounded by pastel-coloured houses and planted with trees, Piazza Fontanesi is still the most pleasant and lively square in Reggio Emilia. One of its specialities is the cold meats, which have a few tables inside or in the square in good weather, where you can taste cheese, prosciutto, salame and other local delicacies accompanied by a dash of balsamic, grilled vegetables, olives and bruschetta. All this washed down with a small regional wine or a beer. In summer, in the shade of the foliage, it's pure happiness!

Merry little pink pigs are scattered all over this place in the historic centre where pork is celebrated. While the specialty remains the panino au roti, we will also appreciate other sausage fillings, porchetta, head-press, and sandwiches with names evocative of "coronary flu" and "chronic aerophagia". There are also slices of pizza, rice balls and doughnuts, in short, fat, fried, but good, to be enjoyed without complex ... not too often anyway! Friendly and talkative boss.