Pizza Cotta has opened on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv, offering a hopeful glimpse of the area’s long awaited revival. Amid ongoing infrastructure works and the backdrop of wartime reality, the new restaurant positions itself as a cornerstone of a future vibrant street life, where light rail trains run, sidewalks bustle, and Friday evenings feel alive again.

Founded by Narkis Alfi and Shai Grabler, the team behind the nearby Beina, Pizza Cotta was launched during wartime, with renovations, staff training, and menu building carried out under sirens. The result is an Italian Israeli food bar that balances neighborhood warmth with urban sophistication, welcoming families, couples, and casual drinkers alike without pretension or forced atmosphere.

While pizza is central, the compact menu highlights vegetable and cheese driven small plates such as roasted fennel with citrus butter, eggplant with mozzarella and chive chimichurri, zucchini with ricotta, and richly layered ratatouille. The pizzas, made from carefully developed dough that is baked twice for stability and flavor, range from classic combinations to more inventive options featuring artichoke and stracciatella or prosciutto with pear and arugula.

Desserts and a thoughtful wine and cocktail selection round out an experience that can be tailored to anything from a single pizza and drink to a full shared feast. With its sea facing corner location, Pizza Cotta offers not just food but a tangible sign that Allenby Street’s renewal is already underway.