It doesn’t get more authentic: Founded by three Italo-German sisters named Capone (of course), Al Catzone opened it’s doors in June 2022 and has quickly become the go-to for a Berlin pizza experience extraordinaire.
Drawing a diverse artistic crowd of both neighbors and international visitors, this pizza joint brings life to an often overlooked corner of the city — and is well worth the visit!
For the Love of Simplicity and Good Ingredients
Founder trio Anna, Laura and Caro blame their shared love for good dinner parties with friends and family for their getting together over this project: “We believe in simplicity, good ingredients and kindness towards all living beings.”
“Pizza is simple and affordable — yet obscenely delicious!”
“To us,” Anna says, “pizza is the perfect companion for a casual night out with friends and family. It’s simple, it’s affordable, yet obscenely delicious. We know that vegan food and dolce vita go well together, and with Al Catzone, we want to show exactly that.”
And when you bring your non-vegan friends,” she laughs, “they won’t even know.”
A Childhood Villain Goes to Pizza School
So, why the name?
“Al Catzone is a mix of our last name Capone and our favorite childhood villain Al Katzone of the Disney animation tv-show Chip & Chap (Chip and Dale in English),” Anna explains.
“Al Katzone,” she tells us, “is fierce, he’s quirky, and he has a pronounced taste for the good life.
He’s a full-hearted hedonist and a connoisseur della dolce vita. Sometimes, his plans can appear a bit silly and bizarre. And while he fails at implementing them often, he always ends up with a good story to tell.
In short: He’s one of us.”
“Fierce and quirky, silly and bizarre — Al Catzone is one of us!”
When asked when they decided to go for it, Anna looks back at a time where all three sisters where in their day jobs, “spending a lot of time behind computer screens and in meeting rooms.” At that time, their urge to do something more creative and have some immediate, positive impact was awakened — and it grew and grew.
After a joint vacation spent in pizza school in Napoli in late 2019 (”yes, we are certified pizzaiole,”), the decision to open a joint restaurant was born. “It was so much fun to do something together as sisters, that we decided to go for it,” Anna remembers.
Putting Mehringplatz on the Map
What makes Al Catzone special is the eye for detail. While keeping it consciously simple, the menu is not huge, but both classic and experimental at the same time. And the interior compliments that approach.
The sister’s quirky and sunny temper and their knack for getting the details right shines through everywhere:
In the beautiful, playful ceramics (”they traveled with us by car directly from Campania”). Or in their bold stone-tables, that look like they’ve been there forever (they’ve not). And in their Luigi Colani bathrooms, of course.
However, it is their lovely Italo-German team that takes the cake (pizza pie).
“Our ceramics traveled with us by car directly from Campania.”
Their location at (often-overlooked) Mehringplatz is smack in the middle of some of Berlin’s most intriguing sights like the Jewish Museum, Checkpoint Charly, HAU Theater or the Gedenkbibliothek. It’s green, very central, sports a wide park area and is right at the canal at Hallesches Tor, and yet… it needed a new hot spot like Al Catzone to put it on the map for visitors from all over town to notice.
And the architecture! It’s very Berlin here, with a dash of Brutalism and a slight air of Socialist housing — yet complete with wide, pedestrian roads that allow for Al Catzone’s big terrace and that special “Secondigliano vibe” — apparently that’s a thing (don’t ask us).
Trattoria Vibes Coming Up
So, what’s next for Al Catzone?
“We want to serve homemade pasta and salads, soon”, the sisters reveal. “We want to become a fully fledged vegan trattoria. It is our vision to become the vegan trattoria in Berlin and to make vegan pizza the new standard.”
And: “We aspire to be a quirky fun-loving place full of color, open to everyone.”
A goal that seems very attainable for this trio, their team and the already outstanding experience they’ve created!
Find out more:
Al Catzone – Pizza Napovegana
Brandsstr. 7
10969 Berlin
Find Al Catzone on Mehringplatz
U1 / U3 / U6 subway lines, Hallesches Tor station
