Balera is set to open on Graham Avenue tonight bringing pizza, seafood, and music to the neighborhood.

The creation of five Italian friends who met in New York, the menu draws inspiration from Roman cuisine. The founders, Oliviero Lucchetti, Lorenzo Rubini, Lourenço de Almeida, Tancredi Bareti, and Luca Pelliccioni, all bring different aspects of hospitality experience to the project.

The focal point of the menu is mattarello pizza, literally meaning a “rolling pin” pizza. The result is thin, crispy pies. There are standards like Marinara (double tomato sauce) and Margherita (tomato and buffalo mozzarella), toppings like anchovies and mushrooms, and a few other more complicated dishes like The Graham (red pesto, mozzarella, provolone, rapini, and sausage).

Seafood is a big part of this restaurant too, with a seafood salad made form octopus, shrimp, razor clams, and vegetables, and a “shrimps n’ turf” pizza topped with shrimp, ‘nduja and mozzarella.
Don’t worry, there’s also a Ribeye alla Milanese for those who want to skip the fruit of the sea.

According to Ellie Plass at Resy, the interior draws inspiration from the 1980s Italian design aesthetic. That includes terrazzo on the floors and a disco ball. This place is meant to be fun, and live music and dancing is part of the plan, beginning at 9:30 p.m.

There will also be a late night kitchen open until 1am, something neighborhood desperately needs. There are also plenty of lighter, snack fare, including some fried dishes like a mix of shrimp and squid with onion rings.

The restaurant soft opened last night, celebrating with friends and family, with opening night scheduled to start at 5:30 today.

The location had previously been home to Da Francesco Pizza, which had been at the location for two decades, but relocated to Grand Street with a more casual concept last year. By April, the group behind Balera had come together with the hope of opening by the fall. Construction delays, and, a landlord who wanted to renovate part of the building, delayed the restaurant’s launch.

Balera

442 Graham Avenue
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