Everyone knows it: city centres in all big cities are packed with overpriced restaurants with low-quality food. Pinocchio in Cologne’s centre is different. It’s close to those restaurants, in a small side street. It’s a restaurant and a takeaway.

As it is also nice to sit in the backyard of the restaurant, I always get a pizza to go, walk 2 minutes to the river and enjoy my food with a great view without paying 20€ for a low quality meal. So grab a beer and your pizza and enjoy a nice lunch on a bench in the sun.

The takeaway is open until 1am and until 3 am on the weekends. If you’ve had a few beers too many in the breweries, it’s also a good spot for a midnight snack.

The pizza bakers are always friendly and open for a chat at any time while preparing your pizza.

Although I am usually not a big fan of eggplant, my favorite pizza here is the pizza melanzane.