We had visited Ristorante La Fornace previously shortly after it first opened in Colledara; at that time there was some sort of reception party taking place in La Fornace and so a special menu was on offer and we opted for a perennial though hard to find favourite, timballe. The food was fine and satisfactory, but the modern, large space of La Fornace was not quite our cup of tea so we did not really consider it needed revisiting or reviewing especially at the time.
However, it seems the fates were not happy to let us rest so lazily on our laurels…Colledara’s Ristorante La Fornace is one the of most vigorously marketed restaurants we have ever seen, with extensive billboard advertising running the length of the SS150 from Villa Vomano to coastal resort Roseto and beyond! Added to this was the glowing testimonials given by English friends of ours who had partaken of La Fornace’s pizzas, as well as rave reviews by our nearly-neighbours Gianluca & Loredanna, who when invited to join us some time at a “rival” pizza house almost choked with horror at the thought and insisted on us going to La Fornace, for the best pizzas in the world…how could we refuse?
La Fornace is on the road between the San Gabriele-Colledara exit off the A24 and Colledara, on the right hand side up a small drive way leading to a large parking area. Ristorante La Fornace is a long, single-floor building with some outdoor seating with good views of the Gran Sasso mountains. The inside is light and well spaced with lots of tables, perfect for large parties. There is a good range of typical pasta dishes, but we had been promised glorious pizza so opted for that. We ordered a sausage pizza and a mushroom with smoked & shredded ham pizza, along with side dishes of chips and Ascoli-style stuffed olives in breadcrumbs. All was excellent.
The pizzas were wonderfully thin and crispy, a perfect cheese topping, the sausage slightly piccante and juicy, the mushrooms yummy and succulent, but it was the texture and crispiness of the pizzas that made them as good as everyone else declared. We will definitely go back!
The other good news was that, for 2 excellent pizzas, stuffed olives, chips and a half-litre of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, the prize was only €24,50!
Price – 1 pizza salsiccia & 1 pizza con funghi e prosciutto with sides & wine €24,50
Value for money – 10/10
Quality of food – 8/10
Contact Details
Ristorante La Fornace
Colle da Fornace
64042 Colledara (TE)
Telephone: (cellular) 334 2041273
Author: Sam Dunham
Sam is a very lucky midlife 'mamma' to A who is 12 and juggles her work as a self-employed freelance SEO food and travel copywriter and EFL teacher. She is the founder of the Life In Abruzzo Cultural Association, co-founder of Let's Blog Abruzzo. she is the founder of the 'English in the Woods' initiative, teaching English outdoors in a forest style school.