Bar Birba

Bar Birba opened at the very end of 2023 on Franklin Avenue, between Greene and Lexington, across the street from For All Things Good, which co-owner Matt Diaz also runs. It is an aperitivo bar in the Italian sense: brass-rimmed bistro tables, tall French windows, mostly natural Italian wines with the day's list written on an ornate mirror, and a giant floor-to-ceiling pizza oven that came with the space. During the early-evening aperitivo hour, each drink comes with a small bite on the house, usually an arancino or a slice.

The pizza has moved toward Roman style — very thin and crisp, baked in rectangular pans and sold in quarter-pan portions of about two slices. Order the Spicy Soppressata with pecorino and hot honey, or Don't Tell Nonna, pepperoni and salsa bianca on a sesame-seed crust, and add polpette, arancini, burrata with radicchio and the mortadella panino with pistachio pesto. A spritz or a white negroni completes the picture.