The best street food in Padua
Padua has an awesome street food scene, especially around le piazze. I’m going to highlight my favorite street food places in Padua in this post. Most of them are Italian places, but I’ve also got a tip for those of you that might be craving something different.
Not only do these places all serve up delicious food, they’re great if you’re on a budget!
Ready? Hungry?! Andiamo!
Table of Contents
The best street food in Padua
PASSIONE PIZZA
Location and hours
Via del Livello, 25, open 7pm – 10pm Tuesday through Sunday
The first time I visited Padua, my sweetheart brought me to Passione Pizza. At that time, I hadn’t been to Italy in about four years. I am not joking when I say that I had been craving a pizza with bresaola, rucola, and parmigiano for probably every single day of those four years, and lucky for me, Passione makes an awesome one.
It was my favorite pizza in Rome, and I’ve never seen it anywhere outside of Italy. Salty bresaola (cured beef) mingles with peppery arugula and freshly shaved slices of parmigiano (or grana padano). This trifecta of deliciousness sits atop savory tomato sauce and melted mozzarella, and of course, it all rests on a thin crust, fresh from a brick oven.
Any night of the week, Passione is positively buzzing. It’s takeaway and delivery only, and there’s often a line, but it’s worth the wait. The staff is efficient and super friendly, welcoming everyone with a smile.
Because there’s no seating, you’ve got to take your pizza and head to nearby Piazza dei Signori and eat it on the steps.
Pro tip: ask for them to cut the pizza for you, because cutting it with plastic cutlery can be a challenge!
Pro tip #2: Can’t get enough Passione? They also have a location in Sotto Salone, Padua’s 800-year old market, which is open for pizza al taglio and focaccia at lunch time!
DAPRETTE PANZEROTTI
Location and hours
Closed due to the pandemic 🙁
Via Dante 24, open from 9am to 12am Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and 9am to 2am Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
Via Oberdan 6, open from 10:30am to 8pm Monday through Thursday, and 10:30am to 9pm Friday, Saturday, Sunday
If you ask anyone where to get late night food in Padua, they’ll tell you to go to daPrette. DaPrette specializes in panzerotti, which are similar to calzones. Originally from Puglia where they are fried, Padua’s panzerotti are baked.
I’m not sure what the difference is between a panzerotto and a calzone (unless maybe the distinction is the frying). You can get all sorts of different fillings, including vegetarian options. They even have a dessert panzerotto that’s filled with Nutella! At just 3 or 4 euro a pop, you can get a delicious, filling meal on a budget.
La Folperia
Location and hours
Piazza della Frutta 1, closed Mondays, open from 4:30 to 8:30pm Tuesday through Thursday, 4:30 to 9pm Friday and Saturday, and 4:30 to 8 on Sunday
I finally had the pleasure of dining at La Folperia for the first time a few weeks ago. As I happily munched down my octopus and sipped my prosecco in the late afternoon sun, I thought to myself, “What the hell have you been waiting for?!”
La Folperia is a kiosk that serves up frutti di mare, including pistachio crusted tuna, squid, seafood salad and other savory delights. Its name comes from the Venetian word for octopus, which is their specialty. In Italian, octopus is polipo. In Veneto, it’s folpo, hence La Folperia.
I went for the classic folpo, which is boiled and chopped up, brains and all, seasoned with salt and pepper, and served with a delicate dressing of parsley, lemon and olive oil. My friend and I split a large one, and it was about 10 euros.
Despite the fact that the octopus tentacles look like the underside of a bathmat, it was truly delicious. The meat is dense, but the flavor is quite mild, and the parsley dressing and citrus give it a bit of brightness. As I mentioned above, the brain is included, so if you’re squeamish, you might want to try something else.
The brain of the folpo was smooth, and reminded me a bit of a crab dish I had at Cervejaria Ramiro in Lisbon (which contained the brain of said crab). I tried to describe it to a vegetarian friend after I ate it, but I’m afraid all of the adjectives I was able to come up with were, let’s say, less than appetizing (the least offensive of which was ‘mineraly,’ just to give you an idea). Also, fun fact, there are no foods which are NOT a brain that can approximate the taste and texture of a brain, so it was pretty much impossible to describe to my meat-and-seafood-free pal.
The great thing about La Folperia is that they’ve got a deal with the bar next door, so you can sit and have a glass of wine while you enjoy your food.
BIGOI
Location and hours
Via Umberto I, 6, Monday 11:30 to 3pm, Tuesday through Thursday, and Sunday 11:30 – 9:30pm, Friday and Saturday 11:30 to 10pm
The same day that I ate at La Folperia for the first time, I also ate at Bigoi for the first time. If I could go back in time, I would eat at Bigoi many, many more times.
Bigoi refers to itself as a “street food start-up that has the goal of offering healthy Italian food at unbeatable prices.” They have reached their goal in my book.
Pasta in a cup does not have a great reputation, does it? Don’t get me wrong, I gobbled down several hundred cans of Chef Boyardee as a child, yes, even the ones that have mini-meatballs in them. I also ate about a thousand styrofoam Cup Noodles in college, because who can beat a 25 cent meal?
Cast off your expectations about cups of pasta! Forget the soggy sides, the limp, pasty mush contained within, and get ready for a real treat at Bigoi.
Like La Folperia, Bigoi is also a dialectal word. This time, for bigoli, which are thick and long pasta popular in Veneto.
I went for a Venetian classic, duck ragù, and man, was I shocked at how good it was. A hot, hefty portion comes in a biodegradable cup, with biodegradable utensils. The pasta comes with a big dollop of whatever sauce you choose on top, and a nice helping of cheese.
At first I was a bit stressed about the distribution of the sauce. Would it all just stay on top (and would I just live my best life and gobble it all down immediately) or would it make its way down to the bottom and keep the rest of the pasta company? Somehow, it did just that. As I twirled my fork and removed each bite from the cup, the sauce slurped its way down, coating the thick, firm pasta all the way to the bottom.
I took a rotten, blurry picture of the menu with you, my lovely readers, in mind (I was excited, ok?). Despite its rotten blurriness, here it is so you can see what they offer and what the prices are like:
Habe Asian Street Food
Location and hours
Closed due to the pandemic 🙁
Via Fiume (Piazza dei Signori), open Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 11am to 10pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 11pm
So, maybe you’re in Padua and you’re craving something other than pizza or pasta. Maybe you don’t want to eat an octopus head. I get it! Sometimes you want something else, like the bite of ginger or the tang of lemongrass. Maybe you’re missing the heat of chili, or the saltiness of soy. Look no further than HABE Asian Street Food.
HABE offers a simple menu of ramen, bao, and egg rolls at great prices. You can choose the thickness of your noodles for the ramen, and you can get the bao without mayonnaise if you’re like me and have a phobia of shiny white blob food. I highly recommend the beef bao and the duck egg rolls.
In writing this post I’m realizing that I’ll probably get gout soon if I keep eating so many small, rich, meaty creatures. Although, I had popcorn for dinner tonight, so I should be all set for at least another day.
My favorite gelateriA
Ciokkolatte
I can’t leave you without a sweet treat, can I? Diagonally across from HABE in Piazza dei Signori is my favorite gelateria in the city, Ciokkolatte. I’ll admit, my American is showing, because I always get either Snickers, Oreo Cheesecake, or New York Cheesecake, but their chocolate, pistachio, lemon, coconut and caramel flavors are also delicious.
More Padua posts and guides
Dining at Osteria dei Fabbri in Padua
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