Marcella — Restaurant in Ixelles - Elsene

The place used to be a wine and spirits specialist called Tonton Marcel. They had to close after many years and the place was reborn into the Marcella pizzeria. Nice seating, enough space, wooden spirit, a bit of vintage touch welcome you together with friendly staff. Simple menu, pizzas and some desserts. I was there for a lunch on my own. Rapid service, small offered bread and olive oil appetizer, then a great margherita pizza, thin dough, tasty tomato sugo. I would just cook it a minute more. I took a Pugliese wine, full of sun and some San Pe. Finished with an espresso from Delahaut (Belgian torrefactor). All for 25 euro, a little (re)treat for myself I enjoyed, as well as the smooth old jazz tunes. Just : toilets are downstairs, not ideal for people with disabilities. But it's sadly often so. In another episode of eating at Marcella, I would like to point out the beautiful staff members of the place....

Marcella will offer you some genuinely tasty traditional pizza options. The menu isn't huge and this seems to mean here that they concentrate on bringing you flavour and good ingredients for the options they do offer. Other places may try to innovate and vary toppings greatly, sometimes successful. The variants here are more dependable, but since they are done well certainly no less delicious. We also enjoyed their home made rasp-berry hibiscus ice tea infusion. I always find it commendable when a restaurant puts real effort into making their own drinks. For my liking they should be served with less ice though, so the drink doesn't over-dilute. The restaurant was fully booked soon after opening that evening, so reservations recommended. We were allowed to risk the weather on one of the few tables outside, and others soon followed...

Marcella's is our go-to spot in Brussels for some seriously good pizza. Their tomato sauce always tastes super fresh, and the toppings are top-notch. It's definitely up there among the best pizzas in town.

To kick things off, they bring you some warm bread with really tasty olive oil – a nice touch. The vibe at Marcella's is cool and trendy, which attracts a younger crowd. And the prices? Pretty reasonable for what you're getting.

The service is friendly and attentive, adding to the overall experience. We've had some great times here.

Overall, we'd give it a solid four out of five stars. If you're into pizza and a trendy atmosphere, Marcella's is worth...