Welcome
“Caffè Costa” opened in this historical context; it was the first with a Parisian style. It was a building owned by the municipality and it was located between two squares, Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori, in a street called Costa. It was confiscated with other cafes by the French troops. The building is located under an arch from which a rib of enormous size, most likely belonged to a whale, is hanging. Someone says it is a rib of a dinosaur or a mysterious monster. The name of the street and, of course, the name of the Cafe are inspired by the word rib that in italian is translated as “costola”.
According to the legend, the protagonists of the famous Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, had their first kiss right under this arch, in this suggestive corner of Verona.
La Costa had been a Parisian Cafe until a wealthy family of confectioners, known for its production of pandoro and nougat, took it over in the 30s.
In 1962 La Costa was the first restaurant in Verona to have a pizza oven, so it was the first one to make pizza: this was an innovation for that time. The restaurant remained in the same location until the end of 2004. In fact, in 2005 the municipality took it over in order to make room for the entrance of Torre dei Lamberti and for the modern art gallery “Achille Forti”, located in Palazzo della Ragione that is right next to the restaurant. That same year, La Costa moved to Piazza Bra, right in front of the Arena, at the beginning of the long sidewalk that the locals simply call Listón. Since then, the restaurant has taken the name of “La Costa in Bra”.
In this new location, we carry on our tradition and continue to pursue our aim: make the experience memorable for the tourists and also for the locals that have known us for a very long time.