Address: Berkovitsa, Radichkov Square
Tel: 0953/ 889 77, 089/ 915 00 61
Working hours: Mon-Sun 8am-midnight

Snuggled into the Stara Planina just north of the Petrohan pass lies and just past the raspberry stands in Burziya is the city of Berkovitsa. Though hard hit by unemployment and migration, Berkovitsa is nevertheless a picturesque city, at least partially spared from the ravages of communist residential architecture that devastated the urban landscape throughout so much of Bulgaria. The blocks are still there, to be sure, but they seem somehow less ubiquitous and less obtrusive than in most other cities. The town square is particularly nice—a flagstone-paved pedestrian zone with usually-working fountains, old trees that only slightly obscure a spectacular view of the mountains and a historic clock tower that is something of a civic symbol. Berkovitsa is a small enough city that anyone so inclined can get nearly anywhere on foot, and the square is a popular destination, not only for its scenery, but for its proximity to the local shopping district.

At the far end of the square, right next to the clock tower, is a restaurant called the Birhaleto, which VERY roughly translates to "The Beer-market": a combination of the words "bira" (beer) and "hali", meaning a covered market or market hall. It's a stand-alone building, relatively new, with a porch in the front that in nice weather provides excellent seating with a nice view of the fountains and the crowds milling around the square and the mountains in the background. Additional seating is offered in a single large room inside, along with a bar offering a decent selection of drinks. Besides the bar, there is a platform at the far end of the single room with sound equipment, presumably to provide live music on occasion, though I've never seen it used.

Speaking of music, the piped-in stuff they play over the sound system can get a little loud at times, though in their defence I would add that they will usually turn it down if you ask nicely and there aren't a lot of other patrons. As another complaint, the smoke clouds can get a little thick when the place is crowded. A single no-smoking sign that gets bounced around to whichever table the non-smokers are sitting at doesn't mean much in a restaurant with a single (albeit large) room and little ventilation. Still, arriving around six or 6.30pm and leaving before the place starts to fill up later in the evening can generally avoid both these problems.

The setup inside is true to the name—tables line each wall in individual booths underneath a slanting red-tile roof meant to evoke covered market stalls. The "roof" is lined with Christmas tree lights and held up by fairly rough-hewn wooden pillars in a "rustic but not quite rustic enough to give you splinters" style. The low dividing walls between the booths are covered in a brick wallpaper, as are the actual support pillars for the real roof. The tables and benches are wood in a similar style to the pillars which hold up the "market roof" over the "stalls"—no cushions, but this is forgiveable. One one side, the "wall" is actually a long window looking out on the square, while the other side has a fair selection of modern paintings on traditional Bulgarian folk-themes.

The Birhaleto is primarily a pizza restaurant, nevertheless, they do offer a limited selection of salads (ranging from 1.70 leva for a mixed to 3.20 leva for a shepherd's), potato dishes and other appetisers/entrees. I do confess that my experience with the restaurant has almost exclusively been with large groups—the foundation I work with brings many humanitarian aid teams through the region, and we almost always eat at least one meal at Birhaleto. The staff are usually quite accommodating about reservations and pre-ordering, and have on several occasions have been able to begin serving almost as soon as we sat down.

Those ordering in the normal way will also find the service prompt.

On this particular occasion, we had a group of 15 people, and pre-ordered a large number of various types of pizzas: the President, my personal favorite, with ground meat and onions (1.60 leva small/3.00 leva large); the Quatro Stadioni, with ham, mushrooms, peppers, olives and pickles (1.80 leva small/3.40 leva large); the Quatro Formaggio, a typical four-cheese pizza (1.70/3.20), the Margarita (1.40/2.30), the Meksikanska (Mexican) with bacon, corn, pepper and garlic (1.80/3.40); and the Fiorela with ham, olives, pickles, and mushrooms (1.80/3.40). Twelve large pizzas were more than enough for the 15 of us. All were excellent, and arrived promptly and hot from the oven.

Fine dining it's not, but if you're in Berkovitsa and in the mood for pizza, it's some of the best I've had in Bulgaria. It's also some of the cheapest: before the tip, the bill for 15 people—with mineral water and a few soft drinks—came to 51.10 leva.