1. Five Italians walk into a restaurant …

Balera’s tight-knit group of five owners is entirely from Italy, but they first crossed paths in New York. Each comes from various walks of hospitality. Pelliccioni is perhaps the most well-known, thanks to his involvement in restaurants that include pizza specialist Impasto and the beloved LaRina Pastificio & Vino with chef Silvia Barban, but the rest of the group has worked for years both in the back and front of the house.

“We were all working for other people, apart from Luca [Pelliccioni],” Lucchetti says. “We decided [we wanted] to open a place that would be fun for us.”

Rubini, who is from Rimini, Italy, says that they hope to bring the coastal, fun spirit of a balera (literally “dance hall”, and hence the name) to Williamsburg.

“[Balera] were the places where people would meet and go for dinner, and at some point, the music would start up, they’d move the tables, and people were dancing together and having fun, but still eating and drinking,” Rubini says. “That’s what we want to bring here — a convivial place where you can go to dine, chat, listen to music, and vibe.”

2. The menu features a unique Roman style of pizza, plus pastas and small plates.

The first essential piece of turning the space into their vision was the menu, for which the team has placed a focus on a unique Roman style of pizza known as mattarello. The dough is stretched not by hand but with a rolling pin (the mattarello), which they say gives it a thin, almost croissant-like texture. The choices for toppings range from a classic marinara pie to a “shrimps n’ turf” that’s served with, well, shrimp, ‘nduja melt, mozzarella, and basil. The pies are cooked in a Morello Forni oven, one of the only ones in the entire state, the team says.

“It’s like normal pizza, but it’s way lighter,” Rubini says. “You can share one and [still want to] eat small plates, drink wine, have some pasta.”

Some such small plates include montanarina, a fried dough dish that they say Pelliccioni has been perfecting for years. “The first time that I tried it, it’s usually really chewy and a little bit heavy. Luca made it as a cloud. It’s a really crunchy, super light cloud,” Lucchetti laughs.

The chef, Michael Cusumano, was born in New Jersey, but moved soon after to Italy. “We fell in love with [him]. We don’t know any other American who lived for 20 years exactly where all [us] guys are from,” Lucchetti jokes.

Also on offer is an insalata di mare “Balera,” made with octopus, shrimp, razor clams, and vegetables, a mozzarella in carozza that they liken to mozzarella sticks, and a selection of salumi and cheeses all served with housemade focaccia. All pasta is made in house, with three choices on offer: There’s a tagliolini with clams, mussels, and cuttlefish in a traditional soffrito sauce; pillowy potato gnocchi with slow-cooked veal and pork white ragù; and rotolo di crespella, a savory crêpe filled with stracciatella and mascarpone, served with tomatoes and basil.

Larger dishes include a grilled Spanish mackerel and seared, thinly sliced beef. And for dessert, there’s tiramisù topped with candied walnuts, sponge cake with a Bergamot sugar glaze, and an Emilia-Romagna-style crème caramel topped with citrus.

3. There’s plenty to enjoy for a drink.

Unsurprisingly, the wine list will heavily feature Italian selections, says Lucchetti.

“I was [thinking] ‘How can I make this wine list fun, but at the same time something that people will take seriously?’” he says. “It’s 70% Italian, and then a little bit of what I like to drink.”

This means you’ll see Champagne, chenin blanc, a few burgundy selections, and some Spanish choices sitting alongside Italian bottles to make a list that hovers between 200 and 250 bottles.

“It’s a blend of new generation wine makers, some of whom are good friends of mine, and classic producers,” he says, adding that they’ve been collecting a few particular bottles of vintages that will be kept for those in the know.

For cocktails, there’s a Grandfather Negroni, infused with amaretto and nuts, a 2.0 Paloma made with mezcal, tequila, and raspberry grape vinegar, and a parmigiano-washed gin martini with gorgonzola olives, plus a few beers. The one beer served on draft? Peroni, the famed Italian lager, of course.

4. Italian design from the 1980’s inspired the interior.

The restaurant was designed by Rimini-based architect Giada Spano, with plenty of ‘80s inspiration and Italian accents.

There are terrazzo floors, glass bricks on the walls, and Piedmontese wood furniture crafted by Lucchetti’s brother. The center of the room houses a 13-foot family-style table, and a disco ball hangs from the ceiling.

When you enter the restaurant, there’s a small bar and waiting area in the front that opens into a tunnel-like hallway to get into the main dining room.

“Sometimes when you go out in New York you have to wait for your table, and you go to the other side of the street to have a beer,” Rubini says. “[We thought] why don’t we [make a space for] that here?”

Lucchetti first discovered the restaurant when it was Da Francesco, another Italian restaurant where he came to sell wines.

“I was so impressed by the back room, and I thought that this place was very cool,” he says. When they started looking for a home for Balera and this came on the market, the team acted quickly.

5. It’s meant to be a third place — not just a bar, not quite a club, and not just a restaurant.

The team means for Balera to be a third space for a wide range of people — exactly what they look for when they go out to eat.

“Families are welcome. Groups of friends are welcome. It’s a place where you can come have a pizza, a bottle of wine, and listen to music,” Lucchetti says.

“Someone said restaurants are the clubs for adults,” Rubini says, laughing.

Balera will be open Wednesday through Sunday starting at 5:30 p.m., beginning on March 26.

Ellie Plass is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn. Follow her on Instagram and X. Follow Resy, too.