Forno, Pipa: wood-fired pizza and pasta

At Avenida Baía dos Golfinhos 672, inside Galeria Oasis, there is a wood-fired oven with a dome covered in black mosaic and a steel chimney. Dinner is eaten between wooden tables and a wall painted with spaghetti, pizza slices and wine glasses, and the menu —from bruschetta to sweet pizza— comes out of the kitchen from six in the evening to eleven at night, seven days a week.

Book your table at Forno on WhatsApp for dinner

Forno at a glance

How eating here works

This is a sit-down restaurant with waiters and wooden tables, built for dinner. The place takes bookings and its own WhatsApp link opens a chat with the phrase «gostaria de reservar uma mesa», so the natural route is to write before you go, especially on a weekend or with a group.

The menu is laid out like an Italian one: antipasti, pizze tradizionali, speciali and dolci, paste fatte in casa, lasagna, risotti, gnocchi, carni, insalate and dolci. You can build the evening around a board in the middle, a pizza to share and a pasta each, or a single dish and a dessert. The restaurant also lists small plates and late-night food, so you can come in for a bite without having booked a full dinner.

What to eat

Antipasti

The menu opens with bruschetta on house bread with garlic, tomatoes and grana padano; the carpaccio with caper sauce, in the classic version or gratinéed with truffle oil; the antipasto board with gruyère, grana padano, parma ham, olives and pesto; the camarão potiguar in northeastern butter with garlic, coriander and lime; the focaccia with olive oil, rosemary and sea salt; and the fillet strips with gorgonzola.

Pizzas

There are three families. The traditional ones number seventeen, from mozzarella and margherita to portuguesa, the vegetarian (broccoli, hearts of palm, tomato, onion and arugula), the four-cheese with gorgonzola, provolone and catupiry and the sun-dried beef with queijo coalho and red onion. The specials number five: Forno pizza tomato, parma, italiana, brie with honeycomb and pescatore with squid, shrimp and octopus. The sweet ones number three: chocolate with chestnuts, banana with cinnamon and honey, and Argentine dulce de leche. In the restaurant's photos the pizza arrives cut on a round wooden board, with tomato slices and basil leaves.

House-made pasta

In paste fatte in casa you choose the pasta first —spaghetti, penne or fettuccine— and then one of ten sauces: green with vegetables, bolognese, carbonara, alla matriciana, chicken al limone, fillet with gorgonzola, seafood and three shrimp ones (four cheeses, with pesto or flambéed with cognac). The kids' dish has fillet strips, pasta with butter and mashed potato.

Lasagna, gnocchi and risotto

There are two lasagnas: a bolognese with meat ragù from the wood-fired oven and a green one with cheese, ham and béchamel. The gnocchi come three ways —sorrentina, four cheeses and bolognese— and the first two are gratinéed in the wood-fired oven. The risotti come four ways: seafood with saffron, Sicilian with fish fillet, grana padano with a tall fillet and camarão potiguar with chestnuts. The menu states that all of them contain lactose and no gluten.

Meat, salads and desserts

The meat dishes are the bacon funghi, with fillet and mushroom sauce, and the four-cheese fillet with spaghetti. The salads are the caprese and the shrimp with mango. For dessert there is petit gâteau with cream ice cream, brownie with ice cream and soft cocada with tapioca ice cream.

To drink

The drinks list adds still and sparkling water, canned soft drinks, coffee, pulp juices of passion fruit, acerola, cajá, grape and mango, and natural juices of lime, pineapple, strawberry and orange. Among beers there are Stella, Corona, Heineken and Amstel, and among the drinks caipirinha, mojito, margarita, Aperol Spritz, Moscow Mule, Negroni and three house ones: Forno, Italy and Rossi. The restaurant also lists wine and spirits, and in the dining room a brick niche holds bottles on an iron grid.

The atmosphere

The place describes itself as casual, romantic and relaxed. The dining room says so with few elements: a timber ceiling with spotlights, wooden tables and chairs, and a white wall drawn with pasta shapes, pizza slices, tomatoes, a bottle and wine glasses. It is decoration that tells you what is eaten before you open the menu.

The oven is the visual centre: a black mosaic dome, a steel chimney and a brick mouth with burning logs. The logo repeats the shape, a red brick dome with a flame on a black background and the line «Massas & Pizzas | Since 2022». At night, the front is recognised by the lit sign and the strings of lights over the entrance.

When to go

It opens seven days a week, from 18:00 to 23:00. That is five hours of cooking a night, every night, and there is no lunch: Forno is a dinner house. At six or seven in the evening you arrive for an unhurried table, and between eight and ten is the core. The restaurant lists late-night food, so a pizza at half past ten still fits the plan, and it is wise to place the last order well before eleven.

Since it takes bookings, the practical thing is to write on WhatsApp with the day, the time and the number of people, especially on a Saturday or Sunday. For the last night of the trip, when the hour has got away from you, a kitchen open until eleven settles dinner.

Where it is and how to get there

It is at Avenida Baía dos Golfinhos 672, inside Galeria Oasis, right in central Pipa. The avenue is the village's main street and runs down towards Praia da Pipa, so from the sand you walk to number 672. Galeria Oasis has a thatched roof with its name in lit letters, and the Forno sign can be seen from the avenue.

The restaurant lists an accessible entrance and accessible parking for wheelchair users, and also says that finding a parking space is hard: the sensible thing is to arrive on foot from where you are staying. If you are coming from Natal or from another beach on the coast, look at the transfer options.

With children and in a wheelchair

It is good for children and has high chairs; the menu includes a kids' dish and pasta is chosen by shape. For a family table, the pizza in the middle and the desserts with ice cream are easy to share. On accessibility, the restaurant lists an entrance accessible to wheelchair users, and it is worth mentioning it when you book.

Who is it for?

For the couple who want a dinner with warm light and a wooden table: the place describes itself as romantic and relaxed.

For the group of friends or the large family, with pizzas to share and pastas to choose.

For anyone who gets back late from the beach and wants dinner without leaving the avenue, with the kitchen open until eleven.

For those travelling as a couple or as a family who want to settle the evening in one place: starter, pizza or pasta, dessert and drink are all on the same menu.

Frequently asked questions

Is Forno open every day?

Yes, seven days a week, from 18:00 to 23:00.

Do I need to book?

The restaurant takes bookings, requested on WhatsApp at +55 84 99232-8778 with the day, the time and the number of people.

Do they have house-made pasta?

Yes. In «paste fatte in casa» you choose spaghetti, penne or fettuccine and one of ten sauces.

Are there vegetarian options?

Yes: the menu includes the vegetarian pizza, the margherita, the green pasta with vegetables and the caprese salad.

Are the pizzas wood-fired?

The wood-fired oven is the centre of the dining room and of the brand, and the menu says that the bolognese lasagna and the sorrentina and four-cheese gnocchi are gratinéed in the wood-fired oven.

Can I order takeaway or delivery?

Yes. The restaurant lists dining-room service, takeaway and delivery.

Can I go with children?

Yes. It is good for children, has high chairs and a kids' dish.

How do I pay?

By credit card, debit card or NFC payment with your phone.

Ask which house-made pasta they recommend today