Macelleria Salumeria Rizzo

The people behind it

Behind the counter of Macelleria Salumeria Rizzo there is a Giovinazzo family. The shop's sign states that it has been working since 1979, and the company that runs it bears the name of Michele Rizzo: Rizzo Michele & C. In town he is the face of the butcher's, so much so that customers, even when they write to the shop, simply greet him by name.

Today the shop is registered as active, with six staff, in the retail of meat and meat products. It is a small-town shop: in Giovinazzo it is known for the quality of its meat and for the traditional Apulian dishes it prepares, ready in terracotta trays.

Sources: Oraridiapertura24 — Macelleria Salumeria Rizzo dal 1979 · Virgilio Aziende — Rizzo Michele & C. S.n.c., Giovinazzo · Atoka — Rizzo Michele & C. S.n.c.: dati societari · Pagina pubblica della Macelleria Rizzo e informazioni raccolte da Apulica (2026-10-18)

What they make

Besides fresh meat and cured meats, the shop prepares many ready-made dishes of the Apulian tradition, laid out in terracotta trays. There are bombette, the small meat rolls of the local tradition, made with different fillings, and horse-meat braciola in tomato sauce, a classic of Bari cooking prepared the traditional way. And much more, changing with the seasons and the feast days.

On feast days the butcher's follows the town's calendar: for the Fires of Saint Anthony it prepares the brasciole «to respect Giovinazzo's traditions», as the shop itself writes. On request it also prepares boards of cured meats and cheeses, for an aperitivo or for the holidays, from Easter to Easter Monday.

Sources: Pagina pubblica della Macelleria Rizzo e informazioni raccolte da Apulica (2026-10-18)

Ingredients and territory

The raw material is meat, and those who know the shop point to it as its strength. Bombette, in the version registered among Puglia's traditional food products, are small rolls of thin slices of pork capocollo wrapped around pieces of canestrato pugliese cheese, with salt and pepper; at Rizzo's they also come with other fillings.

Horse-meat braciola belongs instead to the most rooted Bari cooking: in the February 2026 debate on horse slaughter, Il Foglio reported the defence of Apulian grill houses and of Bari ragù, which according to senator Dario Damiani is made only with horse meat. In Giovinazzo braciole also have a place in the calendar: on 17 January, at the Fires of Saint Anthony, they are cooked in terracotta pans together with broad beans.

Sources: Pagina pubblica della Macelleria Rizzo e informazioni raccolte da Apulica (2026-10-18) · Atlante dei PAT di Puglia (Regione Puglia, Università di Bari) — Bombetta · Il Foglio — La disfida della braciola di cavallo (19 febbraio 2026) · Discover Giovinazzo (Comune di Giovinazzo) — Gli eventi

Going there

The butcher's is at Via Molfetta 12, in Giovinazzo. For the ready-made dishes in trays, for the brasciole of the Fires of Saint Anthony and for the boards of cured meats and cheeses it is best to call ahead on +39 080 394 2513 and book: for the holiday boards the shop itself asks for it.

A visit fits well into a day in Giovinazzo, with its old town and harbour, and with the feasts that tie cooking to the town's calendar. On 17 January, for Saint Anthony, the town recalls the great bonfires listed in the regional register of ritual fires, with broad beans and braciole cooked in terracotta pans and offered to guests with olives and wine: it is the day when the shop's brasciole find their place.

Sources: Virgilio Aziende — Rizzo Michele & C. S.n.c., Giovinazzo · Pagina pubblica della Macelleria Rizzo e informazioni raccolte da Apulica (2026-10-18) · Discover Giovinazzo (Comune di Giovinazzo) — Gli eventi

Products and flavours

Bombetta (Martina Franca pork roll)

PAT · Meats and cured meats

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Cisternino bombette

Capocollo and canestrato rolls, the butcher's grill and Cisternino's old town: history, technique and how to experience them.

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Photo: Matthias Holländer at German Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain · Resized and converted to WebP.

Traditional Puglian dishes

Orecchiette, focaccia, panzerotti, tiella and Salento cooking: connecting dishes with places.

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Photo: Elfmir / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized and converted to WebP.

The place

Giovinazzo

The old town, harbour and cooking shaped by farming and fishing traditions. A centre on a rocky promontory, the cathedral and a rice, potato and mussel tiella.

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Photo: salviF / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY 2.0 · Resized and converted to WebP.

The region

Puglia