First Look: Newly Expanded Vero Pizza, Opening This Week in Cleveland Hts.

Owner Marc-Aurele Buholzer working the oven. Credit: Douglas Trattner

As one of the best Neapolitan pizzerias in the country, Vero (12421 Cedar Rd., 216-229-8383) in Cleveland Heights has been operating at full capacity pretty much since its inception. On any given evening, the 45-seat restaurant is typically full, with hour-or-more waits for a table not uncommon.

That’s why, when the adjacent space became available last fall, owner and pizzaiolo Marc-Aurele Buholzer executed his right of first refusal to take it over. Now, nearly six months later, the work is in the past and the doors are soon to open. It’s a stunning and seamless transformation that has added a bar, doubled capacity, and created a bright, open and cohesive space.

In anticipation of future expansion, Buholzer installed a couple years back a 6,000-pound Italian-made wood-burning oven. It cooks pizzas in 60 to 90 seconds compared to the two to three minutes of its predecessor. More importantly, perhaps, the chef has skilled help in the kitchen who can stretch and top dough, upping the speed and efficiency of the operation.

That’s great news, because the new double-storefront layout ups the seating from around 45 to 100 or so. The new room features a 10-seat marble-topped bar, main-floor seating and mezzanine that overlooks it all. In the original space, the small bar was removed and replaced by additional seating. A large pass and a floor-to-ceiling passageway connect the old and new.

As for the food and drink, diners can expect essentially the same lineup to start. Down the line, the beer and wine roster will be enlarged and an Italian-inspired classic cocktail menu will be added.

The owner says that the restaurant could reopen as soon as this weekend.