Panificio Santa Rita is a small family bakery in Bari Vecchia, the old town of Bari, known for one thing: focaccia barese, the round, oily flatbread topped with cherry tomatoes and olives that Bari eats at any hour. There is no seating and usually a queue. What makes its focaccia stand out is the base, thin and crisp, almost fried in olive oil in a heavy pan.
Panificio Santa Rita at a glance
- Where: Strada Bianchi Dottula, in the lanes of Bari Vecchia, a few minutes' walk from the Basilica di San Nicola and the cathedral.
- Opened: the sign promises service since 1921; the Bolumetto family has run the bakery since 1972.
- By: today the brothers Francesco and Giuseppe Bolumetto are the bakers behind the counter.
- What it is today: a takeaway bakery, one of the busiest focaccia counters in the city, with no tables; you eat standing in the street.
- Time needed: 10–20 minutes, depending on the queue.
A family oven and a city's favourite bread
Focaccia barese is the everyday snack of Bari: a round bread baked in an oiled pan, usually 2 to 2.5 centimetres thick, soft on top and crunchy on the bottom and edges. The dough mixes soft wheat flour with durum wheat semola, and some bakers add boiled potato. On top go halved cherry tomatoes with their juice, local olives, oregano, salt and plenty of extra virgin olive oil. Recipes vary from oven to oven, and in 2010 a group of local bakers formed a consortium to set standards and seek protected (IGP) status for it.
Santa Rita's version leaves out the potato. According to the bakers, the dough is about 70 percent flour and 30 percent semola and rises for around ten hours before it goes into the pan. The tomatoes are the key: they should sit on top rather than sink into the dough, so their seeds turn crunchy in the oven. A mix of old-fashioned baking and a modern touch, including an active social-media presence, has made the little shop one of the most talked-about bakeries in Bari, and the queue outside is part of the experience.
What to look for
- The sign above the door, which announces service since 1921, and the small counter where the pans are cut into slices in front of you.
- The round pans (teglie) coming out of the oven: watch how the oil bubbles at the edges, which is what gives the base its crunch.
- The tomatoes on top: whole halves resting on the surface, slightly blistered, rather than a sauce.
- The olives: local olives baked whole, with their stones still in. Bite carefully.
- The brown paper wrapping: focaccia is handed over in paper, ready to eat on the spot.
How to order like a local
Ask for 'un pezzo' for a single slice, 'mezza ruota' for half a round or 'una ruota' for a whole one to share. Do not ask the bakers to remove the olive stones or to reheat a slice: focaccia barese is meant to be eaten as it comes, warm from the oven or at room temperature. Have your order ready when you reach the counter, and step aside to eat so the queue can keep moving.
Tips for your visit
- Avoid the peaks: queues are longest in the middle of the morning and around 5 pm, when fresh batches come out. Coming just as a batch is ready gives you the hottest slice.
- Eat it straight away, standing in the lane; take a few paper napkins, because the oil runs.
- Combine it with a walk through Bari Vecchia: the basilica, the cathedral and the castle are all within a few minutes on foot.
Nearby
- Basilica di San Nicola: the Romanesque basilica built to house the relics of St Nicholas, brought to Bari from Myra by sailors in 1087, a pilgrimage site for Catholics and Orthodox Christians.
- Cattedrale di San Sabino: Bari's Romanesque cathedral, with a rose window on the façade and an underground crypt.
- Strada Arco Basso: the lane near the castle where women make orecchiette by hand at tables in their doorways.
- Castello Normanno-Svevo: the Norman-Swabian castle on the edge of the old town, rebuilt under Emperor Frederick II.
See Bari with World City Trail
Our Bari scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 35 minutes of walking. It includes Bari Vecchia and the Basilica di San Nicola.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Bari.
Play the Bari scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Bari →
Play the outdoor escape game in Bari →
Facts checked in October 2026.