Pizzeria Atrij is probably the most popular place to eat in Koper among students and young people. It is situated in the old town centre, just next to the Čevljarska ulica (Shoemaking street) and students love to go there, because it is close to all the universities there. Actually, the only closer place to eat is, if you are a student of Faculty of Education, and go to the dormitory, which offers two places to eat – the place with sandwiches and the dormitory dining room.
Pizzeria Atrij has a surprisingly good – looking website, where you can find all the necessary information, including the pricelist, which is very rare among restaurants in Slovenia. So you can choose what will you eat, when you are still at home, and when you get there, you can order right away.
As I have mentioned before, this place is popular among students, so expect a lot of people there. The place is built in the style of typical Istrian Kantina, which adds a point to the ambient. The restaurant is divided into two parts – the terrace with larger tables and benches, and the inside of the restaurant. If you go there by yourself, or with a friend, and there is a lot of people there, but you would like to eat there anyway, you can try your luck outside. Usually, there are only one or two people sitting behind each big table, so you can join them, but be polite and ask for permission first. :)
The tables inside are smaller, usually for four to six persons. The place inside is nice, darker, but you can hear noise from the kitchen. It is not very loud, but it might disturb some people.
You can choose from plenty of dishes, most of them are fish dishes, which are typical for this region. The portions are huge, so make sure that you are starving before you decide to eat in this restaurant. Students can eat there at a discounted price, which is 3, 17€, and the price includes:
- Soup as a starter. You can choose between two kinds every day.
- Main course, which you choose from the menu.
- Either a salad or a dessert. Usually, you can have both, except if a staff member is having a bad day (which only happened once so far). You can choose your own salad from the salad bar, that is situated inside. Dessert is usually either a pudding or a piece of cake.
What I like about the student menu is, that you can combine different dishes. Usually, there are only a few kinds of pizzas on the student menu, but you can basically order any kind of pizza that you want. Or, another example of combining, if you choose a steak with mashed potatoes, and you do not like them, you can ask for pommes frites.
There is always a vegan menu available, and it is different every day, which is another plus for this restaurant. On Saturdays, you also have two kinds of vegan menu, but you can gete ven more dishes by combining things from the menu.
The restaurant is closed on Sundays and holidays. From Monday to Friday, it is open from 9.00 to 21.00, and on Saturdays from 10.00 to 22.00.
If you want to eat there at a discounted student price, you have to go there from Monday to Friday from 10.00 to 20.00, and on Saturdays from 11.00 to 20.00.
Although prices in this restaurant are getting higher and higher everytime I eat there (it is true that I only go there once in every few months), the food is too good to resist. I have only eaten in this restaurant as a student, and two years ago, the meal was two Euros, and now it costs 3,17€. Well, still a good deal, if you ask me, especially if you consider all the good things that this restaurant has to offer. Actually, I cannot think of a single bad thing there, except maybe the crowd (this can easily be solved by going there a bit later) and the prices rising, but it is not a thing that I would complain about.
