Join the Medellín Living March Meetup: Pizza at Parque Sabaneta

We have planned our Medellín Living March Meetup event on March 23 at 7pm at Pizza en Leña located at Parque Sabaneta in Sabaneta.

Maybe you just arrived in Medellín or perhaps you’ve been living here for years.  Come and meet other expats living in the city or visiting Medellín. Regardless of your time in the city, I want to invite you to the third official Medellín Living Meetup for 2017.

Our second meetup last month was a big success with well over 60 people packing the Mexican restaurant Tapito Tacos in Envigado.

Our March Meetup will be at the popular Pizza en Leña pizzeria located right next to Parque Sabaneta in Sabaneta. Pizza en Leña is a pizzeria owned by a Dutch guy that specializes in thin-crust pizza.  The pizza is cooked in a brick oven.  And it’s arguably the best thin-crust pizza to be found in Medellín.

For those that want to stick around later we plan to have drinks afterwards at Fonda Sitio Viejo, a bar right next to Parque Sabaneta.

Even if you’re on a tight budget, come for the conversation. And if you can’t make it this time, no worries. We intend to organize a Medellín Living meetup each month.

This isn’t a sponsored event.  So attendees will be expected to pay their own way for food and drinks.  The above photo is courtesy of Pizza en Leña.

Date: 7:00pm, Thursday, March 23, 2017

About Pizza en Leña

Pizza en Leña is a chain of two pizzerias in Sabaneta owned by a Dutch guy.

He bought his original pizzeria in Sabaneta from another Dutch guy over five years ago.  Because the first pizzeria is relatively small and frequently was full the owner decided to expand last year to a second larger pizzeria at Parque Sabenta.

Both locations specialize in thin-crust pizza cooked in a brick-oven. This is arguably one of the best thin-crust pizzas found in all of Medellín. Several expats have told me it’s their favorite.

The menu at Pizza en Leña primarily has pizzas of several types. Classic pizzas like the pepperoni with mushrooms, Hawaiian or Neapolitan cost 19,000 pesos for a medium and 26,500 pesos for a large pizza.

Also the menu has special pizzas including the Mexican, vegetable pizza and chicken with mushrooms pizzas.  These cost 20,500 pesos for a medium and 28,000 pesos for a large pizza.

In addition, other specials include three cheeses, Española and Boloñesa pizzas for 22,000 pesos for a median and 29,500 pesos for a large pizza.

In addition the menu has some deluxe pizzas including the Amantes de la Carne (meat lovers) and Bacon/ham/mushroom pizzas that cost 23,500 pesos for a medium and 31,000 pesos for a large. My favorite is the Amantes de la Carne pizza.

The menu also includes pita burgers ranging in price from 6,500 to 10,500 pesos. The pizzeria also has several drinks including sodas, bottled water, beers and white and red wine.

About Parque Sabenata

We chose the location for the March Medellín Living Meetup to enable experiencing Parque Sabaneta. If you haven’t yet experienced Parque Sabaneta, join us!

Parque Sabaneta is arguably the nicest park in the Medellín metro area with a local flavor. It’s a nice one square block-sized plaza filled with trees and surrounded by shops, stalls, bars, restaurants and a church.

On one side of the park is Iglesia de Santa Ana. This is a very popular church. Every Tuesday, thousands of devotees make the journey from all over Medellín to pray at one of the fifteen masses that take place over the course of the day.  This transforms the park and its surrounding restaurants into a spiritual hive of activity.

Much of the daily life in Sabaneta is centered around the park. Furthermore Parque Sabaneta comes alive on the weekends with many locals and visitors from other parts of the city.

On the south side of Parque Sabaneta is Fonda Sitio Viejo.  This is a popular bar at the park. For those that want to stick around later after our meetup at Pizza en Leña we plan to have drinks afterwards at Fonda Sitio Viejo.

Our Medellín Living Meetups

Readers in our Medellín Living survey late last year asked us to re-start the Medellín Living Meetup events and we responded.

Over 25 Medellín Living Meetup events were held in the past from early 2013 to early 2015. They tended to have 15 to 30 attendees each.

There are now more expats living in Medellín and many more expats visiting the city.  As a result we expect our meetups in 2017 to be much bigger events than in the past.

Our first meetup in 2017 in El Poblado had nearly 60 attendees. And our second in Envigado had well over 60.

We plan to rotate our meetups each month between El Pobaldo, Envigado, Sabaneta and Laureles-Estadio.  These are the four most popular neighborhoods for expats living in Medellín. We are doing this so expats can experience different parts of the city.

Our April meetup will be in Laureles-Estadio on April 20. Details will be posted on this site in early April.

Note there isn’t any extra fee required to attend Medellín Living meetups. Admission is free. And there isn’t any membership required. You just have to pay your own way for food and drinks.

Please Join Us For the Medellín Living March Meetup

Our March Meetup at Pizza en Leña is a very good way to meet other expats living in the city as well as newcomers visiting or considering moving to the city. Also you’ll get to meet some of the Medellín Living writers, including Jeff and Alan.  Invite your friends!

If you plan to attend please RSVP so we know how many tables at Pizza en Leña to reserve! You can RSVP on Facebook here, or below in the comments if you are not on Facebook.

We will likely need to reserve the entire pizzeria based on the big turnout for our Medellín Living Meetup last month. Pizza en Leña in Sabaneta is a bigger venue so it can handle an even bigger turnout.

How to Get There

Pizza en Leña’s second pizzeria, the location for our March Meetup, is located right next to popular Parque Sabeneta. The pizzeria is found to the right of the Santa Ana church along a pedestrian passageway that has several restaurants.

One way to get to Parque Sabaneta is to take the Medellín metro south to the Sabaneta station. The park is located about a 10-minute walk east from the metro station. It is relatively safe to walk from the metro station to Parque Sabaneta.  There are many people on the streets during the day and early evening. So just ask anyone “dónde está Parque Sabaneta” to get directions.

There are also Metro buses that run from the metro station to near Parque Sabaneta for only 1,900 pesos. The buses don’t go directly to Parque Sabaneta. But they will drop you about a block away.  However, you need to know when to get off, so ask the driver.

Also taxis are available from the Sabaneta metro station to Parque Sabaneta for the minimum fare of 5,000 pesos.  Or you can ask a taxi or Uber driver anywhere in Medellín to take you to “Parque Sabaneta.”  Seems like every driver in the city knows where it is.