You’ll encounter them often on the roads, you’ll use their services frequently, and sometimes you’ll discover exciting surprises there.Therefore, it’s worth reading a bit of history and at the end a few tips:
2- Born out of a collaboration of three food industry companies: MOTTA, PAVESI, and ALEMAGNA.
3- The first branch was born in 1947 after the war. While in Italy the roads were filled, mainly with trucks, an entrepreneur from Lombardy and the son of a baker named Mario Pavesi decided to open a café and pastry point on the highway between Milan and Turin, at an exit called CASTELLO DI NOVARA. It was a small kiosk, with a few tables, chairs, and a roof over the open air. In the display window were some cookies from the family factory nearby.
The 1950s were a boom period for the economy in Italy, and the small kiosk transformed into a small restaurant. This became the first place in Italy to provide a refreshment stop for truck and car drivers. Two additional companies, Motta-grill and Autobar Alemagna, also began to establish similar locations and compete with the Autogrill by Fabbri.
In 1959, the first rest area was established on a bridge – A PONTE. The PAVESI company built a bridge on the highway between Parma and Piacenza, featuring a restaurant with transparent windows that allow diners to watch the cars passing below, providing service to travelers in both directions on the highway. This is the first bridge-shaped rest area in Europe.
6- In MOTTA they responded, and two years later, a similar structure was established on the highway between Bologna and Florence at the Cantagallo point on the Sun Highway. The places quickly became hotspots for leisure. People would come to eat lunch there and even on Sundays to enjoy a family meal together and shop at a store that offered great options for local products in an international atmosphere..
7- The global oil crisis in the early 1970s led to an economic crisis in Italy, affecting three companies. The government intervened to save them, and united them into one company, AUTOGRILL S.P.A.
And now, tips:
In convenience stores, there are often good deals on various food packages (parmesan, coffee, deli meats, chocolates) – don’t dismiss them outright and assume they are expensive.
10- Important!! Once you reach the second floor at ‘Autogrill Bridge’, please note that you must exit back from the same side!! If you exit from the other side, you will find yourself on the opposite side of the highway, going back to your original destination.
