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Where should I eat pizza in Italy and what kind?

Where should I eat pizza in Italy and what kind?

Old Apr 10th, 2007, 10:49 PM
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Where should I eat pizza in Italy and what kind?

I would like to eat my way through the world. I am going on a Mediterranean cruise in mid-May which stops in Rome, Naples, and Sicily. Which city has the best pizza? What kind of pizza should I order? How much will a slice cost?
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Old Apr 10th, 2007, 10:55 PM
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Pizza is good everywhere in Italy. Just look at the stores selling it and decide if you like the way it looks. It is inexpensive, about 3 Euros a slice.
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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 01:16 AM
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In Rome, try pizzeria Bafetto - fantastic! Service can be a bit brusque and you may have to queue for a table - and you may even get shoved onto the end of someone else's table - but it's well worth it.
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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 02:08 AM
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No, pizza is assuredly NOT good everywhere in Italy-it can be far worse than what you can get in the US-I've had very ordinary, nothing special pizza in Naples, Rome and Venice, so I wouldn't go with high expectations that the pizza you'll get will be so much better than what you get at home. I hardly ever eat pizza in Italy, since I so love the seafood.

Look at the Fodor's destinations guide above, or some other guidebooks for recommendations to good pizzerias in the cities you are going-I would agree that in Rome Da Baffetto's is very good, and might argue that Rome has better pizza than Naples.

In Naples you might want to go the place where the pizza Marguerita was invented-Antica Pizzeria Brandi-near the Teatro San Carlo. In Sicily, I would ask some locals when you land where a good pizzeria is located.
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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 03:53 AM
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Hi - this was a cafe style restaurant on the way to St Peters. Not far before you cross over the bridge on the left hand side. Fab chicken pizzas that had a creamy sauce - don't think it was at all traditional but it was scrumtuous.
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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 04:02 AM
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Naples is the *home* of pizza. We stayed there for a week last year, made it a quest to find the best pizza and ate it every day. Here are the pizza notes from my trip report...

"Pizza. Since this was a 3 week trip we saved money by largely devoting meals in Naples to the search for the best pizza, mainly restricting ourselves to the 2 classics (Marinara & Margherita). Lombardi a Santa Chiara (on via Benedetto Croce, part of Spaccanapoli) was our favourite : IMO the best Marinara with cherry tomatoes & lots of garlic and the best Margherita with particularly tasty mozzarella. Antica Pizzeria Da Michele was fine & ridiculously cheap at €5 for a pizza & a beer (take a ticket to reserve your place in the queue – we waited c.15-20 minutes). Brandi nice but not outstanding. Pizzeria Antica del Port'Alba poor ambience and service but the pizza DOC was very good.

Further note - you order a pizza, not a slice. Authentic Italian pizzas are much smaller than American or British ones - c.8-10" across and very thin. Avoid the street stalls selling floppy slices of ersatz pizza to tourists.
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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 04:35 AM
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Yes, I never have pizza in Italy.
The only place to eat it is in Naples from a real old fashioned pizzeria with a proper pizza oven.
It's a bit like fish and chips in the UK.
It's only really good from an old fashioned chippy where the food is cooked in a deep-fat fryer while you wait.
There is a small restaurant in Venice that has a notice "No pizza, no lasagne".
Nuff said ;-)
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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 08:27 AM
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Hi K,

Your cruise doesn't stop in Rome. It stops in Civitavecchia.

I prefer Napolitan pizza to that in Rome.

Get one small Marinara and 1 small Margherita. (You can't have just one slice.)

Sicilian pizza has a much thicker crust, more like a bread than a pie.

It is also very good.

Don't be surprised if you see pizza with French fries on top.


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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 08:37 AM
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You would have to get lost like we did to find the place so I'm no help there. The pizza was ham and asparagus tips in a light cheese/cream sauce. We had wandered around Caracalla and the Chapel Quo Vadis, then we got lost. Good Luck
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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 08:50 AM
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Kimikopi, you need to understand that pizza in Italy is very different from standard, American style pizza. If girlspytravel was expecting an American style pizza --- heavy tomato sause, thick cheese, heavy dough -- she would have been very disappointed. Chicago style, deep dish pizza is an Am invention. We have found excellent pizza, IMO, in Italy at many small cafes, etc., BUT it is a different taste and texture.
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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 08:51 AM
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A number of pizzerias (da Baffeto is one) are open only for dinner, so keep that in mind. We had pizza for lunch one day in Rome, at Baffeto's sibling pizzeria, Montecarlo. Everyone was eating outside, there was only one other table with tourists (German), and we were the only people eating pizza - everyone else had pasta and/or meat dishes!

There are also more casual places, possibly even with no tables, where you can buy pizza by the slice. The sign might say "Pizza al Taglio." Or just look for Italians walking around eating slices of pizza, and note where they're getting it from. I don't remember how much they tend to cost per slice - probably not much! It's a good way to try different kinds.

There are many more kinds of pizza than in the U.S., particularly in the area of vegetables. You could get a pizza with eggplant, or zucchini, or zucchini blossoms, or fresh porcini mushrooms. I love all of those types! It might just be a faulty memory, since I don't eat meat on pizzas even in the U.S., but I don't remember seeing a lot pizza with meat (sausage or pepperoni), though you can definitely get it.
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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 10:20 AM
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We've tried pizza in lots of different cities in Italy. I don't remember one area being consistently better than another.

I do remember having pizza in Gubbio that was literally awash in mushrooms and the water that cooked out of them - yuck. At the same meal my Dad had a delicious margherita pizza and my Mom ordered some type of sausage/meat pizza and basically got a baloney pizza - not so great.

The real constants seem to be the uber thin crusts, fresh sauce and just enough cheese (not like the USA where a slice can be a coronary clogging affair).

So, try it everywhere and let us know what you discover.
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Old Apr 11th, 2007, 10:41 AM
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fmpden-since I've been eating pizza off and on in Italy for over 25 years, I certainly wasn't "expecting" American pizza-I'm speaking from having eaten it all over Italy, from Sicily to Trieste-and much preferring seafood or pasta dishes, because so much pizza in Italy is NOT good, or at best, mediocre.

And Italians will tell you the same.
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Old Jul 15th, 2008, 08:48 AM
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Rome is known for its paper thin crusty pizza while Neopolitan pizza is a little thicker.

I love both and could eat pizza everyday!

Pizza Margherita, named after the then queen and colored like the Italian flag -- tomato = Red, basil = green, mozzarealla = white -- was invented at Brandi Pizzeria in Naples, Italy. This Pizza is spectacular and reasonably priced (5 Euros).

See nice video of Brandi Pizzeria here:

http://www.webvisionitaly.com/catego...5&ref_item=117
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Old Jul 15th, 2008, 08:51 AM
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BOO HISS to webvisionitaly for pushing his website (and for bringing up an old thread to do it)!!
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Old Jul 15th, 2008, 08:55 AM
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We had pizza with an over easy egg on top...delicious. That was in Venice though...don't know if they serve it that way (con ova?) in the South.
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Old Jul 15th, 2008, 08:58 AM
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When in Rome...

La Sagrestia
Via del Seminario, 89
06 67 97 584
This is a wonderful cozy little place. Excellent service. Many local residents present. Lovely stained glass doors at one end that I can only imagine they must open during warmer months. Mussels soup my DH adored. The risotto was very good. The pizza margherita was absolutely the best we have ever had anywhere. To die for. Very good house wine. Located by the Pantheon. If you are facing the Pantheon, it is the little street to the left, exactly parallel with the line of the front of it. Not to miss, not to miss.
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Old Jul 17th, 2008, 02:58 AM
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Naples
Antica Pizzeria "da Michele"
Napoli - Via Cesare Sersale, 1/3
(angolo Via P. Colletta)
Tel. 0815539204

A very Neapolitan Place! In any sense

The best traditional pizza in Italy, 2 types: Marherita & Napoletana.

Pizza and drink for only 5€

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Old Feb 1st, 2009, 02:39 PM
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In many places in Italy pizza is not sold by the slice but by the whole pizza, small and the right size for one person.
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Old Feb 1st, 2009, 03:11 PM
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Ira, where in Sicily did you have thick crust pizza or pizza with french fries on top?

In the US, "Sicilian" pizza has a thick crust. However, my daughter who lived in Sicily and traveled throughout the island for 5 months never once encountered what Americans consider "Sicilian" pizza. In Sicily, you will find pizza is the same as that in Rome with a thin crust, often cooked in wood burning ovens. As for kind of pizza to order, there are so many varieties, it really comes down to what you like or want to try. Don't bother buying slices, you often can get a whole margherita pizza for 4 euros in Sicily. Enjoy your cruise!
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