2idocs

Wondering if there is a good spot for pizza inside or near the Naples Central station?
Will have a few bags with us, so we don't want to have to lug them far.

Jean

There is luggage storage in the Centrale station.

A few years ago, we had great pizza at the legendary Da Michele which I think is not too far from the Centrale station. I wouldn't walk there with luggage.

http://damichele.net/?lang=en

greg

Da Michele is a classic recommendation. Use the manned luggage storage at the station, I think 5EU/bag, and they want to copy your passport.

Da Michele is at a walking distance form the station, but it is neither inside, nor near depending on how you define it. You have to get to the other side of the Piazza Garibaldi by walking the length of the piazza, walk more than the length of the Piazza Garibaldi further for a total of about 1km. If you have never walked the city streets of Southern Italy, the walk itself would be the exciting part. Don't miss Gelateria Polo Nord just a block from Da Michele.

zeppole

I really HATE Da Michele's pizza. So do other people. That isn't to say that Jean and Greg are wrong to recommend it to you because other people like it -- although ask them when last they were in Naples.

There are a zillion blogs about pizza on the web plus the Chowhound message board for Italy with regular threads about great pizza in Napoli. Plenty are easy to get to from the train station.
Pizza is so cheap you can afford a taxi to the best -- if you can figure out which sounds like the best to you.

But I really do hate the consistency of Da Michele's pizzas and I had to tell you that. If you like "wet" soft pizza, and many people regard it to be the classic, definitely go. If you like a chewy or crisp crust, keep searching for recommendations.

dfourh

Best pizza I ever had: the double buffalo mozzarella at Da Michelle. The center does totally melt. The buffalo mozz tastes LIKE BUTTER. My favorite pizzas are the rare ones in Italy with superb ingredients, and where the center disintegrates, and you scoop it up with your fork. This is where 'crust' is no longer crusty - - it is simply the most delicious thing you have ever tasted. If people insist on discs that remain discs through the entire meal, eat a Frisbee.

zeppole

Or go to Rome, dfourh.

I don't dispute your description of Da Michele pizza, and I don't dispute that it is the best pizza you ever ate.

But I can't stand the glop.

It's not unusual for Neapolitan pizza to be gloppy -- to "disintegrate" in the center -- and so anybody going to Naples who suspects they might not like glop or "rare" (meaning not-baked) pizza should go with a back-up plan.

Here is useful introduction to Neapolitan pizza for visitors. Mind the glop.

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archive...-pizzeria.html

zeppole

>>This is where 'crust' is no longer crusty - - it is simply the most delicious thing you have ever tasted. <<

No, it is simply the most delicious thing *you* ever tasted. I live in Italy and go to Napoli every year. One Da Michele pizza was enough for me, and there is more delicious food all over Napoli and Italy (unless you are dfourh -- and even he or she might come back some day).

Jean

I think we get it. You didn't/don't like Da Michele.

So, be positive and tell us what pizza in Naples you do like.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

It would be nice to think that your purpose in stopping in Naples is to try the real thing?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8499611.stm

If so, Trianon da Ciro offers a wider choice than 'Da Michele' - who stick to just the two true types (*) - but even there you're unlikely to get the pineapple that one ghastly woman (not anyone here on Fodors!) insisted was essential if her pizza wasn't to be "boring"...

For details, see the AVPN site and follow the links:

http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/showr...php?r=Campania

Reviews...
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaur..._Campania.html

... and a walking map:
http://www.pbase.com/image/142617356

Otherwise 'Da Michele' is very near - more or less within sight of it!

If feeling more adventurous, pick up on the route we followed this day - starting from the station square, with the picture labelled "The Annunziata"...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/napoli_centro

Peter

PS: For more re the station's LLO, who do indeed charge 5 Euro per bag, see....

http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/i...003f16f90aRCRD

PPS: And the rules that define the two varieties of true "pizza napoletana" as granted Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) protection by the EU - the "Margherita" and "Marinara" - can be found here:

http://www.pizzanapoletana.org/image...02008%20UK.pdf

Waldo

Michele and Trianon get all the publicity, and they both make great pizza. However, in my humble opinion, based on my many trips to Naples, the absolute BEST pizza in this wide world, is made at TUTINOs. It is a local place, not far from Michele and Trianon. Many locals think it's the best. Tutino is located close to Piazza Nolana, which in the old days, was the area in which a wall originated around that section of Naples. The wall still exists in some places, and a section of the wall is close to Tutino's. That is why the locals call Tutino's "n' copp' e mura", which means "On the Walls." Additionally, the atmosphere in this place is fantastic. If one is a fan of Toto, this is the place for him.

julia1

Just returned from several days in Napoli book-ending two weeks in Sicila. The best Naples pizza this trip we found at the trattoria run by Paolo and Cosimo on a side street just off the (now nearly non-existent) Piazza Municipio, near Castel Nuovo. This was truly pizza to die for, with fresh mozzarella di bufala melted into perfect pools of pleasure. Recommended highly by the locals, and they got it right! Every bit as good as Da Michele's in flavor, better in consistency. The center was 'goopy' in the toppings but the crust underneath was still firm. To die for!

Tied, almost, for first place was Sorbillo, on via Tribunali near Sansevero. Again, the flavors were excellent, crust perfectly baked, ingredients toothsome and satisfying.

Oh, to be in Napoli again...eating pizza...sigh...

PS I spent an interesting afternoon in Palermo with the owner of a restaurant specializing in Sicilian pizza, which differs from Neapolitan pizza in several key ways. First, Sicilian pizza uses half flour from hard wheat (bread flour) and half flour from soft wheat (cake flour). Neapolitan uses hard wheat flour exclusively. Sicilian pizza is baked at a temp of 300 Celsius (about 575 F) for 2 minutes. Neapolitan is baked at about 450 Celsius (about 850 F) for 1 minute. These temps and times are of course somewhat approximate because of the nature of a wood-fired oven.

I loved Sicilian pizza too! But Paolo e Cosimo's is still the best of any I've had, ever!

Marija

Check the opening hours before you head out to any of them.