Lunch in Napoli
 

Hi,
Next 23 of June we want to make a stop in Napoli to have lunch in our way to Positano. We have never been in Napoli.. could someone recommend a good, local restaurant located in an authentic location of the city? The goal is to get the most of the city in this lunch…
Thank you. We are a young couple traveling for our anniversary.

How are you traveling to Positano?

I dream of the chance to go back to http://www.damichele.net/ and have the double buffalo moz pizza. There is so much luscious buffalo mozzarella on it, that the center starts to melt into a sumptious flow. It tastes like butter. There is often a wait (you get a number and wait outside) but you share tables and they move you through quick, and neapolitan pizza just needs a minute in the oven. It is a nice location between the train station and the nicest lanes of the old town for strolling.

While Da Michele is located in an "authentic" (whatever that is) part of the city, it does not necessarily mean you are comfortable with it depending on where you are from. I think it is a typical working class Italian inner city where you see adult men in groups talking to each other checking you out as you walk buy. This is a kind of environment I would not walk by in the U.S., but it feels normal in Italy. I have been with an American who has never been to this type of neighborhood. She freaked out thinking we were walking into some inner city U.S. where the only people around were into making some kind of deals. About half of the walk from the Napoli Centrale to Da Michele is through Piazza Garibaldi. When you cross the whole length of the Piazza, you will feel have a confidence you can cross any street in Italy.

Don't miss gelato at nearby Polo Nord gelateria. Don't mix it up with the similar sounding "Polo Sud" across the street.

Fortunately in Napoli, young men socialize and have friends and don't have access to automatic weapons, so they don't regularly shoot lots and lots of people. So it hard to imagine why any American would be frightened going there rather than an American mall. But unfortunately, last time I checked, Da Michele (like most pizzerie in Napoli) doesn't start serving pizza until the late afternoon. It is not a lunch dish by tradition. However, it is now such a tourist hangout, maybe it serves all day like McDonalds.

The restaurant Mimi Alla Ferrovia is a stone's throw from the train station and serves outstanding Neapolitan antipasta, pasta and seafood and desserts (Napoli is one of the very few places in Italy with an extraordinary dessert tradition). If you are headed to Positano, you cannot get food there that is as good as this. You can put your luggage in the train station, have lunch, and go for a walk. If you are only in Napoli for a few hours, it is still worthwhile to see the Veiled Christ, and it is located in the heart of the part of the city that dates back to Greek times.

On your way back to the train station, stop by Caffe Mexico (opposite the train station in the Piazza Garibaldi) for an outstanding espresso. Neapolitans also have one of Europe's best coffee traditions.

It is very hard to think of a neighborhood in Naples that isn't authentic. Maybe the immediate area around the Naples Underground tour, but that's about it in the entire huge city.

if you have half a day or so, you could do what we did which was to get the metro to via Cavour, and then after a pizza lunch at a nearby restaurant [50/50 tourists and locals] tour the National Archeological museum to see the wonderful collection of statues and the many beautiful artefacts rescued from Pompeii. The church that sandralist refers to is nearby and you could of course go to the restaurant recommended by Sandralist before you set off.

We then walked back to the station via the iconic street in Naples called the Spaccanapoli - this is perfectly safe but will give you a bit of a taste of Naples.

thanks a lot you guys for all the info. someone knows a good romantic restaurant in capri island? and other recomendation for lunch in amalfi?
thank you!

If you aren't staying the night on Capri, you won't be able to have dinner there (unless you arrange some every expensive water transport back to Positano). Ferries don't run late (about 7 pm).

Hi! You are very lucky to celebrate your anniversary in Naples :) You should go to the restaurant "Il comandante".It's a "michelin star"and it's on the top floor of the Romeo hotel and you can see the gulf of Naples.Or you should go to"Zi teresa" if you want to dine on the sea. If you go to the Amalfi coast,you must stop to "Evù" to Vietri! I'm from a small town near neaples so i can help you!:)I'm sorry for my English mistakes :P