what's the best pizza in Naples?
 

my family and i are going to take a day trip to Naples on our christmas trip ti Italy. What's a great pizza place or any resturant for that matter. Thanks in advance for the help.

The most famous pizzeria is Da Michele, but the pizza is TERRIBLE -- like a wet rag with a dribble of runny, flavorless sauce.

Far better, is Brandi, where we had a great pizza, and unlike Da Michele (which has two types -- plain and seafood, albeit with very little seafood on the pizza), Brandi has many varieties.

Michael

I wholeheartedly disagree, and think that Da Michele pizza is awesome and the one at Brandi's is mediocre. The pizza that I had at Da Michele was crisp, thin, and tasty -- all for about €6 back in 2005.

Another vote for Da Michele, which was cheap and delicious! It is a no frills experience where you sit with other customers at long tables but lots of fun. A more upscale pizzeria I loved in Napoli was Porta D'Alba near Piazza Dante I think. Da Michele does not have seafood pizza but Marinara and Margherita.

That's funny. I ordered the margherita, and the person next to me told me they ordered the marinara (which I thought meant "marine" or something like that), and I didn't see any seafood on it. I still stand by my opinion though -- we waited for over an hour to eat a sauce-covered dishrag.

In my humble opinion two things that do not belong on a pizza -- seafood and pineapple!

I'm unsure now what place we first went to in Naples but it was "supposed to be the best and most famous". Neither of us liked it. I thought it was tasteless and Lee hated the fact that the entire bottom was black and tasted burned.
Last time we sought out a funny little place that seemed to be jammed with locals in an area of markets and we had wonderful pizza. I can't believe I never wrote down the name for my journal.

ooops. Sorry. I don't regard anchovies as seafood; I love them on pizza. LOL

The best ever is at Sorbilla, on via Tribunali. Not as famous, or as overrated, as Brandi or Michele, authentic, cheap, and absolutely delicious. And the coffee in Naples is thje best ever. It is a very cool city, as well.

I'm a pizza aficionado and was not impressed with the 3 different pizza places I visited last month in Naples -- so keep your expectations in check. (I found the pizza to be "weak" - undercooked, soggy, with uninspiring ingredients in terms of quality.)

If you want great pizza, you can't beat Lombardi's, Grimaldi's, and Nick's here in New York City.

I have to add ... what is "cool" about Naples? My two most prominent memories of Naples are burning piles of garbage in the streets and stray dogs.

Yes, the garbage was not only prevalent, it was often <i>on fire</i>.

Italy has so much to offer ... Naples is at the absolute bottom of my list.

I was less than impressed with pizza in Italy, although one I had in Rome was a surprisingly good one.

I'm with Gekko on Lombardi's in NYC. Now that's good eatin'. ;)

Jules

As a matter of fact, I ate at Da Michele's just last month (although it does seem like 10 years ago). I ordered a pizza with anchovies, and my usual Nastro Azzuro beer. As always, I liked the beer, but was distinctly underwhelmed by the pizza-nothing special at all. It may be famous, but I tell you, the pizza in Rome overall is FAR better than what I had in Naples, and I only ate pizza twice, there. The following 2004 article in the NY Times I perused recently concerning their &quot;pizza law&quot; may give the reasons why so many of us were not impressed with Michele's-even other Neapolitan pizza makers say Brandi's and Michele's use cheaper ingredients, and thus, are not &quot;good pizza.&quot;

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/09/di...rtner=USERLAND

As far as good restaurants in Naples, drummindave, I mentioned on another post the name of an excellent seafood restaurant on Via Foria in Naples, just across from the Botanical Gardens, and down from the archaeological museum:

A FIGLIA DO MARINARO-Via Foria-pizzeria/ristorante-specializing in seafood

Some of the best, frehest seafood I've had anywhere in Italy. It is a very local restaurant, all of the tables are outside, under big white tents on the sidewalks, and there is a crowd of Neapolitani (very few, if any tourists) there every night (also open for lunch). They have excellent house-made desserts as well-a highlight of my trip to Naples (probably the only one).

Sorry, but I've had pizza all over Italy and I still don't think it was any better, and sometimes not as good, as some I've had here in the US.

If you can't get into Da Michele, try Pizzaria Trianon, Via Colletta 46, just around the corner. Some consider this 83 year old pizzaria better. We had lunch there a couple years ago..great place, noisy, filled with locals and the DOC margharita and prosciutto pizza were excellent.

Here's another vote for the pizza at Trianon. We were there last November and both the pizza and atmosphere were a treat. Deborah

I've never had a bad pizza in Naples, nor a good one in Rome. American pizza is ok if you can find a place that doesn't over-do the cheese and the toppings.

But your question concerns the best pizza in Naples, and unfortunately the best one I ever had was at a street corner shop somewhere on one of the routes back from the Archaeological Museum to the train stattion.

Find the place where three roads meet. If you see a plastic tables and chairs outside at the top of the &quot;Y&quot;, crates of beer and softdrinks stacked on the concrete floor within, nothing on the menu but pizza and just a counter to place your order, that's the one.

Or maybe you'll find another one just as good.

Hmm. I finally found that our first pizza in Naples (1997) was at Lombardi's, where a local sent us as the &quot;BEST&quot;. That's the one we didn't think much of -- burnt and tasteless.

For my money, the best pizzas I've had anywhere have been in Southern France -- Nice and Cannes for example.

In Rome we did that DaBuffeto place that everyone raves about. It was a &quot;fun&quot; experience, but the pizza was nothing memorable to me.

I enjoyed a pretty good pizza in Rome, very near the Colosseo, <b>Triclinium</b>.

www.triclinium.com

Dick-there's no problem &quot;getting into Michele's&quot; it's not some fancy sit-down restaurant! You can go to their pizza window on the side and order it to go if you like-the problem is, it's just not that good, and the NY Times article explains why, in part-cheaper ingredients-they already have the reputation, so they know the tourists will seek them out, so why not make more of a profit by making a mediocre pizza? No one will know the difference!

And I do agree with Dukey, there are many pizza jplaces in this country, particularly in NYC- that make far better pizza than what you'll get in Italy, and even in the home of pizza-Naples. Although I've had excellent pizza in Rome, but that's probably the only place-I rarely order pizza in Italy, anyway.

The best pizza anywhere that we've found is to be had at La Pizza, in Marseille, France. Wow!

Hmm. I'm curious underhill. Is that a branch of the same LaPizza that is in Nice and in Cannes? Those were my two favorite pizza spots.

We were in Naples in September and ate pizza in a wonderful little restaurant - Leon D'Oro in Piazza Dante. We stayed at Belle Arti Resort (great B&amp;B)and they recommended this restaurant. In fact, on our way back from AC we stayed one more night in Naples and ate again at Leon D'Oro - great antipasta plates. This was a Saturday night and it was packed with local families - some were obviously disappointed that they had to wait. It was very inexpensive and the food excellent.

if you nknow someone or have relatives in these areas ask them where they get their pizza from. i have eaten some of the best pizza ever in smaller trattorias around rome. thin crust, libral but not overabundant toppings andall with incredible taste

Of course, you've all got to realize that there is no common opinion of what good pizza is, so this entire thread is kind of pointless. I mean some people LOVE deep dish Chicago and others cringe at the thought. No one can agree in New York whose is best. So what some local in Rome likes and what some American with specific tastes likes can be two different things.

Neo, while I agree with you in concept, few New Yorkers would exclude Lombardi's from any &quot;best pizza&quot; list, and most would include Grimaldi's as well.

Both make just about every Citysearch/TONY/DigitalCity/etc &quot;best&quot; list. Yes, part of the equation is fame, but they <i>are</i> incredible and deserve the recognition.

If you want something that New Yorkers can't agree on, look no further than &quot;best hamburger.&quot;

I have found that that New Yorkers are passionate in their differences over what makes a pizza &quot;the best&quot;. And equally opinionated about which of the many pizza places makes the best.

While some think Grimaldi's is the hight of the pizza-making craft, others will opine that it has been going downhill for years. Some will give the crown to DiFara's, others to Frannie's, others to Tonnino's. And I'm just getting started!

But back to Italy, I have to say that both my wife and I love the pizza in Naples. Having stayed there twice now, we've decided that our favorite was the pizza at Trianon. We found the pizza at Brandi to be depressing. And we love the city of Naples, too, but I think where one stays there could really color the experience.

I have to agree with the poster who wrote that there is no common opinion on what makes a good pizza. I think that someone who likes a lot of toppings on their pizza is going to be disappointed by the Italian ideal... it is a more spare vision of what a pizza should be.

And as much as I love the Neopolitan pizza, I wouldn't want to have to give up the option of an occasional deep-dish Chicago pizza!

The reason I mentioned New Yorkers and pizza was because just in the past week or so some New Yorker here specifically mentioned that they &quot;hate&quot; the pizza at Grimaldi's.

Drummindave, to answer the non-pizzza part of your question, a longtime favorite restaurant of mine is Mimi alla Ferrovia, which lives up to it's name by being so close to the train station that we have twice gone there for lunch and then rolled our luggage across Piazza Garibaldi to the station in about 5 minutes. The waiters didn't mind the bags, as we and our bags sat outside on the small terrace.

A local institution, and delicious. Great seafood, pasta, wonderful desserts.

And do try the coffee while in Naples. It is world-famous.

Gekko, I just loved Naples, much more than I expected to. Yes, it is totally chaotic, verging on the ararchic, but the rewards!

Fabulous coffee in great caffes, wonderful food, the best pastries.

Amazingly nice people.

Astounding cityscape, from Spaccanapoli to St Elmo.

San Carlo is the best opera house I have ever been to.

Two world-class museums: the Archaeological museum, of course, but the Capodimonte is a treasure-house of fabulous paintings, exquisitly lit and hung.

I certainly have never seen a city like it, and I loved every minute of my three days there. One must keep ones wits, and sense of humor, about one. When I got back to Rome, I was amazed at how calm the traffic seemed, compared to Naples!

thit_cho : have you even been to Da Michele ? You obviously don't know anything about real Neapolitan pizza, anyway, since you obviously think Marinara means seafood. I suggest you do some research yourself before advising others.

We liked Da Michele very much and it's as authentic as they come - that's why they only do Marinara &amp; Margherita (although you can have extra mozzarella on the latter).

We though Brandi was OK but nothing special.

We had a very good 'Pizza DOC' at the Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba but the atmosphere &amp; service were very poor when we were there. However I've read of other trustworthy posters here regularly having a good experience there, so maybe we were just unlucky with the time we went &amp; the waiter we got.

Our favourite, which we liked so much we ate pizza there 3 times in one week, was Lombardi a Santa Chiara.

What we found in general was that if a place is good enough that its Marinara &amp; Margherita are fantastic, you don't really want anything else added.

P.S. We also love Naples as a whole &amp; can't wait to go back. Haven't noticed any piles of rubbish, burning or otherwise.

P.S. There have been very few other tourists at Da Michele when we've been, so it's certainly not catering for the tourist hordes. I got the impression Brandi is, though.

If the La Pizza in Nice is owned by the same people as the one in Cannes I wish we'd known! We were looking for a good place and ended up at Alexander's, which wasn't anything special. The thing we liked so much about the pizza at La Pizza was the amount of cheese, including, I think, provolone, on top of the terrific tomato sauce.

Mmmm. Underhill, now I'm confused. LaPizza in Nice and in Cannes ARE owned by the same people. But you said Marseilles. . .

Caroline_Edinburgh. F*CK Y*U! I have never been accused of being a liar, until now. And Da Michele sucks -- worst pizza I have ever eaten, and perhaps the most touristy restaurant I have ever been to, living on hype and tourists (including myself) willing to wait an hour to suck a wet dishrag. Unlike your experience, we waited nearly an hour (mabye slightly more), and everyone in the crowd had some sort of guidebook in their hands -- don't kid yourself, its not locals filling the seats at Da Michele.

That being said, Naples is a great city, with an undeserved reputation.

Wow that's some pretty strong scentiments, thit_cho!! We just returned from Naples having gone specifically to taste the pizza. My favorite was Di Matteo on via Tribunali. We live in Chicago and trying to compare pizza here in the U.S. to pizza in Italy is senseless. There is no comparison. Even so-called &quot;Chicago deep-dish pizza&quot; is purely a recent invention. Now if you REALLY want good pizza, go to Sicily. The best I had was in Corleone.

Before this flamewar gets out of hand, let me try to settle it first:

1. Pizza marinara is tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, and a drizzle of olive oil. Nothing more. There is no seafood (pizza Napolitana is pizza marinara with anchovies, IIRC) on it.

2. &quot;True&quot; Neapolitan pizza is either pizza marinara or pizza margherita. If there are toppings other than cheese and basil (margherita), or garlic (marinara), it's not &quot;true&quot; Neapolitan as defined by the DOC.


That said....

I can vouch for what caroline_edinburgh said about the locals vs. tourists at Da Michele. At noon-ish, I and the rest of my party were the only people in there speaking English. Everyone else that I could hear seemed to be speaking Italian. Perhaps certain tour groups do stop by there, so at the one particular instant there may have been a lot of tourists.

Oh goodness. You will be in Naples at Christmastime. Naples has a wonderful Christmas market near the Capella Sansevero on Via San Gregorio Armeno.

Also, try some of the nougat candy--torrone. Naples makes some of the best of this candy at Christmastime. There are incredible varieties there including soft chocolate covered ones. My favorite is torrone with &quot;Pan di Spagna&quot;, which is a strip of a rum soaked cookie sandwiched between two strips of hard torrone and covered in chocolate. The alcohol soften the candy and it melts in your mouth.

As for the pizza, the DOC restaurants will only serve pizza margherita or marinara. It has been some time since I've had pizza in Italy. I know that non-DOC pizzerie will serve pizze with sausage in the wintertime. There is no such thing as pepperoni. If you do order a pizza with pepperoni, you will get a pizza with peppers.

In the past, I usually do not have time to go to a particular pizzeria, but have not been disappointed in the Naples area. I would never eat pizza outside of Naples or Sicily, however.

Well, that's jet lag for you! The restaurant where we had that fabulous pizza was in CANNES.

Yes-the word &quot;pepperoni&quot;- good point. Folks, this word does NOT mean the little rounds of red sausage on pizza-that's an American made up word. This IS a word in Italian, but it translates directly to mean the &quot;red pepper flakes&quot; that I always request for my pizza.

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