20 Best Restaurants in Centro Storico, Naples

Established in 1905, this Neapolitan institution on Spaccanapoli is a buzzy place to sample some of the finest pastries in town—plus it also makes classic savory dishes, ice cream, and mighty decent coffee.

The dishes vary depending on what's fresh and available, and all the ingredients (and the wines) are organic at this vegan's and vegetarian's paradise in a leafy courtyard off Piazza Bellini. The grilled seitan or the fried pumpkin in late summer are good bets, but if you want to try a bit of everything that's currently on offer, the piatto unico (mixed plate) has up to seven concoctions.

Stop in for one of the best coffees in town opposite the Roman marble statue of Egyptian river god Nile and marvel at the Pop Art masterpiece homemade shrine to football giant Diego Maradona. Appropriately bearing the colors of Argentina's flag, Napoli's adopted hero is flanked by San Gennaro and Nuestra Senora de Lujan, a clipping from La Gazzetta dello Sport (Sports Gazette), and an ampoule containing tears from the fateful year (1991) when the champion left Naples and his team's winning streak promptly ended.

Set on a corner of the chicly bohemian Piazza Bellini for more than 70 years, this staple Neapolitan restaurant is worth visiting just to observe the waiters, all of whom seem to have just stepped off the stage of a Neapolitan comedy. Although the neighborhood is a bit scruffy, this place proudly retains an old-world feel, with options that include a fine (if rather small) pizza and classic seafood dishes such as linguine al cartoccio (baked in paper) or con mezzo astice (a type of small lobster). Go up the narrow stairs to the spacious dining rooms, or squeeze in at one of the outside tables in summer.

On a rather dark side street in the scruffier section of the Centro Storico, this place is well worth seeking out for its old-style Neapolitan hospitality and the quality of its food and wine. It's run as a family affair, and everyone who comes here seems to know each other. The pasta with chickpeas is a must, and the baccalà fritto (fried salt cod) is a specialty. Backed up with a selection of wines from all over Italy, this place is a great value.

This place takes its coffee extremely seriously, offering a range of artisanal brews, as well as teas, sandwiches, pastries, and desserts—notably affogato (vanilla ice cream "drowned" in espresso coffee). You can enjoy your selection at a table in the adjacent piazzetta, a refreshingly quiet nook off Via Tribunali.

Every pizzeria along Via dei Tribunali is worth the long wait—and trust us, all the good ones will be jam-packed—but just one can claim to have served a U.S. president: Bill Clinton enjoyed a Margherita here when the G8 was held in Naples in 1994. Today the superlative pizzaioli (pizza makers) turn out a wide array of pizzas, all to the utmost perfection. Skip the calorie-counting, and try the fritte, and you'll be pleasantly surprised with this mix of Neapolitan-style tempura featuring salami, sausage, broccoli, provola cheese, and more. If you want a table, bypass the lines outside (mainly for takeout) and walk right in.

There are a few restaurants called Sorbillo along Via dei Tribunali, but this one is world-renowned. Order the same thing the locals do, namely a basic Neapolitan pizza (try the unique pizza al pesto or the stunningly simple marinara, with just San Marzano tomatoes, wild garlic, and oregano) that's cooked to perfection by the third generation of pie makers who run the place. The pizzas are enormous, flopping over the edge of the plate onto the white marble tabletops. Be warned though, there is no booking system, and you'll have to line up for a while, but an entrepreneurial local on a nearby balcony often entertains the crowds with Neapolitan songs.

This innovative eatery offers a menu of fixed-price bowls such as the squisita (exquisite) with rice, octopus, hummus, and fennel or the vivace (lively) with seared tuna fillet, chopped hazelnuts, and three types of rice. The open kitchen looks over a large, high, communal table with stools, and outdoor seating overlooks the bustling Piazza Bellini.

This well-known trattoria–wineshop sees everyone from foodies to students and professors from the nearby university. The menu on the wall's blackboard changes daily, but there is always a good selection of pasta, meat, fish, and vegetable side dishes. Go for a plate of pasta e fagioli or octopus salad and fried anchovies with a carafe of a good local wine.

With a balanced array of land-based dishes, owner--manager Gaetano's unpretentious eatery attracts students and young professionals, mainly regulars from the school of medicine around the corner. It's busy and small (expect to share a table—and if your fellow diners are not shy, why should you be?), but the prices can't be beat, and the daily selection of a good dozen vegetable side plates merits a detour of its own, even if you're not a vegetarian.

This restaurant's name translates roughly to "room of taste," but the tastes here are many and extend from the traditional to the gourmet and ultramodern. Start with the antipasto di pesce (seafood appetizer), experience the glory that is Naples in the gattò delle due Sicilie (cake of the two Sicilies; Sicilian eggplant with a cheese fondue and a pesto mustard), or bow to contemporary sensibilities with the menu vegetariano km zero (all local vegetables of the season). With its recycled chairs and tables and vintage-style ads outside, this place exhibits a strong but pleasing personality. The cheese-and-wine parlor downstairs has an easygoing ambience, while the room upstairs is more of a slow-food den.

As its name suggests, this gracious trattoria atop a flight of steps on a small side street near Naples's main university is popular with the artsy intelligentsia, but it manages to remain welcomingly low-key. Warmed with touches of wood, it prides itself on its fresh interpretations of Neapolitan classics, with excellent salami, mozzarella, and frittura appetizers, cabbage soup fragrant with good beef stock, and meat and fish grilled over wood. Desserts include Sicilian cannoli—crisp pastry tubes filled with dark chocolate mousse or ricotta cream. Finish your meal with a choice of liqueurs or Neapolitan moka coffee.

Opposite the Palazzo Croce, once the home of philosopher and historian Benedetto Croce, this is one of the city's most famous pizzerias, packed night after night. The young crowd heads down into the more boisterous basement, while the atmosphere upstairs is calmer and more congenial to conversation at standard decibel levels. On the ground floor you can watch the pizzaioli working the pizza dough, manipulating each pie as if it were a live creation. If it's not too cold there are tables outside on the pedestrian zone.

Conveniently close to the archaeological museum yet surprisingly off the tourist beat, this small eatery is patronized by professori from the nearby Academy of Fine Arts and theatergoers from the Teatro Bellini next door. A specialty here is the blend of seafood with vegetables—try the mezzanelli con cozze e peperoncini verdi (long pasta with mussels and green peppers) or paccheri al baccalà (large pasta tubes with codfish). If you prefer meat, try the brasato alla genovese con funghi (braised beef with mushrooms). The service at Osteria is both swift and obliging, and they have one of the best wine lists in the city.

Here you can dine under vaulted ceilings in the former stables of a 17th-century mansion, eat outdoors overlooking the grand Piazza San Domenico Maggiore, or feast from a table on the roof terrace, facing the giuglia (obelisk) di San Domenico. Options include pizze or pizze fritte—with classic or unusual toppings—as well as robust salads and antipasti.

A favorite haunt of students from the adjacent school of architecture, Giuliano has an old-style glass cabinet where it keeps the arancini (fried rice concoctions the size of tennis balls). You'll also find deep-fried pizzas, which are filled with mozzarella, tomato, prosciutto, or ricotta and can truly fill that yawning void in your stomach—though you have to sit down on the steps in the square afterward to recover.

This is the quintessential Neapolitan pastry shop. Although the coffee is top of the line and the ice cream and pastries are quite good—including the specialty, the ministeriale, a pert chocolate cake with a rum-cream filling—it's the atmosphere that counts here. Nuns, punks, businesspeople, and housewives all commune in this unprepossessing yet remarkable space.

Come here to taste traditional Neapolitan ragù, a meat-based sauce generally served with pasta and prepared from cuts of beef and pork. Here, local cervellatine sausages are included in the sauce, and the young, enthusiastic staff keeps the mood lighthearted and fun. Enjoy your ragù with ziti spezzati (broken ziti pasta) and Parmesan cheese, and mop the sauce up with the celestial Neapolitan rustic bread. There are outdoor tables, and also branches off Piazza del Gesù and in Vomero.