12 Best Restaurants in Naples, Italy

In the Neapolitan smorfia, a list of numbers used to analyze dreams (and play the lottery), "50" means bread, and kalò is the Greek for good. And good dough is on the menu here, with this airy pizzeria gaining accolades since opening in traffic-busy Piazza Sannazaro in 2014—the New York Times hailed the pizza among the best in Italy. Along with all the favorites, third-generation pizzaiolo Ciro Salvo’s creations include a selection of vegetable pizzas with locally sourced toppings including cabbage, pumpkin, tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, and capers. The wine list is worthy of the best restaurants, and there's a good range of beers.

If you see a line of hungry-looking patrons between the funicular stations of Toledo and Chiaia, you'll know you are close to Pizzeria Acunzo. When ordering, note that there are few variations of the thickly crusted pizzas—after all, this establishment has been running for 60 years, and its tried-and-tested product is, as onetime diner Isabella Rossellini can confirm, fenomenale.

In the 1954 film L'Oro di Napoli, Sofia Loren sold fried pizza from a basso (a street-level room), something Concettina Flessigno Oliva had already been doing since three years earlier. This is now one of Naples's most highly acclaimed pizzerias, and Oliva’s great-grandson's menu includes all the usual culprits as well as pizza wedges based on local in-season ingredients. Twenty-seven Pulcinella masks by renowned local artist Lello Esposito hang in the entrance, and a Nativity scene is perched over the proceedings in the long hall. Gluten-free pizzas are also available.

You may recognize Da Michele from the movie Eat, Pray, Love, but for more than 140 years before Julia Roberts arrived, this place was a culinary reference point. Despite offering only four types of pizza—marinara (tomato, garlic, and oregano), Margherita (tomato, mozzarella, and basil), cosacca (tomato, pecorino, and basil), and marita (half marinara, half Margherita)—plus a small selection of drinks, it still manages to draw long lines. The low prices may have something to do with it, but the pizza itself suffers no rivals, so customers are good-humored while waiting. The sounds of the boisterous, joyous atmosphere and the aromas of yeast and wood smoke waft out onto the street; get a number at the door, and then hang outside until it's called.

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.

For a range of pizzas, pastas, and salads—and a spectacular view—head to this family-friendly pie palace on the seaside promenade, at the corner of Piazza Vittoria. Locally grown or produced peppers, olives, basil, prosciutto, ricotta, mozzarella, and other ingredients top a masterful wood-fired crust made with the lievito madre yeast starter. Nearly as tasty and just as tempting are such sinfully delicious snacks as the frittatina di pasta (a pasta frittata) and the potato croquettes. Enjoy them all, then walk along the Lungomare to digest. In good weather, there are few nicer places for people-watching and pizza eating than the outdoor patio here.

The first restaurant to open on the seafront, this elegant pizzeria has been an essential hangout for Naples's gilded youth since 1994. Offering 36 kinds of pizza—including classics with a modern twist and a gluten-free option—plus a fine selection of salads and an ample buffet, this makes a refreshing change from the more minimal pizzerie. Among the pizzas, try the salsiccia e friarielli (topped with sausage and broccoli rabe), carciofina (with cream of eggplant, smoked provola cheese, and pecorino), or the half-Margherita, half-calzone (stuffed pizza) Re di Napoli.

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.

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.

Across the street from its archrival Da Michele—but without the lines stretching outside—this is a classic pizzeria with a simple yet upscale Art Nouveau ambience expressed in soothing tile and marble. More relaxed and upscale than its competitor, Trianon does the classics (Margherita, marinara) in an exemplary manner, but you can also feast on pizza with sausage and broccoli (friarielli). The signature pizza Trianon comes with eight different toppings.