An Extremely Honest Pizza Review of Naples, Italy

What to know before you eat pizza in the city that invented it.

The second we stepped foot in Naples, it smelled like pizza. Now, this heavenly aroma might have stemmed from the pizza kiosk in the Naples airport, but nonetheless, it was very fitting.

Naples is pizza. This is where it all started—way back in the 18th century. Originally just tomato-topped flatbreads, pizza was a popular, cheap food that quickly spread through the narrow streets of Napoli. Soon after, creative chefs added additional ingredients and it started looking more and more like the pizza you and I know today.

Expectation vs Reality: What to Know About Pizza in Italy

Now, pizza in Naples is a slightly different style of pizza than the kind you’ll find in Italian pizza joints in the United States. If you go to Italy expecting New York-style pizza, you might be disappointed.

For starters, the toppings are typically more minimal. I found myself wanting more toppings at most of the places we tried.

The main difference is in the crust. Authentic Neapolitan pizza crust is soft, airy, and super thin—much thinner than any thin-crust pizza you’ll get in the US.

Other things to keep in mind:

• It doesn’t come sliced. And, you’re kind of expected to eat it with a fork and a knife—at least for the soft, middle portion. After the first few fork bites, once you can pick it up without it flopping all over the place, you can eat it with your hands.

• Pizzas are personal. There are no small, medium, or large sizes. There’s just one size: personal, which is about the size of a large plate. Sharing isn’t typical but we did it anyway.

• Real pizzerias open after seven. Pizza is a dinner food in Italy. If a place offers pizza for lunch, it’s likely too touristy to trust.

• “Peperoni” is not pepperoni. In Italian, peperoni means bell peppers. If you want pepperoni, look for a pizza with salame piccante, or spicy salami.

What It Takes To Craft The Authentic Neapolitan Pizza

Authentic Neapolitan pizza is not something to mess around with.

There’s actually a whole organization dedicated to “promoting and protecting” authentic Neapolitan pizza across the world. Complete with international regulations, authentic secrets, and pizza CIA agents (well, that last part is unconfirmed), these guys are the real deal.

Anyway, according to the experts, authentic Neapolitan pizza has three main requirements:

1. The pizza must be cooked in a wood-fired oven with a temperature of 430-480°C.

2. The pizza must cook in just 60-90 seconds.

3. The pizza must have the famous, airy, chewy “cornicione” crust with charred “leopard spots.”

When done right, authentic Neapolitan pizza is a gastronomical experience. Everyone should try it at least once in their life.

When we were in Naples, we tried three pizzerias. Each had different defining features that made them memorable and delicious.

Pizza #1: The Perfect Crust

Diego Vitagliano Pizzeria, ranked #4 best pizzeria in the world, had the softest, chewiest, most delicious pizza crust of all the pizzas we tried in Italy. The sauce and toppings were unremarkable (check out this post for a full restaurant review), but the pizza dough was just outstanding.

We tried the Pistadella pizza—which had rich mozzarella cheese, mortadella, and pistachio pesto—and the Diavola pizza, which had large, spicy salami and mozzarella cheese.

Pizza #2: Unbeatable Tomato Sauce

Pizzeria Da Attilio (on Via Pignasecca, 17) is famous for its star-shaped pizza with ricotta-filled crust. This place was highly-recommended as I was researching pizzerias in Naples. The small restaurant was already full when we got there around 8pm and we had to wait for a table.

Of all the pizzas we tried, this one had the best tomato sauce of all. It was absolutely delicious. Again, here the toppings were minimal, but the tomato sauce was amazing.

We got the Carnevale pizza, which came in the star-shape with ricotta-filled crust and was topped with Neapolitan sausages and cheese.

Pizza #3: Superior Toppings

We stumbled upon Pizzeria Dal Presidente (Via dei Tribunali, 120) one night in Naples, and boy am I grateful we did. This ended up being Pedro’s favorite pizza.

The pizzas were huge—bigger than the plate. The place is cool, decorated with Maradona soccer lore; it has a ton of seating both on the upper and lower levels.

But what I loved most about this place was that they had a ton of pizza options to choose from, served with a solid amount of toppings.

We got a quattro formaggi (four cheese) pizza that was delicious—if you love cheese pizza (and blue cheese), this one’s for you. We also got a sausage and pepperoni pizza that was really good as well.

My Dream Pizza? Haven’t Found It…Yet.

The pizza we had in Naples was good, but honestly, I still haven’t found the one.

Of course, I’m not giving up on Naples pizza.

I’m still searching for the perfect pizza that combines the fluffy, chewy crust of Diego Vitagliano with the incredible tomato sauce from Pizzeria Da Attilio and the fantastic toppings from Pizzeria Dal Presidente. While, of course, putting their own unique spin on authentic Neapolitan pizza.