My Favorite Pizzerias in Naples (After Nearly 10 Visits) • Anthony in Italy

If you’ve done any research on where to eat pizza in Naples, you’ve probably seen the same two names come up over and over: L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele and Sorbillo. Both are legitimate. Both are worth knowing about. But after nearly 10 visits to Naples, I’ve stopped going to either one. Not because they’re bad, but because I’ve found places I like more.

I’ve lived in Italy since 2022 and have traveled to all 20 regions. Naples is one of my favorite cities in the country, and I’ve eaten a lot of pizza here. This post is my actual list — the places I go back to, the ones I’d send a friend to, and one I stumbled across by accident that I now consider one of the best values in the city.

Quick answer: Naples has some of the best pizza in the world, but you don’t need to wait in a two-hour line to get it. The places on this list are all on Via dei Tribunali or nearby, serve excellent Neapolitan pizza, and won’t require you to plan your entire day around a queue.

First, What Makes Neapolitan Pizza Different

Before getting into the list, it’s worth saying what Neapolitan pizza actually is — because if you’re coming from the US, it’s going to look different from what you’re used to.

This is not a New York slice. You cannot fold it and hold it up. It’s floppy, it’s wet in the center, and it’s baked for roughly 90 seconds in a wood-fired oven. The crust is thin with a fluffy, charred outer edge — the cornicione — which has been getting progressively larger and puffier at a lot of places over the years. Fewer toppings in the center, more crust on the outside. Some people love that. Some don’t.

I personally prefer places that keep the crust on the more modest side and let the center ingredients do the work. That preference shapes this list.

One more thing: Naples holds pizza to a high standard. Unlike other Italian cities where you really can find bad pizza, it’s genuinely hard to mess it up here. That means even a random place you walk into off the street has a decent chance of being good. So don’t stress too much about finding the “perfect” spot. Just pick one from this list and go.

What About Da Michele and Sorbillo?

They come up constantly, so let me address them directly.

L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele was made famous internationally by the Eat Pray Love scene with Julia Roberts. It’s one of the oldest pizzerias in the world. The pizza is good. But I find it overrated, and I’m not alone in that. Many people I’ve spoken to who made the effort to go came away a bit underwhelmed relative to the hype. The menu is deliberately minimal (essentially just Margherita and Marinara), the waits can be long, and it has expanded to locations around Italy and internationally, which changes what it is.

Sorbillo is better, in my opinion, and if you want to try one of the famous places, that’s the one I’d pick. But it’s also reached a similar level of escape velocity — long lines, chains across Italy, international locations. The pizza is genuinely good, but waiting an hour in the Naples heat for it when there are excellent alternatives with no wait is a choice I stopped making a long time ago.

The bottom line: if you happen to walk by either and there’s no line, go. But if there’s a wait, skip it. There are better uses of your time in this city.

My Favorite Pizzerias in Naples

1. Pizzeria Gennaro Rallo — My Current Favorite

Address: Piazza Portanova, 9, 80138 Naples Google Maps

This is a recent find that might have become my favorite pizzeria in Naples. It’s tucked into a quiet little piazza — Piazza Portanova — which is a strange thing to say about a city this loud and chaotic, but it genuinely feels calmer there. Sit outside if you can. Watching Naples go about its business from that piazza while eating good pizza is exactly why I keep coming back to this city.

The pizza itself is excellent. The crust had a bit more char than you might expect. Some would call it slightly overdone, but I liked it. It was crispy around the edges and perfectly floppy in the center. The Diavola is the move here. The spianata calabrese (Calabrian spicy salami) has real heat to it. I didn’t need to reach for the hot oil, which I consider a good sign.

Four dishes at Pizzeria Gennaro Rallo in Naples: a Diavola pizza with spicy salami, a Siciliana with prosciutto and eggplant, a Primavera with rucola and parmesan, and a frittatina alla Nerano on a green plate. — *Diavola, Siciliana, Primavera, and frittatina alla Nerano at Pizzeria Gennaro Rallo in Naples.*

Before the pizza, get a frittatina. Specifically, the Frittatina alla Nerano — bechamel, zucchine, provola, and caciocavallo. At €3.50, it’s one of the better bites you can have in Naples. The frittatina is a fried pasta cake, a Neapolitan street food classic, and this place does it well.

The menu goes well beyond the classics. There’s an entire section of house pizzas — the “Pizze Gennaro Rallo” — with more creative combinations if you want to branch out. The wine list features Campanian bottles from producers like Casa D’Ambra on Ischia and Mastroberardino, and they carry local Neapolitan craft beers. Service was a little on the slower side, but not bad enough to matter.

This is going into my regular rotation. If you make it to one place on this list, make it this one.

What to order: Diavola, Frittatina alla Nerano

2. Pizzeria Attanasio

Address: Via dei Tribunali, 379, 80134 Naples Google Maps

Attanasio sits right on Via dei Tribunali, the main artery of historic Naples and one of the most concentrated stretches of pizzerias in the world. It’s not one of the uber-famous names, which means the wait, if there is one, tends to be short.

The pizza here is exactly what it should be. Good quality ingredients, proper Neapolitan standards, nothing that feels like it’s been dumbed down for tourists. The Diavola was genuinely spicy — again, no need for hot oil — which I appreciate. A lot of places serve a “Diavola” that’s spicy in name only.

Beyond the classics, Attanasio also does more elaborate pies — including a calzone aperto, a folded Neapolitan pizza with a dramatic puffed cornicione, that you don’t see on every menu.

Three Neapolitan pizzas at Pizzeria Attanasio in Naples: a Siciliana with eggplant and mozzarella on the left, a Diavola with spicy salami top right, and a Racchetta with friarielli, sausage, and buffalo ricotta bottom right. — *Clockwise from left: Siciliana, Diavola, and Racchetta at Pizzeria Attanasio on Via dei Tribunali, Naples.*

One worth calling out is the Racchetta — mozzarella, sausage, friarielli, buffalo ricotta, and Neapolitan salami. I typically go straight for something with a tomato base, but this was an exception. The combination of the ricotta, the friarielli (sautéed broccoli rabe), and the salami works in a way that justifies skipping the red sauce.

Craft Neapolitan beer on tap, good turnover, central location. This is a reliable choice if you’re already walking Via dei Tribunali and want to sit down without a long wait.

What to order: Diavola, Racchetta (if you want something different)

3. Pizzeria I Decumani

Address: Via dei Tribunali, 58/60/61, 80138 Naples Google Maps

Also on Via dei Tribunali, I Decumani is another solid choice that tends not to have the same lines as the more famous spots nearby. The place has a good buzz to it. Busy, high turnover, the kind of energy that tells you people are eating here because it’s good, not because they read about it.

The crust here leans toward a bigger, puffier cornicione than some of the others on this list. That means slightly less real estate for toppings in the center, which is a minor trade-off. Some people love that style. I like it occasionally. Either way, the pizza is very good and the Margherita here is one I’d specifically recommend — simple, clean, and executed well.

Three Neapolitan pizzas on a marble table at Pizzeria I Decumani in Naples: two Diavola pizzas with spicy salami and buffalo mozzarella, and one classic Margherita, served with tall beers. — *Two Diavolas and a Margherita at Pizzeria I Decumani on Via dei Tribunali, Naples.*

If you don’t eat cheese, I Decumani is also a good call. I’ve had the Napoletana here — tomato, anchovies, olives, oregano, no mozzarella — and it holds up well. It’s one of the better cheese-free options you’ll find at a sit-down pizzeria in Naples.

If you’re already in the area visiting the historic center, this is an easy stop. Good tables, no nonsense, consistent quality.

What to order: Margherita, Napoletana (good option if you don’t eat cheese)

4. Antica Pizzeria Prigiobbo — Honorable Mention

Address: Via Portacarrese a Montecalvario, 96, 80134 Naples Google Maps

This one is different from the others, and that’s exactly why it’s on the list.

I stumbled across Prigiobbo with a friend while wandering the Spanish Quarter, one of the most characterful neighborhoods in Naples, a dense grid of narrow streets just west of the historic center. We walked in not knowing what to expect and ended up having one of the more memorable pizza meals I’ve had in the city.

A €4 Margherita. Sit-down. In Naples. That price alone tells you something about this place.

It is pure no-frills. A handful of tables, a basic menu, one guy in the kitchen and one guy serving. The pizzas are slightly smaller than what you’d get elsewhere, but more than enough for one person. I went for the Napoletana — tomato, mozzarella, anchovies, oregano — and it was excellent. The anchovy quality matters on that pizza, and these were good.

A Napoletana pizza with anchovies, mozzarella, and oregano at Antica Pizzeria Prigiobbo in Naples, alongside the yellow menu showing prices starting at €4, and the simple interior of the restaurant in the Spanish Quarter. — *A Napoletana pizza and the no-frills interior at Antica Pizzeria Prigiobbo in the Spanish Quarter, Naples.*

The vibe is the thing, though. You walk in and there are two middle-aged Neapolitan women at a corner table deep in conversation, speaking full Napoletano language (not Italian). They look up at you with an expression that says how did you find this place. The fluorescent lights. The laminated yellow menu with photos. This is a neighborhood pizzeria that has no interest in being anything else, and that’s exactly what makes it great.

This is not the place you go for a special dinner. It’s the place you go when you’re in the Spanish Quarter and you want real, cheap, good pizza. That’s a valuable thing to know.

What to order: Napoletana, Margherita

Key Takeaways

The famous pizzerias in Naples are worth knowing about, but not worth a long wait. The city has too many good options to justify standing in line for an hour.
Neapolitan pizza is floppy and wet in the center by design. If you’re expecting a crispy slice you can fold and walk with, adjust your expectations before you arrive.
Always order a frittatina as a starter. It’s one of the best things you can eat in Naples for under €4.

Final Thoughts

Naples rewards people who are willing to wander a little. The most memorable meals I’ve had here, including the ones on this list, were rarely at the places with the longest lines or the most coverage online. They were at places I found by walking around, by asking locals, or by stumbling into a quiet piazza and sitting down.

The pizza in this city is genuinely some of the best in the world. That’s not hype. The standard here is just higher than almost anywhere else. Which means even the places that aren’t famous are usually excellent. Use this list as a starting point, but don’t be afraid to trust your instincts and walk in somewhere new.

What I’ve Learned Living Here

After nearly three years in Italy, I’ve come to accept that the best food experiences rarely happen where the crowd is largest. Naples taught me that early. The city has a confidence about it — it doesn’t need your validation. The best pizzerias here aren’t trying to trend. They’re just making pizza the way they always have, for the people who know to show up.

Planning your own trip? Grab my Italy Trip Reality Checklist to avoid the most common travel mistakes.

Written by Anthony Calvanese — an American living in Italy since 2022 who’s visited all 20 Italian regions. Planning your own trip to Naples? Start with my free Italy Trip Reality Checklist before you book anything.

FAQ

Do I need to wait in line for good pizza in Naples? No. The famous spots like Da Michele and Sorbillo can have long waits, but there are excellent pizzerias all over the city — particularly along Via dei Tribunali — where you can walk in and sit down without much of a wait. The places on this list are good examples.

What’s the difference between a Margherita and a Marinara in Naples? A Margherita has tomato, mozzarella, and basil. A Marinara has tomato, garlic, oregano, and olive oil — no cheese. The Marinara is actually the older of the two and is worth trying if you’ve never had it. It’s better than it sounds.

What should I order besides pizza in a Neapolitan pizzeria? A frittatina. It’s a fried pasta cake — usually filled with bechamel, meat, and cheese — and it’s a Neapolitan street food classic. Most pizzerias have them and they’re usually under €4. Order one before your pizza arrives.