5 tips on how to eat pizza in Naples, Italy
If there’s one place on Earth where you should overthink how you eat pizza, it’s Naples. This is the birthplace of pizza, where even the simplest margherita can feel like a religious experience. But not all pizzas are created equal.
Before arriving in Naples, I did a lot of pizza research—and it paid off. During our trip, we ate the best pizza of our lives. Here's exactly how we did it.
Check the menu—ingredients matter: Everyone will tell you to go to Pizzeria Da Michele—yes, the same one where Julia Roberts eats pizza in Eat, Pray, Love. But we skipped it. Why? Because food writer J. Kenji López-Alt wrote this in his pizza guide to Naples: “Da Michele uses sunflower oil rather than olive oil on their pies (an Italian sign on the wall explains that they want to let the tomatoes and cheese stand out—I say they just want to save a few bucks), but the pies are nevertheless spectacular.” Sunflower oil? No thank you. I came to Naples for the real deal. Luckily, many pizza spots in Naples list their ingredients right on the menu.
Look for DOP ingredients: If you're serious about quality, keep an eye out for DOP ingredients on the menu. DOP stands for Denominazione d’Origine Protetta—or Protected Designation of Origin in English. According to Eataly (the popular Italian food hall), the DOP label guarantees that a product—whether it's cheese, prosciutto, olive oil, or tomatoes—was produced, processed, and packaged in a specific region using traditional methods. Every step, from start to finish, is strictly regulated. One of the restaurants I found the DOP designation used was on the Diego Vitagliano Pizzeria menu. Their “Buffalo” pizza lists the following ingredients: San Marzano DOP tomatoes from the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese area (Solania), DOP buffalo mozzarella, Grana Padano cheese, Neapolitan curly basil, DOP Cilento extra virgin olive oil (Basso). This was what I was looking for and the pizza did not disappoint!
Use the 50 Top Pizza list: This is hands-down one of the best tools for finding good pizza—not just in Naples, but around the world. The 50 Top Pizza list ranks the best pizzerias in Italy and globally, and it’s how I discovered Diego Vitagliano Pizzeria (ranked #2 in the world in 2024) and 50 Kalò (ranked #9). Both were unforgettable. Bonus: it also highlights top pizzerias in the USA, Japan, and beyond, making it a great resource no matter where you’re traveling.
Go for a variety of types of pizza: Our original plan was to try the buffalo margherita pizza at every spot to compare them evenly. That plan didn’t last long—and I’m glad it didn’t. In Naples, there are too many delicious styles to limit yourself. We ended up trying fried pizza (pizza fritta), a classic buffalo margherita, and a diavola pizza topped with Casa Marrazzo organic crushed peeled tomatoes, cured soft spicy salami, fior di latte cheese, 24-month aged parmesan DOP, and Colline Salernitane extra virgin olive oil. Absolute pizza perfection. So forget rigid comparisons—try it all. That’s the only way to understand just how good (and diverse) Neapolitan pizza can be.
Burn marks and a soupy center? Yes, please: Let’s talk about two things people sometimes complain about with Neapolitan pizza: the burn marks and the soupy center. First—the burn marks 🤤😋!!! The darker, the better for me. I’m biased, though. That charred flavor always takes me back to my childhood, when my grandma would reheat tortillas on the stove and parts of them would burn just a bit. Those dark spots on a pizza don’t just taste amazing—they carry a little nostalgia, too. Second—the center. Neapolitan pizza is known (sometimes infamously) for its soft, almost soupy center. For me? It’s part of the magic. When you bite into that juicy middle, it bursts with concentrated flavor, olive oil, and tomato—a signature trait, not a flaw.