Food, pizza & the good life
Luca Esposito
Published work
72 signed pages across 7 collections, biggest section first.
Restaurants 16
- L'Antica Pizzeria da MicheleThe original Via Cesare Sersale room, open daily 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Four pizzas, all €6.50, a €1 cover charge and a numbered-ticket queue. Cheap, fast once you are in, and worth timing well.Read
- Gino e Toto SorbilloThe flagship on Via dei Tribunali 32, open noon to 11:30 p.m. and closed Sundays. A huge menu, wide thin pizzas, a €5.50 marinara that beats the margherita, and a name-list queue outside.Read
- 50 KalòCiro Salvo's pizzeria on Piazza Sannazaro in Mergellina: soft, high-hydration classic pizza, No. 5 on the 50 Top Pizza Italia 2026 list. It takes no bookings, and it does not publish a price list online.Read
- Starita a MaterdeiThe Materdei pizzeria where the montanara was born: pizza dough fried, topped with ragù and smoked provola, then finished in the wood oven. Closed Mondays, no bookings, prices well below the famous-name average.Read
- La MasardonaThe fried-pizza family since 1945. At the original shop near the station a full pizza fritta is €6 and the small battilocchio €3.50; the seafront branch at Piazza Vittoria charges €9 for the same thing.Read
- Da AttilioA small, old pizzeria in the Pignasecca market, run by Attilio Bachetti. Order the eight-pointed star pizza with ricotta in the points. Prices stay near the old-town floor; it closes on Sundays.Read
- Concettina ai Tre SantiThe Oliva family's pizzeria in Rione Sanità, run by Ciro Oliva, the fourth generation. Polished service, a garden, bookings accepted, and the priciest margherita among the city's famous names.Read
- Pizzeria Di MatteoA 1936 pizzeria and friggitoria at Via dei Tribunali 94, closed Sundays. The street-side fry window is the reason people stop. The sit-down meal upstairs got a poor review in 2024, and we would eat elsewhere.Read
- VeritasMarco Caputi's one-star restaurant on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, at the foot of the Vomero. The cheapest way into Michelin-starred cooking in Naples, with a €55 Saturday lunch and a €60 menu for diners under 35.Read
- George RestaurantDomenico Candela's two-star restaurant on the top floor of the Grand Hotel Parker's, looking over the Gulf to Vesuvius. Seven or nine courses at €240 or €270, dinner only, Tuesday to Saturday.Read
- Palazzo PetrucciLino Scarallo's restaurant on the water at Via Posillipo 16/c. The star went in the 2025 guide and has not come back in 2026. Its old-town pizzeria, meanwhile, ranks No. 3 in Italy.Read
- La Locanda Gesù VecchioThe old-town trattoria Michelin picks for value in 2026: pasta e patate with smoked provola, ziti alla genovese, fried salt cod. Two rooms on Via Paladino, two seatings at dinner, and you must book.Read
- Osteria della MattonellaA small family osteria on Via Nicotera, a few steps from Piazza del Plebiscito, with walls of 18th-century majolica. Genovese, ragù meatballs, friarielli and a Campanian wine list, at old-fashioned prices.Read
- Tandem RagùThe first Naples restaurant devoted to ragù, opened in 2013 and now a small chain. Good-value pasta with ragù or genovese and bread for the scarpetta, in rooms that feel more canteen than trattoria.Read
- Trattoria da NennellaThe singing, plate-banging trattoria that fed the Quartieri Spagnoli for 74 years, now at Piazza Carità 22. A fixed menu around €15, no reservations, and a show as much as a meal.Read
- Mimì alla FerroviaA family restaurant a short walk from Napoli Centrale, open since 1943, run by the Giugliano family, with Salvatore Giugliano in the kitchen. The station-day choice for a proper sit-down lunch; prices are not published.Read
Local food 15
- Pizza napoletanaSoft, wet in the middle, blistered at the rim, baked in 60 to 90 seconds. A margherita costs €6.50 at Da Michele and €10.50–€12 at a sit-down place in Chiaia. Here are the rules and the prices.Read
- Pizza frittaDough folded around ricotta, provola and pork cracklings, fried rather than baked. €6 at the old fry shops, €3.50 in the small size, €18 in a fashionable pizzeria. Here is who charges what.Read
- SfogliatellaThe shell-shaped pastry of crackling layers (riccia) or soft shortcrust (frolla), filled with semolina, ricotta and candied peel. About €2 at the counter. Here is which to order and where it comes out warm.Read
- BabàA spongy yeast cake soaked in rum syrup until it drips. €2 at a counter, €5.50 with whipped cream in a restaurant, €24 for a gift box of ten. Here is where and how.Read
- Ragù napoletanoNot Bolognese: whole pieces of beef and pork, braciole and sausage cooked slowly in tomato, the sauce on the pasta and the meat after. €12 for ziti with ragù at Tandem, the restaurant built around it.Read
- GenoveseA white ragù of beef and onions cooked until the onions melt into a brown cream, tossed with broken ziti. Nothing to do with Genoa's pesto. €12 at Tandem, €16 at Umberto in Chiaia.Read
- Frittatina di pastaA disc of bucatini pasta bound with béchamel and cheese, breaded and deep-fried. Crisp outside, creamy inside, €2–€2.50 at a fry counter. Here is where, and how to eat it without burning your mouth.Read
- CuoppoA paper cone (cuoppo) filled with fried things: potato croquettes, rice balls, pasta frittatine, dough balls, or small fish and squid. €6 for the land version, €10–€13 for the sea one. Here is where.Read
- Caffè napoletanoA short, strong, often pre-sweetened espresso, drunk standing at the counter in two sips. Italy's average is €1.29 a cup; a table in Chiaia charges €2.50. Plus the caffè sospeso and the old flip pot.Read
- PastieraA shortcrust tart filled with ricotta, cooked whole wheat, eggs and candied citrus, baked under a lattice. Made for Easter, sold year-round. €24 for 800 g, €8 for two single portions.Read
- Spaghetti alle vongoleNaples' clam spaghetti comes in bianco (garlic, oil, parsley) or with a few cherry tomatoes. Ask for vongole veraci and whether they are fresh. We found no 2026 menu price to print, and say so.Read
- Mozzarella di bufala campanaOnly buffalo milk, only from a defined zone of Campania and neighbors, DOP since 1996. Eat it fresh, at room temperature, the day it is made. A Chiaia restaurant charges €35 per kg; dairies charge far less.Read
- LimoncelloLemon peel steeped in alcohol, then sweetened. A good 50 cl bottle costs about €15 in Sorrento and Naples. The IGP label covers the lemons, not the liqueur, so read the ingredients before you buy.Read
- Taralli sugna e pepeTwisted rings of bread dough made with lard (sugna), lots of black pepper and whole almonds, baked hard. €1.60 each at Taralleria Napoletana. Eat them with a cold beer by the sea.Read
- Fiocco di neveA small soft brioche filled with a cold, sweet cream of sheep's ricotta and milk, buried in icing sugar. Invented at Poppella in the Rione Sanità in 2015. Three shops sell the original; here are their hours.Read
Experiences 12
- Pizza making class in NaplesTwo to three hours, an apron, your own margherita and usually a tiramisu, from €21 in a big group to €80 with a working pizzaiolo. The 'official' and 'certified' labels are the operators' own. Here is how to choose.Read
- Naples street food tourA guided 2.5-hour walk through the old town tasting pizza fritta, frittatina, taralli, sfogliatella, babà, mozzarella and limoncello costs €42. Buying the core items yourself costs about €16. Here is when the guide is worth it.Read
- Capri boat tourRound-the-island boats leave Capri's port every half hour for €25 a head. Tours from Sorrento and Naples add the crossing, a smaller boat and swim stops, for €65–€162. The Blue Grotto costs €18 more, when it opens.Read
- Amalfi Coast boat dayA day boat from the Sorrento peninsula to Positano and Amalfi costs €60–€119; the package from Naples €97. Doing it yourself by ferry out and SITA bus back costs about €27.50 from Sorrento. Here is how each day runs.Read
- Pompeii and Vesuvius day tourA coach picks you up in Naples, gives you about 1.5–2 hours on Vesuvius and 2–3 hours in Pompeii, and usually lunch, for €49–€101. By Circumvesuviana, bus 808 and your own tickets it costs about €43 and takes longer to plan.Read
- Lacryma Christi wine tasting on VesuviusWineries on the slopes of Vesuvius pour Lacryma Christi with a lunch of local food. Booked direct at Cantina del Vesuvio it is €50 with a free shuttle from Pompeii; from Naples with transport, €54–€90. Here is the arithmetic.Read
- An opera night at the Teatro di San CarloA night in the 1737 opera house costs from €20 for a listening-only seat to €130–€150 in the front stalls, far more on opening night. Under-30s pay €10–€50 at the box office. No shorts or tank tops. Here is how to choose a seat.Read
- Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando MaradonaEvery ticket carries your name and you show ID at the turnstile. Serie A seats run €20–€110 in open sale, Champions League €35–€145. Fan-card holders buy first, so big games can sell out. Here is how a visitor gets in.Read
- Kayaking along PosillipoTwo hours paddling past Roman villa ruins, sea caves and the Gaiola islet, from a base on Via Posillipo, for €35 with a snorkel mask and a shower after. You must swim and be 15 or older. Here are the details.Read
- Limoncello and lemon grove visit in SorrentoA walk under the chestnut-pole pergolas of a Sorrento lemon grove, then limoncello and jams: €40 with hotel pickup. A limoncello class is €59; a grower's 50 cl bottle, €15. Which is worth your morning.Read
- Naples guided walking tourA paid 2.5-hour old-town walk costs €42 and includes €19 of tickets to the Cappella Sansevero and the Santa Chiara cloister. Tip-based 'free' tours run twice a day. Or walk it yourself with our route. The arithmetic.Read
- Sunset cruise on the Bay of NaplesThree hours from Mergellina along the Posillipo coast at golden hour, with a spritz, fried snacks and a swim stop, for €64. Cheaper panorama boats run for €25; a private boat for six is €480. Here is what each includes.Read
Cafes & bars 8
- Gran Caffè GambrinusThe grand cafe between Piazza del Plebiscito and Via Chiaia, open since 1860. Coffee and pastries are fine; the Liberty rooms are the draw. Drink at the bar and the visit costs next to nothing.Read
- Caffè MexicoThe orange-fronted espresso bar of Passalacqua coffee, with branches on Piazza Dante, Piazza Garibaldi and the Vomero. The coffee comes pre-sweetened with whipped sugar crema; say senza zucchero if you want it bitter.Read
- ScaturchioThe historic pasticceria on Piazza San Domenico Maggiore: babà, sfogliatella frolla and the trademarked Ministeriale, a dark chocolate medallion with a liqueur-cream center. Pay first, then collect.Read
- Sfogliatella MaryA glass-fronted kiosk in the Galleria Umberto I that turns out sfogliatelle, babà and Santa Rosa all day. No seats, a quick line, and pastries served warm for a few euros.Read
- Pasticceria PoppellaThe Sanità bakery that invented the fiocco di neve, a small cream-filled brioche that sells by the thousand. Cheap, sweet and simple; the original shop is on Via Arena della Sanità, with a branch on Via Santa Brigida.Read
- L'AntiquarioThe cocktail bar that put Naples on the drinks map: a velvet-and-wallpaper room on Via Vannella Gaetani, white-jacketed bartenders, Italian classics and a quadruple-citrus signature. No. 28 in Europe in 2026.Read
- Il Vero Bar del ProfessoreThe small bar on Piazza Trieste e Trento where Raffaele Ferrieri, the 'coffee professor', turned his grandmother's hazelnut cake into a coffee. Dozens of flavored coffees, crowded, a little dearer than elsewhere.Read
- Enoteca BelledonneA wine shop in the heart of the Chiaia baretti that turned into a wine bar in 1997. Shelves of bottles, a tiny back room, bruschette and boards, and a crowd standing in the vicolo with a glass.Read
Worth it? 8
- Is the Campania Artecard worth it?Three short-stay cards at €27, €41 and €43. They pay off for adults who will pay full price at three or more state sites, and waste money for EU citizens under 25, children and Sansevero-first trips.Read
- Pompeii: guided tour or on your own?On a first visit the cheap two-hour walk with an archaeologist is the best money you spend at Pompeii. Book a morning start, then stay on alone. Skip the coach tours from Naples.Read
- Capri boat tour or just the ferry?Take the public ferry and buy the two-hour island boat at Marina Grande: it costs about half a packaged day. A small-boat day from Sorrento earns its price only if you want swim stops and a small group.Read
- Napoli Sotterranea or Galleria Borbonica?Two different undergrounds. Napoli Sotterranea shows Greek cisterns and a Roman theater, every day, walk-up. The Galleria Borbonica is a Bourbon tunnel full of wartime relics, weekends only, booked.Read
- Is the Blue Grotto worth it?The light inside is real, and so are the sums: €27.60 to €43 on top of your Capri day, a wait of half an hour to two hours, and five minutes in the cave. Go early, on a flat sea, or skip it.Read
- Is climbing Vesuvius worth it?The ticket is cheap; the time is not. You walk 4 km of gravel to look into a crater and, on a clear day, over the whole bay. Book a clear morning and pair it with Pompeii or Herculaneum, or skip it.Read
- Naples or Sorrento as a base?For a trip built on the city, Pompeii and one island, Naples is cheaper and closer to everything. Choose Sorrento only if the Amalfi Coast and Capri are the heart of the trip.Read
- Are the famous pizzerias worth the queue?At the original rooms of Da Michele, Sorbillo and 50 Kalò the pizza costs about the same and nobody takes bookings. Go at opening or mid-afternoon; at peak dinner time, book one of the equally good rooms that take reservations.Read
Events 7
- The miracle of San GennaroThree times a year Naples waits for a dried relic to turn liquid. The next dates, what happens inside the Duomo, the free afternoon viewing most visitors miss, and whether it is worth planning around.Read
- Christmas in Naples and the presepiNaples does Christmas through the presepe, the nativity scene, and through fish. When the crib street is bearable, what the one-way system means, where to see the great 18th-century cribs, and what closes.Read
- Maggio dei MonumentiEvery May the city pays for a month of free guided walks, exhibitions and one-off openings of places that are normally shut. It still runs. Here is how it works, how to book, and what 2027 is likely to look like.Read
- New Year's Eve in NaplesA free all-night concert in Piazza del Plebiscito, official fireworks by Castel dell'Ovo and a city that sets off its own. What happened last year, the rules in the square, and how to enjoy it safely.Read
- Easter in NaplesEaster in Naples is a food holiday; the great Holy Week processions happen on Procida and in Sorrento. The 2027 dates, what happens where, and why seeing Procida's Misteri means sleeping on the island.Read
- Napoli Pizza VillageThe big sponsored pizza festival left the Naples seafront: in 2026 it ran on the Lungomare Pertini in Pozzuoli. Free concerts, a pizza-and-drink menu, long lines. Worth it only if you are nearby in July.Read
- Campania Teatro FestivalNaples' summer theater festival fills Palazzo Reale's courtyards and gardens for a month, with low ticket prices and free exhibitions. Most drama is in Italian; dance, music and the late-night garden are not.Read
Guides 6
- Where to eat pizza in NaplesEight pizzerias by style, from a €6.50 margherita at Da Michele to a €3.50 fried battilocchio, with closing days, queue tactics, the 2026 rankings and the one old name we would skip.Read
- Where we would eat in NaplesBeyond pizza: trattorie from a €15 fixed menu, a Bib Gourmand pasta e patate, a €55 starred lunch at Veritas and George's two stars, sorted by budget with closing days and one skip.Read
- The best hotels in NaplesFourteen hotels priced on the same October and November nights, from €140 to €848, sorted by budget and by the kind of trip you are taking, with the city tax and the two we would not book.Read
- Cheap eats in NaplesWhat things actually cost: €2 sfogliatelle and frittatine, a €3.50 fried battilocchio, a €6 cuoppo, a €6.50 margherita and coffee from €1.20 standing, plus a full food day for two for about €41.Read
- Capri, Ischia or Procida?Three islands, three different days. Fares, landing fees, last Caremar boats back and what a day really costs, from about €42 on Procida to €53 on Capri, plus who each island suits.Read
- Naples with kidsWhat works with children in Naples and what does not: free state museums for under-18s, tunnels by age, the science center, Herculaneum over Pompeii, the easiest island, and where a stroller gives up.Read