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$$ | Chiaia |
In the evening, this fourth-generation fish shop becomes a trendy spot to enjoy an aperitif and a light meal. If you want to experience superb Neapolitan sushi and cold wine while sitting on a buoy stool, get here early: service is 7:30 pm–10:30 pm. A full fish lunch is served Tuesday–Sunday.
Vico Belledonne a Chiaia 27, Naples, Campania, 80121, Italy
Known For
- Pescheria counter displaying today's catch
- Intimate and small place, so get here early or call ahead for dinner
- Fish lunches
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. No dinner Sun.
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$$ | Posillipo |
Chic and charming Da Cicciotto corrals more than a few members of the city's fashionable set—if you dine here, there's a fair chance you'll find a Neapolitan count or off-duty film star enjoying this jewel with a tiny stone terrace (with seats and a canopy) that overlooks a pleasant anchorage. You can also opt for the large covered patio across the way and appreciate the outdoor setting at either lunch or dinner. Don't even bother with a menu—just start digging into the sublime antipasti and go with the waiter's suggestions. Cicciotto sits at the end of the same long winding road that leads to the famed 'A Fenestella restaurant and shoreline.
Calata del Ponticello a Marechiaro 32, Naples, Campania, 80123, Italy
Known For
- Fabulous views over the harbor and bay
- Freshest seafood
- Venue for a special occasion
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$$ | Chiaia |
Run by the Di Porzio family since 1916, Umberto is one of the city's classic restaurants, combining the classiness of its neighborhood, Chiaia, and the friendliness one finds in other parts of Naples. Try the paccheri 'do tre dita ("three-finger" pasta with octopus, tomato, olives, and capers); it bears the nickname of the original Umberto, who happened to be short a few digits. Owner Massimo and sisters Lorella and Roberta (Umberto's grandchildren) are all wine experts and oversee a fantastic cellar. Note that Umberto has been catering to diners with a gluten allergy, as well as to vegetarians for years.
Via Alabardieri 30–31, Naples, Campania, 80121, Italy
Known For
- Authentic Pizza DOC (smaller, with chunky cornicione rim)
- Charming hosts
- Classic Neapolitan meat sauce alla Genovese
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch Mon.
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$$ | Posillipo |
This restaurant is perched overlooking a beach in Posillipo near the end of a long winding side road, and has long capitalized on its location. The landmark also comes with its own piece of Neapolitan folklore: in the 19th century the owner's great-grandmother Carolina was one day standing at the window (fenestella in the local dialect) and was spotted by musician Salvatore Di Giacomo below, thus inspiring the Neapolitan folk song "Marechiaro." Today, the restaurant is straightforwardly traditional, with comfortable decor and the usual suspects on the menu.
Calata del Ponticello a Marechiaro 23, Naples, Campania, 80123, Italy
Known For
- Part of the city's folklore
- Glorious views
- Close to the beach
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Tues. Sept.–May
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$$ | Toledo |
Considered the birthplace of pizza Margherita, it's also one of the most picturesque restaurants in Italy. Set on a cobblestone alleyway just off chic Via Chiaia, with an elaborate presepe in the window, it welcomes you with an enchanting wood-beam salon festooned with 19th-century memorabilia, saint shrines, gilded mirrors, and bouquets of flowers, beyond which you can see the kitchen and the pizzaioli at work. However, most of Naples stays away from this place, as the pizzas are admittedly better elsewhere. But there's no denying the decor is delizioso and if tourists like Luciano Pavarotti, Chelsea Clinton, Bill Murray, and Gerard Depardieu have dined here, it can be worth the stop to see a slice of pizza history.
Salita Sant'Anna di Palazzo 1, Naples, Campania, 80132, Italy
Known For
- The birthplace of pizza
- Atmosphere is better than the food
- Historical
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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$$ | Toledo |
Just off Via Toledo, Ciro has been an obligatory entry on any list of the best of Neapolitan cooking (as opposed to cuisine) since 1930, when Toscanini and Pirandello used to eat here. Popular with business travelers, artists, and journalists, Ciro is famous for a variety of favorites, with an emphasis on rustic food, from very fine pizzas and justly famed versions of pasta e fagioli to the classic sartù—rice loaf first concocted by Baroque-era nuns—and the splendid pignatiello e vavella, shellfish soup. The menu, which includes gluten-free items, almost looks too large for all its items to actually be good, but the owners must be doing something right, as the place is often packed with Neapolitan regulars. The waiters are darling wherever you sit, but try to get a table upstairs, which has a more pleasant atmosphere.
Via Santa Brigida 71, Naples, Campania, 80132, Italy
Known For
- Local favorite
- Gluten-free menu
- Friendly service
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
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$$ | Santa Lucia |
The first restaurant to open on the seafront, this elegant pizzeria has been an essential hangout for Naples's gilded youth since 1994. Offering 36 kinds of pizza—including gluten-free—plus a fine selection of salads and an ample buffet make this a refreshing change from the more minimal pizzerie. The various stuffed pizzas named after kings are classics with a modern twist: try the Boccone di Re Ferdinando, filled with salsiccia (sausage), friarielli (broccoli rabe), and provola (smoked mozzarella) cheese, or the half-fried, half-oven cooked Re di Napoli.
Via Partenope 9, Naples, Campania, 80121, Italy
Known For
- Seafront's oldest pizziera
- Large selection
- Friendly staff
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$$ | Santa Lucia |
Within the picturesque Borgo Marinaro harbor, in the shadow of Castel dell'Ovo, it's as if you're eating aboard a transatlantic cruise ship. With the Bay of Naples nearby and Vesuvius in the background, you can understand the nautical decor, blue tablecloths, and the menu abrim with fish delicacies. (Foodies should also note that this was the site of the Roman villa of Lucullus, the moneyed aristocrat famous for his passion for luxurious dining.) A best bet is the schiaffoni with astice and pescatrice (large flat tube pasta with lobster and angler fish), or one of the tasty pizzas, but leave room for the dolce of the day (great house-made tiramisu or pear cake with ricotta). If after one too many limoncellos you feel like crashing, just head upstairs and book one of the bright and airy guest rooms in the hotel.
Via Luculliana 15, Borgo Marinaro, Naples, Campania, 80132, Italy
Known For
- Dining fit for a Roman aristocrat
- Good location on the bay
- Fresh fish dishes
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Tues.
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$$ | Chiaia |
This stylish place took the Naples dining scene by storm a few years back, and it remains popular thanks to the innovative cuisine of master chef Diego Nuzzo. A bar runs the length of the restaurant, where salami and other glorious tidbits are served. But for the real deal, take a table and be pampered with subtle dishes such as insalata di aragosta e gamberi alla catalana (lobster and prawn salad garnished with citrus). Large groups can book a private room.
Vicoletto Cappella Vecchia 4/5, Naples, Campania, 80121, Italy
Known For
- High-quality cuisine
- Vast wine list
- Convival atmosphere
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed 3 wks in Aug. No lunch Mon.–Sat.; no dinner Sun.
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$$ | Centro Storico |
The premise of this innovative eatery is to weigh the delicacies diners choose from the adventurous buffet and charge by the pound. In recent times they have introduced a menu of fixed-price bowls, a Neapolitan variation of Hawaiian poke—the squisita (exquisite) includes rice, octopus, hummus, and cherry tomatoes, and there is also a vegan option. The open kitchen looks over a large communal high table with stools, and outdoor seating overlooks the throbbing Piazza Beliini.
Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli 102, Naples, Campania, 80138, Italy
Known For
- Selling meals by the pound
- Neapolitan poke
- Communal eating area
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$$ | Centro Storico |
This restaurant's name translates roughly to "room of taste," but the tastes here are many and extend from the traditional to the gourmet and ultramodern. Start with the antipasto di pesce (seafood appetizer), experience the glory that is Naples in the gattò delle due Sicilie (cake of the two Sicilies; Sicilian eggplant with a cheese fondue and a pesto mustard), or bow to contemporary sensibilities with the menu vegetariano km zero (all local vegetables of the season). With its recycled chairs and tables and vintage-style ads outside, this place exhibits a strong but pleasing personality. The cheese-and-wine parlor downstairs has an easygoing ambience, while the room upstairs is more of a slow-food den.
Via S. Maria di Costantinopoli 100, Naples, Campania, 80138, Italy
Known For
- Innovative takes on local dishes
- Outside seating that's ideal for people-watching
- Downstairs cheese-and-wine parlor
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
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$$ | Port |
As its name suggests, this gracious trattoria atop a flight of steps on a small side street near Naples's main university is popular with actors, but it manages to remain welcomingly low-key. Warmed with touches of wood, it prides itself on its fresh interpretations of Neapolitan classics: excellent salami, mozzarella, and frittura among the appetizers, cabbage soup fragrant with good beef stock, and meat and fish grilled over wood. Typical Neapolitan desserts, such as babas and the familiar crunchy almond cookies called quaresimali, are served with house-made liqueurs.
Rampe San Giovanni Maggiore 1/a, Naples, Campania, 80134, Italy
Known For
- Thespian atmosphere
- Old-school surroundings
- Neapolitan cuisine
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun., and last 2 wks in Aug. No lunch
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$$ | Centro Storico |
The city's most historic eatery is said to have first opened in the 13th century, and the story goes that Caravaggio was brutally attacked here in 1609 after dining at the inn. Today the basement still maintains a fountain from the original structure, and the menu itself also retains certain flavors of the past. Try the 17th-century dish ziti spezzati alla genovese (a meat and onion pasta), which is considered a local specialty.
Via del Cerriglio 3, Naples, Campania, 80134, Italy
Known For
- Place in art history
- Efficient service
- Local cuisine
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch Sun. and Mon.
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$$ | Piazza Garibaldi |
Patrons of this Neapolitan institution have included the filmmaker Federico Fellini and that truly Neapolitan comic genius and self-styled aristocrat, Totò. It's in a fairly seedy area so take a taxi, especially at night, but it's worth it to sample Mimì's classics such as pasta e fagioli and the sea bass al presidente, baked in a pastry crust and enjoyed by visiting Italian presidents. The owner's son Salvatore is the chef, working wonders in the kitchen. This is not so much a see-and-be-seen place as common ground for the famous and the unknown to mingle, feast, and be merry.
Via A. D'Aragona 19/21, Naples, Campania, 80139, Italy
Known For
- Crammed with washed-out photos of Italian VIPs
- Classic Neapolitan dishes
- Fresh fish on display from the market
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and last wk in Aug.
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$$ | Chiaia |
The bright, clean, and simple decor reflects this place's lighter take on traditionally heavy Neapolitan food. The soupy pasta e piselli (with peas) is a wonderful surprise for anyone who has bad memories of pea soup, and the penne alla scarpariello (pasta with fresh tomato, basil, and pecorino cheese) is a specialty to set taste buds quivering.
Via S. Teresa a Chiaia 11, Naples, Campania, 80121, Italy
Known For
- Cosy atmosphere
- Improved take on well-known dishes
- Pastel decor
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed 3 wks in Aug. and Tues. No lunch weekdays
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