MMM Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 We're planning 3 days in Naples later this month and are hoping to try several of the classic Neapolitan pizza places, as well as other trattorias. Does anyone have any recent experience there? We're also venturing into Molise - Campobasso where 2 Gambero Rosso "Red" restaurants are located, and Bojano - where there's one. Ending with a night at the Torre Gaia "Wine Resort" in Campania near Dugenta. I know this is pretty much off the beaten track, but maybe someone else here has explored there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe H Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 da Michele, Trianon, Brandi (where pizza Margherita was first made) are the three most famous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brr Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Trianon is my favorite place for pizza another restaurant we enjoyed was Da Dora - some info here - sometime very charming about strolling up a residential cobbled street on a warm evening, past families getting ready to eat or relaxing after eating and then you find this unassuming little place with great food http://viatraveldesign.com/journal/archive...09/da_dora.html and the late RW Apple had this to say about it....didn;t know this at the time - just googled it "Dora's spaghetti con vongole sets the standard for the whole town. It is made with dime-size clams, called vongole verace, colored a beautiful brown with cream stripes, plus olive oil, garlic and gobs of parsley. The pasta is dressed when it is blazingly hot, which helps it to drink in all the fruitiness of the oil, the brininess of the clams and the herby freshness of the parsley. Ecco! A cliche becomes a classic. I kept ordering things, because I was alone and the plates headed elsewhere looked so good. Each dish was a study in glorious simplicity: a little heap of deep-fried calamari, flavored with a few drops of juice from a sweet-tart Sorrento lemon; four grilled scampi, their long, charred shells lending them an evocative seaside taste and aroma; a delicate little fish from Capri called, I think, a pezzogna, cooked in a spicy bouillon called acqua pazza (crazy water); and a plate of wild strawberries with perfect lemon sorbet. The waiter wrote out the name of the fish for me; it tasted like orata or another of the breams, but I can find no reference to it anywhere, not even in Alan Davidson's encyclopedic ''Mediterranean Seafood.'' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMM Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 Thanks all for the suggestions. Da Dora sounds wonderful. We'll be there 3 days and won't eat only pizza! Also good link to a very interesting web site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe H Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 (edited) There's a lot of bad pizza in Naples. You really should go to one of the three that I've mentioned or do research for another. This is one place on earth that I wouldn't waste a meal on a mediocre pizza which is quite easy to do there. And, for that matter, almost everywhere in Italy. This is the link for the complete four page article from the "legendary" R. W. Appleof the New York Times in which he mentions all three of these and several others as well as Da Dora: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...cts%2fP%2fPizza As he notes you are going to have to make some effort to get into Da Michelle. It is worth it. Edited October 11, 2006 by Joe H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMM Posted October 16, 2006 Author Share Posted October 16, 2006 Wonderful article link, Joe. Thanks. An E-Gulleteer raves about Salvo, so I have 3 or 4 top spots to choose from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMM Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 Our Naples pizza experiences: Friday night - feeling very frazzled after the utter chaos of driving in Naples, we walked to a place whose name translates to "Buffalo Brothers," close to our B&B and recommended by the proprietor. Good Italian pizza, not extraordinary. Saturday lunch - da Michele. We got the Margherita with double mozzarella (on the recommendation of the policeman from Ancona who sat across from us). This is superb pizza, delicious in every way. Could not be improved upon! Sunday night most pizza places were closed so we opted for Lombardi a Santa Chiara. It's a "vera pizza Napolitana" place although with more topping choices and was very good. Clear winner - da Michele! We also had dinner Sat. night at Da Dora. It's a friendly, bustling place with excellent seafood, and in the middle of the evening, Dora herself broke into song and serenaded her patrons with Neapolitan favorites. It's a bit expensive, but seafood usually is in Italy. Anyway we loved it. We had 3 or 4 truly wonderful meals at small places in the hinterlands of Campania and Molise. If anyone plans a trip in that direction, I"ll happily fill you in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brr Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 feeling very frazzled after the utter chaos of driving in Naples to this date, I look as driving in Naples unscathed as one of my singular achievements! We also had dinner Sat. night at Da Dora.....we loved it. glad you liked it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizza man Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I just returned from Naples, where I ate 13 pizze in 3 days. A common menu item in the pizzeria was the "Wurstel". It was topped with, sliced hot dogs and, provola or swiss cheese (no tomato). A variation on that, called "Pub", had french fries on top. Honestly, I regret not trying one. The Neapolitan seem to really like "wurstel americano" There were quite a few hot dog carts around the city advertising just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe H Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Brandi, da Michele, Trianon, etc. Did you go to any of these? Which of these (or any other) did you like the most? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizza man Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Brandi, da Michele, Trianon, etc. Did you go to any of these? Which of these (or any other) did you like the most? Da Michele was the first place I visited, of course. It was quite good. Found the sunflower oil on top a bit heavy though..The marinara was my preferred pizza here. Also went to Gino Sorbillo, l'europeo di Mattozzi (pizza not so good, antipasti were great), La Chaloupa (sp?), La Pasqualina, Starita di Mater Dei, Pizzeria del Presidente, Pizzeria Salvo (outside Naples in San Georgio Cremano. Amazing crust.) Uh, I think there were more but I would have to check my notes.. Salvo had the best Cornicione, Starita (where L'Oro Di Napoli was filmed) had the best overall pizze. Oh, Sorbillo was also amazing. Also, had an amazing meal consisting mostly of Crudo (not the americanized version) at the port in Pozuolli. The restaurant was called Ristorante Bobo. I highly recommend visiting this place if you have the chance. We intentionally passed on Brandi and Trianon..Brandi has a reputation of being expensive, touristic and not so good. Trianon I skipped out of spite. Most of the pizzeria we visited were based on recommendations from other pizzaiulli. There just wasn't enough time or stomach room to visit all of the pizzeria in Naples..not even if we had been there for a month! I will post some pics when the computer is fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 pizzaiulli. If "pizzaiolo" is becoming trite (due entirely to YOU for having planted it in the Washington-area vernacular) "pizzaiulli" may have just been used for the first time in modern English conversation. Pete Cy Youlee. Sounds like a baseball pitcher, or a country singer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizza man Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Actually I think I spelled it wrong, along with other things in my previous post. Anyway, here is a link.. http://www.pizzaiuolinapoletani.it/associati.asp a couple of places that I mentioned were Members of this association.. Tad loves Trianon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizza man Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 pictures.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizza man Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 and some vineyards, Avelina and Gragnano, respectively.. Sunrise, and a pizza oven.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sthitch Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 pictures.. Those are great pictures, but I really like the second from the right. But you must tell them that they are making a Quattro Stagioni wrong, well according to this quote: hello, what I know, and I was in ITALY for more then 35 yers, in the pizza 4 stagioni all the ingredient are mix toghether Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizza man Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 perhaps there is some confusion; The quatrogusti typically has all of the toppings mixed together, quatrostagioni is divided into quadrants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Blume Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 Thanks for the report, especially the photos!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASL Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Da Michele was the first place I visited, of course. It was quite good. Found the sunflower oil on top a bit heavy though..The marinara was my preferred pizza here. Last month, we spent the night in Naples before an early AM flight. We did not want to miss an opportunity to try some of the world's best pizza, so we took a taxi to Da Michele. We had two margheritas, which were quite good, although I regret not getting doppio (double) mozzarella. You just get a small handful of melted curds on the regular pie. Several people who sat at adjacent tables ordered theirs "doppio" and the proportion of cheese on those pies was much closer to what I would have expected. Don't get me wrong, the pies were delicious, but I was surprised how little cheese we had on ours. I clearly did not do enough research. 2 pizze, 2 birre, 1 Fanta: 12 Euro Taxi ride to and from airport hotel: 25 Euro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lperry Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Da Michele is still cranking out amazing pizza. Crispy edges, dripping cheese, simple and fresh tomato sauce, a hint of smoke from the oven, complete silence followed by sighs as everyone digs in. By 7 PM you have to wait, but we were there at 6 because of train schedules and got right in. Completely worth the extra effort to get there. My traveling companion has photos of the pizza that I will have soon (my battery died), but here's the oven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrain Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Um say hi next time! I was there yesterday...full report of the 5 pizzerias i visited to come... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lperry Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Um say hi next time! I was there yesterday...full report of the 5 pizzerias i visited to come... Yikes! Maybe we need a "where are the DR-ers" map so we can meet up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrain Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 So I'll start my Europe write-ups in Naples, mostly because I owe pizzaman an update. I relied on his tips and I intentionally just wrote down the names of the places, not what he thought, so I could make my own opinions. I was there for two days and made it to 5 pizzerias. In the order I visited, 1) Sorbillo - I waited over an hour for a spot at 10 pm on a Tuesday, and the street was packed with lots of young locals. $2 wine next store served in the street made the wait a breeze. Quite soupy (which I don't mind), not a great cornicione, not a lot of flavor to the crust, good char, but tasted better than any other pizza I'd ever had. Especially the tomato sauce. 2) Starita di Mater Dei - walk in during lunch, and easily got a seat. Amazing cornicione, crispy and soupy (!), amazing fried items, crust could use more flavor, good char. 3) Pizzeria la Notizia - walk in during dinner, easily got a seat, but mostly because the majority of people eating there were eating in large groups. Decent cornicione, great flavor on crust, great char, pretty crispy, higher quality toppings. 4) Da Michele - walk in during lunch, easily got seat, but I'm pretty sure that's because I'm an American woman, I realized halfway through I definitely got sat before I should have. Terrific char, very soupy, decent cornicione not a lot of flavor to the crust. I'd really caution against double Mozzarella, those pizzas looked like they had a tomato bisque on top bc the extra cheese emitted so much water. 5) Pizzeria Salvo - walk in during dinner, wasn't full while I was there. By far the best flavored crust, good cornicione, good char, high quality toppings, fried pasta carbonara (! delicious), crispy. Other fried items were a step below Starita. Overall Rankings - (the differences between these were not huge) 1. Pizzeria Salvo/ Pizzeria la Notizia - both nicer, more $$ restaurants, most flavorful crust higher quality toppings put them over the top 3. Starita - Best fried items, Great cornicione 4. Da Michele - Best char 5. Sorbillo - Was the best pizza I ever had for a total of 14 hours. The biggest difference from these 'zas compared to the US versions for me was the tomato. Just a completely brighter, better tasting product that made all the pizzas amazing. I'm a huge tomato lover, so I don't know if everyone else will think this difference is such a game changer. I'm going to try and go to Orso or Pupatella tomorrow and see what I think now. Special thanks to pizzaman for quickly responding to my PM and alerting me to Notizia. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrain Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Oh and tourist tips for Naples. Naples looks more dangerous than it is, but do your best not to look like a tourist and keep the same level of vigilance as you would in an unsavory part of DC. Castel Sant Elmo had amazing views, a decent small Art Museum (20th Cent. Naples art) and gets you up out of downtown, highly recommended. The subterranean tour is great as well. There is a train station museum by Salvo that looked like it could have been interesting. Also, crossing the street is pretty great once you get the hang of just walking into oncoming traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lperry Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 ^ It is my understanding that safety is an issue mostly with robberies. One of my friends told me today that it is common practice at better hotels in Naples to provide guests with "disposable" watches so that the good jewelry can be left in the safe, and there will be something with an expensive name on it to be given to the thief. We got targeted by pickpockets in Rome a couple of times, but we knew what to look for, and they were unarmed. Naples is more of a risk for armed robbery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillvalley Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Suggestions for nonpizza places? We'll work through the list above but knowing my parents we'll need some other choices. Also, suggestions for Sorrento? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lperry Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 ...Also, suggestions for Sorrento? I mentioned the fruit groves and liqueurs in the Amalfi Coast thread, and here I'll recommend with a caveat the Taverna Azzurra. The food was good, not outstanding, but the view of the water and Mount Vesuvius across the bay was spectacular at sunset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deangold Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Sorrento... La Vela Blanca for expensive but worth it seafood. A perfect "the parents are paying for it" kind of place. Davide's for gelato. Its inthe centro, past the Duomo and down to the right IIRC. Superb fruit flavored gelati and intense citrus based sorbetti. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisehands Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Davide's for gelato. Its inthe centro, past the Duomo and down to the right IIRC. Superb fruit flavored gelati and intense citrus based sorbetti. Si, si, si for Davide! I was in Sorrento with someone who has lived in the area all her life and she took me to Davide's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rieux Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Headed to Naples for three nights and Sorrento for two Jan 3-8. Planning a day trip to Capri, two days driving around the Amalfi Coast, and a stop at Herculaneum. Any must do/eats for January or on epiphany? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanishka Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Our pizza rankings so far: 1. Sorbillo 2. 50 Kalo 3. The other Sorbillo More to come... plus some words on the Seafront Pasta Bar (go!) and various other Naples experiences. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanishka Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Wow. So much has changed in 3+ months. We went from Naples back to Stuttgart, and learned shortly thereafter that someone on our flight was COVID-19 positive. We were quarantined for two weeks and emerged into this new, weird, masked world. I'll try and recreate my memories of Naples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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