The official average price of a margherita in Naples is in the box just below, with its source. After it come the pizzerias where we eat good pizza for little, from street counters where you eat standing up to older rooms with tables, and what to order at each.
The short list
7 places, in the order they appear below.
- 01Pizzeria Di MatteoPizza and frittatina eaten on the streetPrice: €Via dei Tribunali
- 02Elettroforno GiuliaPizza in teglia and scarole pie to take awayPrice: €Posillipo
- 0350 Kalò — Piazza della RepubblicaCiro Salvo's dough with a reservationPrice: €Piazza della Repubblica
- 04Raf BonettaPizza al padellinoPrice: €Vomero
- 05Pizzeria PelloneA no-frills margherita, cash onlyPrice: €€Near Piazza Garibaldi
- 06Da GennaroFried starters and a local verandaPrice: €€Via Ascanio, west
- 07Starita a MaterdeiMontanara before your pizzaPrice: €€Materdei
Where can you eat pizza in Naples for little?
Two are counters where you eat on your feet: a historic pizzeria on Via dei Tribunali and a takeaway oven in Posillipo. The other two have proper rooms with tables, and both are run by pizzaioli known for their dough.
On Via dei Tribunali, Di Matteo keeps the street-pizza tradition going at a counter that never seems to go quiet. Take your pizza outside with a frittatina di maccheroni, fried pasta with béchamel and ragù. The fryer starts before the oven does. On Saturdays the frittatine sell out early.
Pizzeria Di Matteo
Hours: Mon–Sat 11:00–23:00 · Sun closed
Address: Via dei Tribunali, 94, 80138 Napoli NA, Italy
Elettroforno Giulia, up in Posillipo, is a takeaway counter that has always baked its pizza in teglia, by the tray. Ask for the pizza ripiena di scarole, escarole sealed under puff pastry: it made the shop’s name before the parigina did. Inside there are only fifteen seats, so do as the regulars do and eat out on Piazza San Luigi.
Elettroforno Giulia
Hours: Mon 09:00–02:00 · Tue–Thu 08:30–01:00 · Fri–Sun 08:30–02:00
Address: Piazza S. Luigi, 12/13, 80123 Napoli NA, Italy
Ciro Salvo’s second address, on Piazza della Repubblica, uses the same light, long-fermented dough as his original pizzeria. It is a little cheaper than the original, the pace is different, and the room sits under yellow tuff vaults. Plan ahead and you can book the tasting format in the back room.
50 Kalò — Piazza della Repubblica
Hours: Mon–Thu 12:30–16:00, 19:30–00:00 · Fri 12:30–16:00, 19:30–00:30 · Sat 12:30–16:00, 19:00–00:30 · Sun 12:30–16:00, 19:30–00:00
Address: Piazza della Repubblica, 2, 80122 Napoli NA, Italy
People come to Raf Bonetta, in the Vomero, as much for the technique as for the flavour. His signature is the pizza al padellino, with a glassy, crisp base and a soft, dry crumb. Book first. The room has been full since the day it opened.
Raf Bonetta
Hours: Mon–Thu 12:30–15:30, 19:30–00:00 · Fri 12:30–15:30, 19:30–01:00 · Sat 12:30–16:00, 19:30–01:00 · Sun 12:30–16:00, 19:30–00:00
Address: Via Domenico Cimarosa, 144, 80127 Napoli NA, Italia
Which neighbourhood pizzerias do Neapolitans use every day?
A step up in price come the pizzerias that have fed the same streets for decades. They cost a little more than the four places above.
Pellone, near Piazza Garibaldi, takes cash only and works fast, and it is always full of cabbies and market workers. Its prices have barely moved with inflation. Plenty of Neapolitans treat its margherita as the benchmark for pizza without ceremony. Come for lunch on a weekday and you skip the evening queue on Via Nazionale.
Pizzeria Pellone
Hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–16:00, 18:00–00:00 · Sun closed
Address: Via Nazionale, 93, 80143 Napoli NA, Italy
Out west on Via Ascanio, the third generation of the same family runs Da Gennaro, a small room with bare tuff walls. In summer the tables move onto a veranda used almost entirely by locals. Start with the fried plate, which comes out well before anything from the oven, then order the Saporita, the house pizza.
Da Gennaro
Hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–16:00, 18:00–00:00 · Sun 18:00–00:00
Address: Via Ascanio, 25, 80124 Napoli NA
Starita has been in Materdei for more than a century. One family runs it, with no other branches, and its wood oven has never been moved. Open with a montanara: a small round of fried dough topped with tomato and provola. Go on a midweek evening if you want a quieter room than at the weekend.
Starita a Materdei
Hours: Mon closed · Tue–Sun 12:00–15:30, 19:00–23:30
Address: Via Materdei, 27/28, 80136 Napoli NA, Italy
How do these cheap pizzerias in Naples compare?
Mostly it depends on how you want to eat. If you need a quick stop between sights, go to one of the two counters. The cheaper sit-down rooms are worth booking. The older neighbourhood pizzerias charge slightly more. Here is where each one sits and what it does best.
We’d use the counters for lunch on the move and keep the sit-down rooms for the evening, booking wherever the cards above say to. The places are spread across the city. Pair each one with the neighbourhood around it instead of crossing town for a single pizza.
