17 Best Restaurants in Naples, Italy

Favored by meat eaters who can't abide another bite of bream, this cozy, dimly lit dining den is known for dishes such as tender carpaccio with fresh artichoke hearts. There are also excellent homemade pasta selections, including orecchiette with chickpeas or pappardelle al sugo di agnello (pasta with lamb sauce), but the highlights are the extravagant grilled meat plates. Finish up with a babà or slice of pastiera for dessert. The restaurant is very popular among locals, so reservations are recommended.

This fourth-generation fish shop run by brothers is also a trendy, if rough-and-ready, spot to enjoy a super-fresh but pricey seafood meal—including superb Neapolitan sushi—and cold wine while sitting on a buoy stool.

Set on a corner of the chicly bohemian Piazza Bellini for more than 70 years, this staple Neapolitan restaurant is worth visiting just to observe the waiters, all of whom seem to have just stepped off the stage of a Neapolitan comedy. Although the neighborhood is a bit scruffy, this place proudly retains an old-world feel, with options that include a fine (if rather small) pizza and classic seafood dishes such as linguine al cartoccio (baked in paper) or con mezzo astice (a type of small lobster). Go up the narrow stairs to the spacious dining rooms, or squeeze in at one of the outside tables in summer.

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.

In the 1954 film L'Oro di Napoli, Sofia Loren sold fried pizza from a basso (a street-level room), something Concettina Flessigno Oliva had already been doing since three years earlier. This is now one of Naples's most highly acclaimed pizzerias, and Oliva’s great-grandson's menu includes all the usual culprits as well as pizza wedges based on local in-season ingredients. Twenty-seven Pulcinella masks by renowned local artist Lello Esposito hang in the entrance, and a Nativity scene is perched over the proceedings in the long hall. Gluten-free pizzas are also available.

Despite its location on an unpromising-looking vicolo (alley) off the Riviera di Chiaia, this small restaurant has achieved cult status for its seafood platters. It's remarkable what owner--chef Renato can produce in his tiny kitchen—start with linguine alla Dora, laden with local seafood and fresh tomatoes, and perhaps follow up with grilled pezzogna (blue-spotted bream). Like many seafront restaurants, on busy nights, Da Dora has its own guitarist, who is often robustly accompanied by the kitchen staff.

Perched above a beach in Posillipo, near the end of a long winding side road, this landmark restaurant is associated with a bit 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.

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 classics with a modern twist and a gluten-free option—plus a fine selection of salads and an ample buffet, this makes a refreshing change from the more minimal pizzerie. Among the pizzas, try the salsiccia e friarielli (topped with sausage and broccoli rabe), carciofina (with cream of eggplant, smoked provola cheese, and pecorino), or the half-Margherita, half-calzone (stuffed pizza) Re di Napoli.

The nautical decor and menu brimming with seafood delicacies are apt at this restaurant in the picturesque Borgo Marinaro, with the Bay of Naples and Castel dell'Ovo nearby and Vesuvius in the background. Note, too, as you plan your feast—the schiaffoni with astice and pescatrice (large flat tube pasta with lobster and anglerfish) is a good bet—that this area was the site of a villa owned by Lucullus, a Roman aristocrat and general famous for dining lavishly. Try to leave room for the dolce of the day, perhaps tiramisu or pear cake with ricotta. If after one too many limoncellos you feel like crashing, book one of the bright, airy guest rooms in the hotel upstairs.

This stylish place has long been popular thanks to the innovative cuisine of master chef Diego Nuzzo. A bar, where salami and other glorious tidbits are served, runs the length of the restaurant, 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).

A simple enoteca by day, L'Ebbrezza has a dining area in the back that fills up in the evening (and for Sunday lunch), and the attention paid to the quality of the wine carries over to the food. Try one of the fantastic antipasti or the paccheri stuffed with eggplant parmigiana. Other highlights include a daily selection of hot dishes, as well as rare cheeses such as the much-prized pecorino di Fossa di Sogliano from Emilia-Romagna and the local caciocavallo podolico.

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.

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 the artsy intelligentsia, but it manages to remain welcomingly low-key. Warmed with touches of wood, it prides itself on its fresh interpretations of Neapolitan classics, with excellent salami, mozzarella, and frittura appetizers, cabbage soup fragrant with good beef stock, and meat and fish grilled over wood. Desserts include Sicilian cannoli—crisp pastry tubes filled with dark chocolate mousse or ricotta cream. Finish your meal with a choice of liqueurs or Neapolitan moka coffee.

Conveniently close to the archaeological museum yet surprisingly off the tourist beat, this small eatery is patronized by professori from the nearby Academy of Fine Arts and theatergoers from the Teatro Bellini next door. A specialty here is the blend of seafood with vegetables—try the mezzanelli con cozze e peperoncini verdi (long pasta with mussels and green peppers) or paccheri al baccalà (large pasta tubes with codfish). If you prefer meat, try the brasato alla genovese con funghi (braised beef with mushrooms). The service at Osteria is both swift and obliging, and they have one of the best wine lists in the city.

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 mezzanini allo scarpariello (pasta tubes with fresh tomato, basil, and pecorino cheese) will set taste buds quivering.

A small low-key entrance on Piazza Vanvitelli opens into a labyrinth of underground cellars and a large covered courtyard surrounded by palazzos. This bustling eatery suits a range of palates and budgets, though its pizzas and several variants of filetto (fillet steak) come highly recommended. Portions are large, so be conservative when ordering.