Where to eat the best pizza fritta in Naples

In post-war Naples, the one recounted by Neorealism, women tried their hand at various trades to make ends meet: one of these consisted of frying pizza in the streets for passers-by. The famous scene in De Sica's L'Oro di Napoli (The Gold of Naples), with Sophia Loren intent on preparing fried pizzas in the streets of Martedei, is a good representation of what went on: two stacks of bricks supporting the burners, the smell of boiling oil and the fragrance of leavened dough, this is the fresco of Naples at the time, a time when the wood-fired oven was inaccessible and even the tonda was a luxury. Biting into a fried pizza in the streets of the city today is a plunge into the past: here is where to find it.

The best pizza fritta in Naples

1947 Pizza Fritta

Enzo Durante has written in the name of his sign the coronation date of fried pizza as Neapolitan street food. A disc of light, thin dough, artfully made here, light as a golden cloud, able to please everyone in its variations. Try the one with mortadella and pistachios or the one with yellow tomatoes and caciovallo cheese, or the pizza with Neapolitan ragù. Then there is the cuoppo, the rolled paper cone containing zeppoline, frittatine pasta and crocchè or anchovies, prawns and squid in the seafood version.

1947 Pizza Fritta – via Pietro Colletta, 29/31 – Facebook

Antica Pizza Fritta da Zia Esterina Sorbillo dal 1935

The name is dedicated to Sorbillo's aunt, one of the women who took to the streets to scrape together some money with a poor but tasty food, and has long been synonymous with fried pizza in Naples. The traditional variant with ricotta, cicoli and pepper is worth tasting, but more modern flavours also have their say, especially the one with meatballs in sauce. Three locations in all for this winning format, which convinces with its light and digestible dough.

Antica Pizza Fritta da Zia Esterina Sorbillo dal 1935 – Piazza Trieste e Trento, 53 – via dei Tribunali, 35 - Piazzetta Nilo, 14 - Facebook

Friggitoria Vomero

Here, since 1938, the Acunzos have been frying for the 'good neighbourhood' of Naples: crocchè, pasta cresciute, arancini, polenta, aubergines, seaweed and spinach fritters for 30 cents: all the components for a fun, cheap and satisfying 'cuoppo'. And of course also the pizza dough, generously stuffed, cooked to perfection and served piping hot and dry.

Friggitoria Vomero – via D. Cimarosa, 44 - Facebook

Isabella De Cham

With collaborations in Capri and Ibiza and a shop also in Aversa, Isabella de Cham is a reference for the white art. In her establishment in Rione Sanità, she prepares great doughs for dry, fragrant and well-stuffed fried pizzas, which flank excellent round pizzas cooked in a wood-fired oven. All the pizzas with vegetables are good, as are the fried ones, from frittatine pasta to potato crocché.

Isabella De Cham – via Arena della Sanità, 27 - Facebook

La Masardona

For several generations, the Piccirillo family have carried on the tradition of local street food, maintaining the high quality of the product, offered with a wide range of fillings and in the two typical formats: the tonda, composed of two overlapping discs of dough, and the battilocchio, a single disc folded and elongated to become a half-moon. Among the different flavours, the classic version with ricotta, cicoli, provola, tomato and pepper remains unbeatable. Second location in Piazza Vittoria.

La Masardona – via G.C. Capaccio, 27 - Facebook

Pizzeria de' Figliole

In the Forcella district, it is a spectacle to see the three sisters Giuseppina, Immacolata and Carmela at work. Here they continue to prepare, fry and serve their mouth-watering fried pizzas with sympathy and love. You can choose between the various fillings and between the two formats on offer: a smaller crescent-shaped one and the round version, made by overlapping two discs of dough. Popular prices and friendly service do the rest.

Pizzeria de’ Figliole – via Giudecca Vecchia, 39 - Facebook