Neapolitan pizza
Pizza napoletana · Naples, Italy
The original soft, thin pizza with a puffy rim — though the Margherita story may have been made up later.
Know before you go
- Don't ask for pineapple at a traditional pizzeria
- don't have your pizza cut and boxed to eat slowly later (real pizza is meant to be eaten fresh from the oven)
This article is Not yet verified. Please check official announcements for prices, opening hours and dates.
Stories & people
Stories & people
Legend
A tricolour pizza for the queen
The most widely told story is that on 10 June 1889 the Capodimonte Palace asked the Neapolitan pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito to make pizza for the visiting Queen Margherita. He made three kinds, and the queen liked best the one in the three colours of the Italian flag — red tomato, white mozzarella and green basil — so the pizza was named after her, and the shop still displays a letter of thanks from the queen's 'head of table services'. Later research has questioned this story, however: the letter's authenticity is doubtful, newspapers of the time made no mention of the visit, and the 'Margherita' story and name only began to be promoted in the 1930s and 1940s.
Source: Wikipedia: Pizza Margherita
Culture
Culture & customs
Background
Neapolitan pizza is a round pizza made in Naples, with a soft, thin base and a puffy rim. It is an EU 'Traditional Speciality Guaranteed', and 'the art of the Neapolitan pizzaiuolo' is on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. Under the rules of the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN), the dough may contain only wheat flour, natural or brewer's yeast, salt and water.
Local customs
- Neapolitans often eat it with a knife and fork, or fold a slice in four 'a portafoglio' (wallet-style)
- a whole pizza each is normal
Etiquette
Etiquette & taboos
Rules that apply here
Italy: don't drive into historic-centre limited traffic zones (ZTL)
- Park outside restricted zones and walk into town
- Driving into a ZTL zone without a permit
You will be fined.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: GOV.UK: Italy travel advice
Italy: validate your ticket before boarding
- Validate your ticket in the machine before using public transport
- Travelling with an unvalidated ticket
Inspectors will fine you on the spot.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: GOV.UK: Italy travel advice
Italy: don't buy from unlicensed street vendors
- Shop at proper stores
- Buying from unlicensed street vendors
It is illegal, and local police may stop and fine you.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: GOV.UK: Italy travel advice
Italy: rules around monuments and fountains
- Keep the area around monuments clean and quiet
- Going into or splashing in public fountains (Florence, Rome and elsewhere)
- Swimming in Venice's canals
- Eating and drinking next to major churches, monuments and public buildings
- Sitting on monument steps, littering, or scratching or writing on monuments
All are local offences; urinating in public can bring a fine of up to €10,000.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: GOV.UK: Italy travel advice
Rome's Spanish Steps: no sitting, eating or drinking
- Walk up the steps and keep moving after your photo
- Sitting, resting, eating or drinking on the steps
Banned by Rome's urban police regulations since 2019; media report fines of €250, rising to €400 for dirtying or damaging the steps.
Verified Oct 19, 2026Source: ANSA: Rome bans sitting on the Spanish Steps (2019)
Don’t DON'T
- Don't ask for pineapple at a traditional pizzeria
- don't have your pizza cut and boxed to eat slowly later (real pizza is meant to be eaten fresh from the oven)
Locals appreciate DO
Neapolitans appreciate customers who eat it hot, straight from the oven.
Plan your visit
Practical info
Travel tips
- The old pizzerias of central Naples often have a ticket queue
- marinara and margherita are the two classics. Prices and opening hours are set by each shop
- popular old places often have queues, so go outside peak mealtimes.
Photos
Photos
Kos88 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Alessandro57 · CC BY-SA 4.0
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