The 4 Best Street Foods to Try in Naples, Italy

The rich culinary history of Naples and its vibrant culture make it one of the best places to try street food in Italy. It doesn’t hurt that there’s an enormous bounty of fresh ingredients surrounding the city from the land and in the sea.

This translates into a lot of great street food opportunities like pizza fritta, sfogliatella, and cuoppo. They’re sold all over the city, making it easy to include all of them in just about any Naples food tour.

Pizza

Naples is the ancestral home of pizza, which means you can find it just about anywhere. Neapolitan pizza is made with fresh mozzarella, authentic San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil, and a light drizzle of olive oil. Not only does it have an astonishing depth of flavor, but you can truly taste the terroir of the volcano soil surrounding Naples in the tomatoes.

You also have to keep in mind that not every pizzeria in Naples offers a slice of a small pie street food. Most view pizza, especially Margherita pizza, as a sit-down meal you might eat with a knife and fork!

One of my favorite places for street food pizza in Naples is Antica Pizzeria Di Matteo and their pizza a portafoglio. It’s a smaller “Wallet” pizza that they sell folded in paper.  I really appreciate how they get the crust extra-crispy, which makes it easy to eat out of hand as a true street food.

Antica Pizzeria Di Matteo (€) – Via dei Tribunali, 94, 80138 Napoli NA, Italy – Open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM. Closed on Sunday. 

Pizza Fritta

Pizza fritta is a type of fried pizza that’s even more common as a Neapolitan street food than pizza a portafoglio. It has a centuries-old history harkening back to a time when food safety was an issue in Naples. So, the locals fried a lot of their food, including the precursor to modern pizza to ensure it was 100% safe to eat.

Today pizza fritta has evolved into two different forms that you can easily eat on the go. The calzone-style completely folds the crust over the filling and seals it like a savory turnover. Then they deep-fry it until it’s golden brown. I think this is a great option when you want to catch a bite on a walking tour.

The Montanara style of pizza fritta is my go-to option when I want street food that truly tastes like a pizza.  It feels a little bit like pizza a portafoglio with a round pizza base that’s fried and then topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and basil. Then they quickly bake it after frying to melt the cheese.

My favorite place for a montanara style pizza fritta in Naples is Antica Pizza Fritta da Zia Esterina Sorbillo. The one I like the best is filled with fresh ricotta and cicoli pork cracklings. The ricotta is both rich and light, which does a great job of keeping the pizza fritta from feeling too heavy!

Antica Pizza Fritta da Zia Esterina Sorbillo (€) – Piazza Trieste e Trento, 53, 80132 Napoli NA, Italy – Open Sunday to Thursday from 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Open Friday and Saturday from 11:00 AM to 12:00 AM.

Cuoppo

Cuoppo is one of the most popular street foods in Naples. It’s basically a cone-shaped paper container filled with deep-fried delicacies sold at friggitorie, fried food shops. It’s usually a mixture of fried treats with some type of seafood as the central protein accompanied by fried vegetables or potato croquettes.

It reminds you that Naples isn’t far from the sea, which means you’ll usually find fried shrimp, squid, and anchovies in a cuoppo. However, I’m also a big fan of the meat and cheese cuoppo as well.

There are also friggitorie that offer sweet cuoppo and fried baked goods. Not least of which is my beloved zeppole, which are basically the Italian equivalent of fried mini doughnuts.

While friggitories like La Masardona and Vomero are definitely worthy of a stop, my favorite place for cuoppo is Antica Friggitoria Fiorenzano. They offer a wide range of sweet and savory cuoppo.

However, I’m in love with their zeppole, which are fried fresh, giving them a perfectly crispy exterior with a pillowy soft interior. The perfect snack to eat while strolling the Montesanto neighborhood or Spaccanapoli street.

Antica Friggitoria Fiorenzano (€) – Via Pignasecca, 48, 80134 Napoli NA, Italy – Open Monday to Saturday from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM.

Sfogliatella

Sfogliatella is a much-beloved Neapolitan layered pastry that often incorporates some type of filling. The delicate, crispy layers on the outside are almost reminiscent of baklava. They play perfectly with the soft creamy filling on the inside.

In Naples, you often find two different types of sfogliatella based on the type of crust used to make the layers. Then different maestro pasticciere come up with different fillings for each type, which might change with what’s in season.

Sfogliatella riccia is the more traditional version, which has exceptionally crunchy, shell-like layers that I think are reminiscent of seashells. The layers are usually rolled into very thin sheets of dough that are very similar to phyllo, and then laminated with lard or butter, before baking crispy.

Sfogliatella frolla is made from a smooth, short crust-type of pastry dough which makes them less crispy than Riccia. However, it also gives them the structural integrity to handle more filling.

Some of the best places for sfogliatella in Naples are Carraturo, and Pasticceria Poppella, but my favorite is Mary’s Sfogliatella. They’re one of the vintage sfogliatella makers in Naples and I enjoy the complexity of flavor that comes from their filling’s blend of ricotta cheese, semolina, sugar, and citrus zest.

Mary’s Sfogliatella (€) – Galleria Umberto I, 66, 80132 Napoli NA, Italy – Open Wednesday to Monday from 8:00 AM to 8:30 PM. Closed on Tuesday.

Conclusion

Naples has some of the best street food in all of Italy. From pizza fritta at places like Antica Pizza Fritta da Zia Esterina Sorbillo to Sfogliatella at Pasticceria Poppella, and the cuoppo at Antica Friggitoria Fiorenzano, you can easily feel spoiled for choice. With so many delicious options, it’s easy to include multiple stops in your next Naples food tour.