Buongiorno! Yes, I’m talking about food again. And once again, it’s about Pizza.
Are you looking to visit Naples and taste some of the best pizza in the world? Keen to get tantalising tastebud heaven? You need to visit L’antica Pizzeria da Michele.
Just typing the name Pizzeria Da Michele makes me start to drool just a teeny bit and wistfully cast my mind back to that day in Naples when we first fell in love… and by “we” I mean the pizzeria and I of course! 😉
I discovered the author Elizabeth Gilbert in 2008 and absolutely devoured her book “Eat Pray Love” and BOY I’m glad I did because otherwise I would have never found this little piece of heaven!
In Elizabeth’s book she talks about her time in Rome, the amazing self-discoveries she made – and the pizza she had in Naples! In fact, Elizabeth had this to say about the delights she found at Pizzeria Da Michele… “If you go to Naples and don’t eat this pizza, please lie to me later and tell me that you did.”
After a review like that we simply HAD to go when we visited Naples!
Armed with a poorly hand-drawn map we braved the noisy streets of Naples in search for this holy grail of pizza! The cobblestone roads, the crazy drivers and the weird and wonderful smells of Naples made the experience even more exciting – you REALLY know you are in Italy!
Finally (after a few wrong turns) we stumbled across “Via Cesare Sersale” a teeny little back road that no tourist (unless they were looking for it) would ever find. The smell of fresh dough hit us first and then we spotted the queue outside and they were ALL locals – that’s when we knew we were DEFINITELY in for a treat.
We joined the queue outside Pizzeria da Michele and were handed a number which was great except that we don’t know ANY Italian so as they were calling out the numbers we were completely at a loss and just stood their hoping we weren’t losing our place in the line!
Finally after holding up our number with confused expressions many times it was our turn and THAT’S when the fun began…
Stepping inside the Pizzeria Da Michele was like stepping into an Italian dining room in the fifties when the whole family (and extended family) were over for a very boisterous and delicious dinner!
There were four men (of varying ages) crowded around an ancient-looking cash register yelling in Italian at each other, as only family can do, whilst simultaneously bidding farewell AND greeting new customers to their little pizza heaven.
We were hurried to a teeny table before the poor people that were there previously had even got their coats on, unceremoniously plopped down and offered a drink – or that’s what I thought he was asking at least!
There are only two options on the menu at Pizzeria Da Michele – Mozzarella and Marinara – so we ordered one of each with two cokes and waited for the magic to happen!
Sitting in the restaurant is an experience in itself as you watch these amazing pizza creations whipping by you at the speed of light while a team of Italian men work like a well-oiled (and LOUD) machine all around you!
The smells are enough to make anybody fall to their knees and BEG for a slice – luckily it didn’t come to that.
I’d say within 15 minutes our wood-fired pizzas were plonked down in front of us and our life changed forever – ok this may be a slight exaggeration but only slightly.
This pizza was like NOTHING we’ve ever had before, EVER, and it puts Dominos to shame – in fact they should just close up shop right now! We have never looked at pizza the same way after Michele’s pizza and probably never will!
The pizza dough was fluffy, chewy and crunchy at the same time. The sauce was made from scratch and there was just enough of it but not TOO much. And the cheese, well… it was ridiculously amazing! There was no meat, no fancy schmanzy toppings, it was just traditional Italian pizza heaven.
Safe to say, each and every part came together to create the most amazing taste sensation you could EVER imagine. My mouth is salivating just reliving it.
Basically what I’m trying to tell you is that you simply CANNOT miss Pizzeria Da Michele’s if you go anywhere near Naples, Italy!
This century-old restaurant is a true Italian gem and you should definitely get your behind there before its taken over by tourists from every corner of the globe!
And like Elizabeth Gilbert said, If you go to Naples and don’t eat this pizza, please lie to me later and tell me that you did.’
Getting There
Pizzeria Da Michele is located in central Naples, close to Piazza Garibaldi train station. If riding the metro, get off at the Porta Nolano Metro stop (lines 3 and 4) and the restaurant is a 5 minute walk.
Address: Via Cesare Sersale, 1, 80139 Napoli, Italy
For more recommendations like this view my Italy travel guide.
