Restaurants in Naples

Neapolitans love to eat, and you’ll love dining here, too. What’s not to like about a cuisine in which pizza is a staple? Other dishes to look out for include mozzarella in carrozza (fried mozzarella in a “carriage”), in which mozzarella is fried between two pieces of bread and topped with a sauce of the chef’s design, often with tomatoes and capers; gnocchi alla sorrentina, little pockets of potato pasta filled with mozzarella and topped with tomato sauce; ragu, a sauce of several meats cooked for hours and served atop pasta, of course, or served in a bowl with thick slices of bread for dunking; parmigiana di melanzane (eggplant parmigiano), yes, the now-ubiquitous dish of fried eggplant, tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmigiano, and basil originated here; crocchè di patate (fried potatoes, pronounced “croquet”), mashed with herbs, cheese, sometimes salami, lightly coated in breadcrumbs and fried; and pasta e fagioli, beans and pasta, nothing could be more Neapolitan. Think, too, of seafood—any kind, especially cozze, mussels, often served alla marinara (simmered in tomato sauce)—and polpette, succulent little meatballs. For a sampling of street food—especially the above mentioned crocchè di patate and arancini, fried rice balls—stop by the stand on the ground floor of Matteo, a venerable pizzeria at Via Tribunali 94((tel) 081-455262), open Monday to Saturday 9am to midnight.