By Marco Shalma

Naples is one of those cities people visit once and then suddenly become insufferable about. “Oh, you haven’t had pizza until you’ve had it in Napoli,” they whisper, as if they alone unlocked the cheat code to dough. And look, they’re not wrong — Naples pizza is religion. But if you want that soft, molten center, the blistered cornicione, the wood-smoke whisper… tonight? Without dropping $950 on a flight and pretending you’re fluent in Italian after two days?

New York has you covered. Not imitation pizza. Not vibes-only pizza. The real thing — AVPN certified, Naples-trained, flour-obsessed, temperature-disciplined, rules-following pizza. Yes, rules. Because Neapolitan pizza has more documentation than a government agency.

Welcome to Naples in NYC.

STOP ONE: CRAVING DA MICHELE? GO TO RIBALTA.

Da Michele is the Beyoncé of Naples pizzerias — two pies on the menu, both iconic, and a line that wraps around the block because minimalism is suddenly sexy.

Ribalta, in Greenwich Village, is the closest thing New York has to that energy. They’re AVPN certified, which means the pizza police have literally approved their dough, technique, and oven. The dough ferments for 48 hours. The tomatoes are actual San Marzano DOP. The mozzarella? Buffalo, not the “buffalo-style” some places play games with.

When the Margherita hits that 900-degree oven, the crust pops into leopard spots like it’s auditioning for National Geographic. It’s soft in the center — grab a fork, don’t fight it — and impossibly fragrant. You take your first bite and suddenly you understand why Neapolitans act like they invented civilization.

STOP TWO: MISSING SORBILLO? KESTÉ IS YOUR GUY.

Sor­billo is a landmark in Naples. Massive pies. Edges puffed like inflated bread pillows. That deep-fermented sourness that hits before you even swallow. It’s the kind of pizza you remember for years.

Kesté, down in FiDi, brings that exact style to NYC. Roberto Caporuscio trained in Naples and cooked for actual Italian masters — not influencers who took a pasta-making class in Sicily. The dough ferments 48 hours, soft and elastic. They use Caputo 00 flour like any self-respecting Neapolitan kitchen, and the wood-fired oven does the rest.

Order the Margherita DOC. Not the regular. The DOC. It’s the benchmark — buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes that taste like sunshine, basil that wilts the moment it lands on the heat. If Sorbillo had a New York twin, this is it.

STOP THREE: CRAVING STARITA? NUMERO 28 BRINGS THE LINEAGE.

Starita in Naples is third-generation pizza royalty. Dough so silky it practically breathes. Technique so precise it feels like a family heirloom.

Numero 28 — with locations in the East Village and Upper East Side — channels that Starita heritage because Antonio Starita himself brought the tradition here. No shortcuts, no “New York twist,” just pure Naples craftsmanship. The dough rests 24 hours, ovens imported from Naples, pies kept simple because when the technique is correct, that’s all you need.

It’s the most relaxed room on this list — dim lights, tightly packed tables, and pizza that could easily pass a blind taste test in Naples. You come here for balance. For elegance. For that quiet confidence Naples families have when they’ve been making pizza longer than America has been a country.

STOP FOUR: NEED 50 KALÒ? DON ANTONIO IS YOUR MATCH.

50 Kalò is the darling of modern Naples: ultra-hydrated dough, soft creamy center, bubbles the size of planets, crust that somehow weighs nothing. It’s pizza engineered with scientific obsession.

Don Antonio in Midtown West captures exactly that style. Also AVPN certified. Also committed to technique like it’s sacred. The dough rests 36 hours, enough hydration to make the pizzaiolo look like he’s wrangling jelly, and the crust comes out blistered and soft — the kind of texture that ruins every other pizza for you.

They balance classics with creative toppings, but the fundamental technique never gets sloppy. Get the Margherita. Always start with the Margherita. If a place can’t nail that, close the menu.

THE MATH: NEW YORK WINS AGAIN

Flight to Naples: $950
Naples-style NYC crawl: $90

And that $90 includes:

Different personalities, same Naples foundations. Dough science, heat discipline, proper ingredients. The stuff that separates Neapolitan pizza from “we put basil on it so it’s Italian now.”

Here’s how you make it a proper crawl:

By the end, you’ll understand why Naples pizza has rules. And why New York is one of the few places outside Italy that actually follows them.

BOTTOM LINE

Naples is a flight away. Naples-style pizza? That’s a subway ride.

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Hit the crawl.
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