
First, don’t expect your pizza to be pre-sliced. Unless you’re going to rip it apart, you’ll need to get out the knife and fork to cut your slice. Sometimes from there you can pick it up and fold it. Most Roman pizzas tend to be a thin crust, almost like a cracker, and good for this method.
In Napoli (see our visit here), you eat the entire pizza with a knife and fork (check out our favorite book on Napoli here–a great read). There’s really no picking up a slice. It’s just how everyone does it. It’s the culture. When we go to restaurants in the United States who claim to make Neapolitan-style pizzas, we appreciate it when we don’t have to request the pizza to not be pre-sliced. I get that it’s American culture, but if I’m eating a Neapolitan-style pizza, I want to eat it in the Neapolitan style. We love that A16 doesn’t pre-slice their pizza, instead, they offer metal pizza scissors to cut slices, as well as regular utensils so you can eat it how you prefer. A perfect compromise!
The way we judge a good pizzeria or pizzaiolo is by their pizza Margherita. It’s a simple combination of buffalo mozzarella, tomato sauce, and basil. Simple and delicious. There are so many pizzerias in Napoli and each one is “the best,” so we tried Pizzeria Trianon on our last trip to Napoli. It was recommended to us by a former local and of course, was very good. Perfect food for right off the airplane.

Another option is pizza al taglio or pizza by the slice. Taglo literally means to cut, so they cut a piece off of a long rectangular pizza several feet long and the price is determined by the weight. You can get one big slice or a bunch of small ones to try. If you’re in the United States, you’ll find this at one of the Eataly locations (at least we know they have it in Chicago).

5 comments
I think that pizza is really a great food to make. I have never tried to eat it Italian style. I am excited to try pizza recipe.
That pizza looks fantastic! Next time I will be in Italy I’ll know how to eat like an Italian!
Thank you.
I do love the idea of how true Italian pizzas are served whole and not pre-sliced as you’ve mentioned. Additionally, the way of eating it folded is also quite interesting which makes me want to try it out. Personally, I would love to get a pizza for dinner just to try this out — I bet I will. Thanks!
The pizza in your image looks really good. The mere photo of it already makes my mouth water. Which makes me crave for a pizza enough to encourage me to go to an Italian pizzeria for dinner. I’ll try my best to eat it like a true Italian with nothing but a fork and a knife. Thanks for the mouthwatering article on how to eat pizza like a true Italian!
Elsa, Pizza for dinner sounds perfect!This pizza from Napoli, Italy. We can’t wait to go back again to spend more time learning about all of the food in Napoli!
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