Sorbillo Pizza – 9 years in the making

The last time I was in Naples, 9 years ago, I came in the evening and left in the morning.  I never got to try pizza in its birthplace.  This has bothered me till now.  I was determined to have pizza in Naples.

Unfortunately, none of the “famous” places take reservations.  There is ONE place that my hotel told me about that I will write about in the future, but its not one of “THE” places.

Anyway, based on my research, I had narrowed down the number of places I wanted to try to 4, and Sorbillo was the first.  It was almost 40 degrees in Naples the day I went, and a 20 minute walk from our hotel.

Its a bit hard to spot, but this is the front:

You have two options at this point:

1. Find the guy taking names (he is not the one pictured in the front), and wait in line.
2. Go inside, and order for takeout (which I did not know was an option at first).

I gave my name to the person taking names and then waited about 10 minutes in the blistering heat.  At that point, I decided to ask the people who already had pizza eating outside, what the deal was.  I learned that you can go inside, order at the counter and then have pizza within 10 minutes.  I had no idea how long the line would take to eat inside, and so given the heat, decided this was the best option for me.

I went inside, placed my order, waited outside, and within 10 minutes, someone came out and called my name carrying my pizza.  TIP: there is a small store selling drinks across the street with tables where you can eat your pizza.  Here is it:

I got the Margherita DOP.

1. The crust was perfect in terms of flavor and consistency.  It had a nice chew.
2. The mozzarella was delicious
3. The sauce was perfectly acidic and runny

Was it worth the 9 year wait?  Yes!  I would eat this everyday if not for the heat and long line!