Street food on Spaccanapoli: what to try
Savoury
Wallet pizza is a pizza folded in four that you eat with one hand: it is the most direct way to understand why pizza here is a street food. Fried pizza is another matter, heavier and better than the description suggests, and you find it mainly on via dei Tribunali, the parallel street slightly uphill. The fried seafood cone is a paper cone full of fried food, and the pasta fritter is a block of bound and fried pasta that lasts a whole walk. Taralli with lard and pepper are bought and kept in your bag.
Sweet
Sfogliatella comes in two versions and they are not interchangeable: the riccia is layered and crispy, the frolla is soft. Have them warm. Babà is the other staple, and in piazza San Domenico Maggiore you find the right pastry shops. Graffa is the fried, sugared doughnut, great in winter. An ice cream or a sweet in piazzetta Nilo, in the shade of the Corpo di Napoli, is the break I recommend halfway: the other stops are in what to see.
Where you find what
The classic tasting route follows more or less this line: meatballs near piazza Bellini, fried pizza on via dei Tribunali, a liquor tasting, then down San Gregorio Armeno to piazzetta Nilo for something sweet, and along the decumanus to piazza San Domenico Maggiore for babà, ending towards Gesù Nuovo and Via Toledo. You can retrace it on your own, or have it explained: the guided street food tour lasts two and a half hours and includes tastings and drinks. I wrote about it in street food tour.
How to eat without mistakes
Standing up, leaning against a wall and not in the middle of the road, because scooters pass even where the street is pedestrian. Choose the counter where locals are queuing and not the one with plastic photos in the window. Eat it straight away, while it is hot: lukewarm sfogliatella and fried pizza are different, and not in a good way. And if you are walking slowly, spread the tastings along the kilometre instead of concentrating them in one stop: how much time you need.
Coffee is taken at the counter, standing up and quickly. Sitting at a table for an espresso is something almost no one does here, and it also changes the bill.
Frequently asked questions
What to eat on the street in Naples?
Wallet pizza, fried pizza, fried seafood cone, pasta fritter and taralli with lard and pepper for savoury; riccia or frolla sfogliatella, babà and graffa for sweet.
Do you need a tour to eat street food?
No, you can easily do it on your own by walking. A guided tour is useful if you want someone to choose the stalls and explain what you're eating: street food tour.
Where are the best stalls?
Between the decumanus and via dei Tribunali, the parallel street slightly uphill, with pastry shops concentrated around piazza San Domenico Maggiore. The full route is in what to see.