Location: Downtown Disney Anaheim
Type: Table service
Specialty: All things Italian
Cost: Pricey but delicious ($17 – $22 per person entree)
Craig’s Favorite: The pizza

Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria in Downtown Disney Anaheim serves some of the best pizza hands down. Part of the Patina Group which operates a number of other restaurants in the Downtown Disney area, they offer high quality food in a fun, friendly environment.  They have many tasty dishes, to choose from if you are not in the mood for pizza, but if you are, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better place to get it from.  The pizza crust is thin, but not so thin that it can’t support the weight of the delicious sauce and toppings.  It isn’t a crispy crust by any means, but it doesn’t have so much chew that it is a challenge to eat.  Instead, the thin crust is a compliment to the toppings and sauce (not just a vehicle for the rest of the pizza).  The pepperoni on the pepperoni and mozzarella pizza is the best pepperoni to be found – thin, crispy, and full of spicy, meaty flavor.  The BBQ chicken pizza, while a seeming anomaly at an Italian restaurant is done with such an impact of taste that it challenges the pepperoni for tastiest pizza on the menu.  Here is how the restaurant describes their pizzas: Caputo flour imported from Southern Italy, San Marzano tomatoes, handmade mozzarella, water from a local spring just like the springs in Italy’s Campania region make our pizza as authentic and delicious as that found on the streets of Naples

It is obvious that Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria takes great care in how they construct their signature dish.  But that is only the beginning of the menu.  For those not in a pizza mood, they also serve salads, sandwiches, pasta, fish, and both Eggplant Parmesan and Chicken Parmesan.   They have a wide selection of appetizers and sides as well including fried calamari, polenta (creamy and quite good with a depth of flavor deeper than that of its American Southern cousin grits), panzerotti (fried pizza dough stuffed with cheese), meat and cheese plate, and bruschetta alla checca.  All of which are earmarked with signs for the gluten-free diner!  Their selection of desserts offers a wide variety of choices (including ones sure to delight the children in your group).  The tiramisu is large and exactly what you’d expect from a high quality Italian restaurant.  They also have gelato, sorbet, and other Italian delicacies.  And if you’re worried about your children, you need not.  They have a great selection on their children’s menu for the young ones.

Overall, the prices are probably more than you would typically expect from a pizza place or any typical Italian restaurant.  Prices for pizza range from $17 to $19 for their signature pizzas and upwards of $17 plus $3 per topping for a custom pizza.  The larger size (20″) ranges from $28 to $32 and their family size goes from $38 to $45.  Definitely the larger the pizza the more value you receive, but it is significantly more than your average take-out place.  The other entrees are valued around $12 for salads, $14 for sandwiches, and $20 for pasta, fish, and parmesan plates.  Although it is pricey, the food is of such high quality that you will walk away full and satisfied.  Plus the bread they offer at the beginning of your meal is wonderful (along with some high quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar).  Compared to other high-end restaurants in Downtown Disney and the area, it is definitely worth it.  Another cool thing about this place?  They make balloon animals for the kids (at an additional fee).  If you’re looking for a good family-friendly place to eat while at the Disneyland Resort, try Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria.