Pepe In Grani — Restaurant in Caiazzo

Disappointing.

Like many others I dragged my family here who thought I was insane to come this far for pizza.

Now the pizza and everything else is very good, but we were seriously let down by the service.

When the waitress came to take our order, we had some questions and the order was a bit dynamic. Maybe the mistakes wouldn’t have been made if we spoke Italian, but all could have been avoided if the waitress simply repeated the order back to us.

We ordered four starters, the first starter I asked about seemed too filling so I didn’t order it. What turned up was two times one starter we ordered, one of another and two missing, I can’t comprehend despite any language barrier how that could have happened.

We explained the issue and the waitress seemed to agree that she couldn’t understand how this order had arrived at our table, we reordered the other two starters and sent one back, then what turned up was the starter I’d enquired about initially but hadn’t ordered. Again, no idea how this happened as we’d literally pointed to everything on the menu whilst ordering.

Again explained the issue, by this time the pizzas had turned up and the waitress disappeared and returned saying she’d now ordered the correct starter, we didn’t really want that now showing up ten minutes after the pizza so cancelled. We didn’t see this waitress again although she tended to surrounding tables and felt like this insinuated we were a problem. We were in no way rude and thanked her for trying to rectify everything.

The waiter that took over was very curt.

At one point he just whizzed past and flung the bill on the table.

When checked, the bill was wrong, the food we sent back was still on there and we were charged for drinks we didn’t have. The waiter changed this with no apology and then when asked at the pay desk how everything was and explaining the story, no effort was made to make things right.

After such a build up and effort to get it here it’s such a shame that the experience was ruined by the service. It’s not like we were expecting the Ritz, in fact we dined at Di Matteo the previous night and received their notoriously aloof service and had no complaints, but all eating different parts of the meal at different times and being made to feel bad for it, that’s worse. At no point did anyone ask if we wanted more drinks and towards the end we felt like they came back just to try and...

We stayed at a B&B nearby which is why I didn't rate the rooms any stars (they were booked the night we wanted to come)

Caiazzo was cute, felt safe and the residents were warm and friendly.

As soon as we entered Pepe in Grani, we had the chance to meet Chef Franco and get a picture with him.

The food was better than what we expected, after watching all the YouTube videos, and Netflix - The Chef’s Table!!! We started with the Fried Cones (Ciro and Rocco for the kids). The dough wasn't greasy at all! (just like the reviews on YouTube). Even a simple Bruschetta was just divine - The tomatoes had such flavour (something we don’t have in Canada) and burst of freshness on one of the most moist fluffy breads. We were expecting very dry crispy bread.

We were then treated with their Montanara by surprise. Again super fluffy and not greasy. Perfect combination of saltiness from the Anchovies and the zesty-ness from the lemon.

We obviously had to try his famous Margherita Sbagliata and his Scarpetta - both were just simply AMAZING!

We ate more than we normally would but, even though we had fried pizza, we still felt like we could no leave without trying his famous dessert, the Crisommola! Lemon peel, Vesuvio apricot jam, DOP buffalo ricotta, hazelnuts, dehydrated olives and to top it all off - mint! We had a hard time sharing and wanted more :)

Next time we will definitely have his son Stefano's desert! We had to leave something for a next time!

Thank you Franco, and your team for giving us an experience of a lifetime and a memory for my family to remember forever! Also thanks for putting up with my questions on perfecting our pizzas - I can't wait to use the dough mixing box we purchased there. See you soon Amico! From Canada.

A little background of why we had to dine here: My family and I have really enjoyed eating Napoletana pizza's for years. During the Pandemic we bought our first Ooni and started making our own. Very quickly we came across Franco Pepe in my search for best recipe and chefs. It is since then we have wanted to make a visit to his restaurant.

We booked in advance - easy Travelled to Naples - easy but, the day we had set out to take the local train over to Caiazzo (VIA Caserta) there was a strike with the trains! so...

The Pilgrimage to Pepe in Grani: Worth Every Mile from San Francisco

Our family made the pilgrimage from San Francisco to the small town of Caiazzo with one mission: to experience the legendary Pepe in Grani and hopefully meet the maestro Franco Pepe himself. We arrived with impossibly high expectations and somehow, they were completely surpassed.

The pizza here isn't just exceptional; it's transformative. The dough has an incredible springiness and depth of flavor that sets it apart from every other Neapolitan pizza we've experienced. Combined with high-quality ingredients arranged in creative, thoughtful ways, each bite feels like a revelation. Our standouts were the Margherita Sbagliata and the Scarpetta.

But here's what we didn't expect: the fried dough. It was pure wizardry! This isn't your typical heavy, greasy fried dough. Franco has somehow created something light and not remotely greasy, with a crunchy exterior that gives way to the most pillowy, springy interior. The contrast is absolutely delightful. The fried cone appetizer was perfect, but the real showstopper was the Crisommola del Vesuvio fried pizza dessert. On paper: fried pizza with lemon peels, DOP buffalo ricotta, Vesuvio apricot jam, roasted hazelnuts, Caiazzo dehydrated olives, and fresh mint. It sounds like something I'd never order. In reality, it was one of the most special dishes of our entire Naples pilgrimage and is not to be missed!

While we were disappointed to miss Franco (ironically, he was traveling to California while we made our way to Italy), the service staff sensed our disappointment and surprised us with Franco Pepe t-shirts, a gesture that was so thoughtful and above and beyond. Throughout the evening, our waiter Munin provided helpful guidance and even helped us capture some great photos. He was fantastic!

We stayed overnight in the bedroom accommodations upstairs, and it was the perfect decision. The rooms are modern and comfortable, and there's something magical about being able to stumble into bed upstairs after a long night of extraordinary eating. No matter where you are in the world, if you're a pizza lover put Pepe in Grani on your bucket list. Make the pilgrimage. Stay at the restaurant. You...