Gusto Marigliano Pizzeria e ristorante — Restaurant in Naples

It was our first time in Napoli,(and as many of you likely reading) we were looking to experience authentic Neoplolitan food with a good atmosphere… The search begins from the comfort of our accommodation in the heart of the city.

Online reviews showed Gusto mariglaino pizzeria ristorante was a great and highly recommended place to eat out, setting high expectations.

In anticipation we set off to arrive at 6:30 (shortly after opening to ensure a table as recommended)

Upon turning the street corner to arrive we were indeed met with twelve feet of scaffolding (give or take). Not ideal but hey ho -

We entered - down the steps into the main restaurant area where one would expect to be greeted, and we were indeed greeted.

Greeted with the sight of what I originally misconstrued as a security guard playing bejewels blitz on his phone.

After interrupting his seemingly strenuous and pivotal gameplay, (by asking a table for two) they barely looked up or acknowledge us in order to direct us further down the pegging order to another less than enthusiastic staff member via a limp waft of his hand. There were others hanging around engrossed in their phone's to.

Now sat and sandwiched in between the only two other guests in the place with an obstructed view of their lovely wood burning pizza oven we were handed the menus.

We ordered drinks with a waiter who was less than helpful when asked what beer they have (it was not stated in the menu). Along with a starter of the mozzarella in carrozza.

At this point we didn’t want to order mains as the atmosphere was less than inviting to stay and spend more money.

The starter arrived in a timely fashion which one would have expected. It was ok essentially mozzarella in brown bread fried. Lots of bread … ragu sauce was good.

The table next to us received their order of a calzone and pizza. Looked very good…. Enormous! One would have fed all 4 of us. They barely ate it I believe due to the size.

We left as wanted a more personable experience. I felt uncomfortable and like I was not welcome at all and a nuisance for coming out to have dinner at a restaurant!

Went up to pay and they didn’t know what table we were on ( only 4 tables here).

Ask for tap water if you don’t want €5 added on. €30 for 2 drinks and a starter.

There are so many places here I suggest just walk around and find your vibe. Unless there is something specific you are...

Initially the meal started off great. We were seated immediately when we arrived for our 20:00 reservation. It took a few minutes for the server for our table to come by and take our drink and pizza orders, however there were several (3 or 4) very large groups of people dining and they did seem a bit short staffed given the amount of people currently eating, so we were happy to wait a bit. The staff assembling and cooking the pizzas were like machines, turning out perfectly cooked pizza after pizza, which were promptly brought to their table steaming hot. Again it took a bit for the pizza to arrive given the number of large groups, but not a huge issue. The pizza was well made and tasty, though we did have better in Napoli. However once we did get our pizza, it was next to impossible to get anything else. Despite several requests (in Italian) for more waters or drinks, they were never followed up. It got so bad that at least 2 tables of people also having the same issue left the restaurant without paying because they simply could not get the check despite requesting it many times. We ended up going to the front and pointing to our table and after some searching through orders we were able to pay and leave, roughly 90 mins after finishing our meal. Several other tables followed suit and just went to the bar saying they couldn't get their check and wanted to pay and leave. Aside from the service issues it was a decent meal, but they were constantly seating people and getting pizzas out and then just ignoring you for the rest...

The pizza looked amazing on the pictures, so we were very excited to eat there. And unfortunately, it did not deliver.

First, we waited for 25 minutes to be seated, after the time of our reservation.

However, that wasn’t the biggest deal since we were going to have an amazing dinner. Straight to the point - you can see in the pictures one look at the pizzas from far away (they look quite good) and one look from up close, where you can see they’re absolutely drenched in liquid and quite soggy. Soggy is the one adjective you don’t want to use when it comes to pizza! We thought the pizza with peppers might be soggy because of the peppers (maybe we shouldn’t have gotten that pizza), but the margarita with buffalo mozzarella has only 2 ingredients on the dough - tomato sauce and mozzarella. We apologized and tried to explain that the pizza is very soggy and it’s probably because they put too much tomato sauce. So they offered to exchange it and brought us a pizza without tomato sauce… somehow it was still quite soggy. For people who have high expectations and want proper pizza, this is not the place. Pizzas shouldn’t be dripping in your hands… Anyways, the bresaola with tomato sauce was great. As for the atmosphere - too crowded. Around 10ish, the kitchen staff started cleaning the kitchen and that led to a very strong smell of fish which made us leave without dessert. Oh, and in the ladies room there was no toilet paper or lock...