Via Napoli

Lane Cove is not really somewhere I hang out… more or less, EVER… so its taken me a while to try a Via Napoli pizza. Everyone raves about how its the best and most authentic pizza in Sydney…
The pizza was everything you’d hope for hearing the rave reviews. A+
The entrees were just OK. My friend ordered the bruschetta and I swear the bread was like a slice of sandstone rock. I had the stuffed zucchini flowers — good, but not wow. I feel like other traditionalist pizzerias in Sydney (like Sud & Pomodoro Rosso) do exceptional pizza and everything else is exceptional too. I didn’t feel that way here. We had the nutella pannacotta. I mean. it has nutella on it! LOL. You don’t get credit for that. Of course its great, hehe.
The service, while friendly… was on the poorer side of average. It’s a very busy restaurant though and I do value the warmth and friendliness over everything, really. I’d give them 3.5 stars if I could, but since I can’t, they definitely deserve more than 3 stars. It was a good experience, but I probably wouldn’t drive out here again just for this.

Via Napoli is the most authentic Italian restaurant I have been to. It’s perpetually busy, with staff literally running around to serve a constant throng of customers. Making a booking is a good idea.
The drinks menu is good, with a range of quality apéritif to quench and cleanse the palate. The food menu is impressive to say the least, with a huge range of wood fired pizza and spectacular combinations including prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella. This place is definitely worth additional visits.
If you haven’t tried one of their three stores, I wholeheartedly recommend you do. Elastic waist pants are recommended.

This authentic Italian pizzeria is probably the best in Sydney, our group of friends travel just to enjoy it, I even think it made better pizza than the ones I ate in Naples this year. The staff are Italian and very friendly and quick on their feet. My favourite pizza topping was Crudo e Rucola.
One of my friends was disappointed with the crème brûlée since it had cinnamon in the custard but I still enjoyed it.

Saw this place while driving by with friends.
It’s initial appeal was that it seemed more exuberantly Italian than anyplace I’d been to on a recent to Italy.
Very busy for a Monday night, but we were soon seated, and our order taken.
I thought the two vegetarian pizzas we ordered were good without being outstanding. Biggest negative being the slightly soggy base near the centre.
5 stars for staff, service and atmosphere, 3.5 for food

This place still makes me day dream of amazing Italian tasting planks like at via napoli! Come on!
This place is off the chain! This is the kind of food that I had in Italy! Not like you get from main stream Italian restaurants. The service was amazing! Even though the waiter was trying hard to up sell one of platter deals with a 1 metre or so plank of awesome Italian entrees including buffalo mozzarella and all kinds of dried Italian ham muscles prawns deep fried mozzarella STOP STOP! Anyway. All that plus a 1 metre pizza yes you heard right. All that was $ 45pp but oh man it was worth it!
The food itself quantity wise doesn’t seem massive but you get a lot! And the quality you get is incredible! There is massive amounts of love in this food! The cheeses were fresh the prawns fresh the muscles! Wowza! And to top it off they give you a cup of lemon liquor to wash it down at the end! That’s great when a place does something you’re not expecting. Especially when your friends don’t drink. Pretty smashed after that dinner! GO HERE! And book!

I would give this place ⁶⁄₅ stars! That’s how good the dishes are here. I’m getting hungry just writing about it. All tasty Italian dishes made with love and oomph — the wine choices are also excellent too! I thought the menu wasn’t too overpriced for the food they had to offer. I ordered the buffalo mozarella with cherry tomatoes — a light but excellent way to start off! Then we had some grilled seafood consisting of prawn, octopus, scampi — all seasoned and cooked very well. For my favourite was the pizza! I love the oven baked dough — melts in the mouth with light but tasty toppings. I’m just so excited to go back!

The most utterly fabulous Italian on the North side. Everything is genuine Italian, from the ingredients, to the food, the pizza open and even the staff! A wonderful night out for pretty good value given everything is imported, a little piece of Italy in Lane Cove!

I had an entirely different experience to the other reviewers — it’s almost like we went to different restaurants.
Cons:
— Absolute chaos! Heaps of families with young children. Children shouting and crying, parents using loud toys to cheer them up.
— Lots of really loud waiters behaving like monkeys on caffeine, frantically buzzing up and down the restaurant clapping, shouting along to music, full of energy, but seemingly not very productive.
— Pizza was not tasty — I’m a pizza lover and only had 2 slices. Didn’t feel like more. They are quite oily — when I lifted a slice, I saw the oil had seeped to through to the bottom of the plate.
— Outdated décor.
Pros:
— Free bread with olive oil.
— Visited at 6pm on a Tues night without a booking and was seated straight away.
— Friendly staff.

Had high expectations since this pizzeria is mentioned on several «Sydney top 10 lists» however its was disappointing. The pizza was fine but nothing special.
At the table we had the «vesuvio» pizza. The dough was good, the crust had a nice pillowy texture to it, however the center was rather soggy from the wet ingredients. The vegetables were clearly the same ones used for the antipasti, so soaked in oil.
I had seen reviews that the service was so-​so, it was fine when we went at 5 pm, although based on the number of tables they have tried to squeeze into the place + takeaway orders coming in, I can imagine that it may get backed up at rush hour. The staff is actually quite friendly, a whole bunch of italian working holiday types.
The price was standard for sydney 17 – 24 for the individual pizza.
Would I go back, maybe if I lived in the area but certainly not worth a detour.

I don’t think I would go so far as saying this is an authentic Italian place. I mean cmon there are like over 5 different toppings on some of their pizza’s which you would never find in Italy. BUT I will say this has an authentic Italian atmosphere. Everyone that works there is Italian and keep yelling out Italian phrases as they serve the food that made me want to yell back bellissimo! So we later found out that a friend’s cousin actually owns the place and why is everyone there Italian? Well in part because he recruits them from Napoli and tells them to bring all their Italian charm over.
Food wise I was enviously eyeballing the monster probably 3 metre platter that came out with pizza, arancini, cold meats, calamari plus other mouth watering items that the table next to us got. It just look so fabulously presented on a 3 metre board that did not break. Amazing! We ordered a 1m pizza and had to follow that up with a half metre because it wasn’t enough. Arancini, bocconcini, calamari, meats, eggplant. All in all it was quite delicious but I think some of the pizza flavours were just a tad too salty for my liking.
For dessert we shared a crème brûlée, tiramisu and nutella crêpe. Please skip the crème brûlée. It definitely was far from being a crème brûlée. The crêpe and tiramisu was nice but the tiramisu was a bit strong on the coffee side so be warned if you are not a fan of coffee.

It made my top 10 most awesome pizza list. That is saying a lot. I was in Australia for a wedding. I wanted pizza. The fiancé of my buddy took me here. And I am glad she did.
I was super jet lagged so we ate early. Only a few other people were there, but they were setting up for what appeared to be a huge night ahead of them. Service was great. A bit too «touchy feely» for my taste, but I guess that is an Italian thing. Or maybe an Australian/​Italian thing? No idea, but waiters do not touch you in the US of A. It was a guy waiter. If it was a girl waiter, no problem!
I have eaten a LOT of pizza in my time. This pizza is in my top 10, and that includes pizza eaten in Italy. I wanted to go back a 2^nd time, but we were pretty busy with the wedding and all.
Maybe they can freeze some pizza and send to me in the US!

The place where all wait staff in Sydney should be sent to train. Made to feel welcome with absolute authenticity.
As a bonus, the scampi was cooked to perfection and the pizza delicious.

Lots of the previous reviewers concentrated on the pizza, which I’m sure is great judging by my food, but I think it would be a SHAME if you go here and do not try the gnocchi. I had the gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce and nuts and it was absolutely divine! Super creamy and flavorful, with just a nice little crunch in some of the bits from the nuts.
We had a booking and were seated immediately, although the place was packed at 8 pm on a Wednesday.
For desert we had the Nutella calzone, and when we made a joke about how much we love Nutella the server brought out a giant bucket and scooped more on our food!
We only had to wait around 10 minutes for the pasta and veal, and waited around 15 minutes for the dessert.
If I was going to mark anything down it would be that the service is TOO good, as in almost overwhelming, and it’s tough to know who is serving your table, which led to some confusion around our drink and food orders. Everyone was super friendly, and the food was great.
We will definitely go again.

There’s a saying in Italy — «Only when your pizza is as long as a horse will your mother-​in-​law be happy with your olives» Via Napoli makes your mother-​in-​law truly satisfied. The pizza here is as long as a horse, and as delicious as my ability to make up Italian sayings!
I’ve been a Bruce-​Willis-​style-​local-​die-​hard at this fine establishment ever since it wore diapers and had around half a dozen tables. The pizza was 10 out of 10 then. It’s still 10 out of 10 now, and they have around 100 dozen tables, 15 pizza ovens, 200 staff and their own postcode. Luigi has done a magnificent job, and that’s putting it lightly. If you haven’t been to Via Napoli, you haven’t lived. Make your Mother-​in-​law happy, grow an olive and check out Via Napoli — she won’t be disappointed!

Make sure you get a booking or you will be waiting.
This place has really great pizza. You want to grab 3 friends and get the 1M long pizza so you can have some variety and it is just fun :)
One of the best Pizza spots in Sydney!

My favourite dish here is the buffalo mozzarella. And as a massive pizza fan, that’s saying something.
I keep coming back here, hoping that just maybe the previous times were one off bad hair days and that this time, it’s going to live up to its glowing expectations, but sadly each time I’m disappointed. Pizza is hand food, no matter how fancy the setting but here the pizzas need more than just two hands. They’re a bit too thin and soggy to hold up much topping, even if it’s the simplest classic margherita let alone their more inventive flavours that would shine on a sturdier base. The complimentary bread is a bit tough and the olive oil that comes with it is light olive oil, definitely not dipping material. That said, some of their other dishes aren’t bad, the zucchini flowers are delicate and light (despite being fried!), the eggplant parmigiana super morish and octopus is super tender.
I do love me a charming Italian, and they have them here by the dozen. Attentive, smiling and prompt, the staff here are always laughing and joking with customers, whilst remaining super efficient. Maybe even too efficient; they actually run through the restaurant and do things so quickly that I even feel a little rushed and subconsciously pushed to order and eat quickly and get out, even on weeknights when they’re not quite so busy and you’re not limited to a 90min booking. Just habit, perhaps?

Via Napolia? 2 meter pizza? Sold!!!
Via Napolia. 2 simple words is what’s expected to sell anyone to go out for a pizza. Gone are the issues of being branded as a «cheapskate» when anyone suggest going out for a pizza to this place. These Italians know quality when it comes to their kitchen and service and it’s visible from across the street to the small upon entering.
Via Napolia is recommended (by myself) a booking type place to eat there as it’s very popular. But if you wish to enjoy the comfort of ones home, you can takeaway their deliciousness if your car can fit. But you will for sure be missing out of a service which they offer to every diner, every sitting and every table visit no matter how many times your service comes.
Via Napolia only has the best of ingredients combining into a delightful dough that is what we call a pizza (or pie by others) and you are made aware of this fact before and after. Order any thing you will be presented with both well out together dishes and tastes. I have yet to try their meals besides the pizzas but they also look great. To match up with their excellent service and food is also the extensive wine selection. Shouldn’t be surprised with being all Italians. Oh my the accents and all.
No matter the hunger, group size or cravings, check out a place were fresh serious pizza is on your mind.
Mark My Words

This place is really a 3.5, but after taking all things in consideration I’m rounding it up to a 4.
I hate to say it, but the pizza here is only worth 3 stars for me. I’ve been twice, and both times we ordered the 2 meter pizza, among other things. It’s OK, and some flavors are good, but it’s not pizza I would crave for, exactly. I find the pizza dough a bit too soft for my taste, and the toppings (at least for some flavors) seem to gloop together, which makes it slide off easily and makes the pizza hard to eat.
The dessert is good, I’d give it a 4 out of 5 stars. Best to order a bunch of plates and share.
Great service, 5 out of 5 stars. I have not seen happier, more boisterous (but in a good way), friendlier staff. They would frequently joke with our table. All food, drinks, condiments, were served promptly and questions answered with a smile.
Which is why, despite rating the pizza 3 out of 5 stars, I rate this place a 4, and always say yes when my friends suggest eating here. The atmosphere is just so happy and fun, you’re always guaranteed to have a good time.
Be careful, it gets pretty busy! Bookings are recommended. During my last trip, we had a seating for 6 PM, and had to leave by 730 PM. The staff was apologetic about having to hurry us along but it was understandable given their booking schedules and the number of people waiting. (The food came quickly anyway, so it’s not like we spent a substantial time waiting for our meals.)

Have been here a couple of time for bday drinks or just dinner with friends!
Delicious traditional wood fired pizza!
Great buffalo mozzarella!
Sometimes it can be a bit packed and squished in! And some of the tables Are on a slant alas the food is what you go for! Waiters are attentive and always on hand when you need something of just water refilled!
A must visit!

Via Napoli is pretty authentic: you’ll hear enthusiastic Italian in every direction, fresh quality ingredients are used, a massive stone oven cooks food, and the menu has some very attractive offerings with the most important being of course, the pizza.
I came with a group of 6 and we naturally had to order the metre long pizza ($ 62) al metro, meaning it could be split into 3 different types of pizza out of their 15+ choices so there’s something for everyone.
Before we did that we ordered some starters; the salt + pepper calamari with eggplant (this was awesome,) buffalo mozzarella salad, and sausage on toast (the name escapes me.) The entreés were good, though portions on the small side… but good start.
Onto the pizza… I’m not sure what I expected, but I think I ate a bit of the hype machine because the pizza was just OK for me. The crust was crispy, dough was fluffy, but the pizza itself was a little too flimsy… flimsy enough you had to eat with two hands and the toppings fell off quite easily, so I found it more annoying than enjoyable to eat.
I need to come here again to solidify my opinion, but for the time being, if you live near the CBD I wouldn’t make the trek out here as there are other places to go.
Order a small pizza on the side if you have 6 people, as the metre long will be gone in seconds and you may still be hungry.