Napolini Pizzeria is a counter-service restaurant in Disneyland Resort’s Downtown Disney District. Located across the walkway from the Grand Californian Hotel, Napolini is a counter with outdoor seating and connected to Naples Ristorante, a table-service restaurant. The restaurant serves pizza and offers a DVC and Magic Key (Annual Pass) discount. In this post, we’ll review Napolini Pizzeria’s food, atmosphere and value.

There’s no beating around the bush here, Disneyland’s Downtown Disney is disappointing. The shopping is limited, the movie theater is gone and the dining options are lacking. While there are some gems in the area, the lack of space in the area make Downtown Disney pale in comparison to Disney Springs. Hopefully that will all change in the future with the Disneyland Forward Expansion Proposal.

For now, we’re left with some limited options. Some of these are pretty good, including Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen and Salt & Straw. Where the Downtown Disney really falters is in the way of many counter-service options. Napolini Pizzeria is one of only three quick options there, not including snack carts. Some of this just comes down to a lack of space, which this restaurant really suffers from.

Guests enter Napolini to a counter where they’ll make your pizza in front of you before putting it in the oven. It’s similar to Blaze, MOD and any other fast, casual pizza place that has popped up. The lines in the restaurant are clean and it looks sleek in there. That said, there’s nothing special about it. It looks like what it is, a place to get a quick piece of pizza.

There’s a snack cooler on the right side of the restaurant that includes salads, fruit and drinks. There’s also chip options in the front of the shop and some gelato in a freezer by the cash register. Guests will buy their pizza in Napolini but will have to eat outside as there’s no seating inside.

The options for sitting outside are pretty limited and there’s a lack of shade if you hit it at the right time. While it’s fun to people watch, there isn’t a theme or atmosphere really. To be fair, I don’t think Napolini is really going for that. But it’d be nice to have some shade in the seating area!

Moving on to the food, here’s a look at the menu. All of the pizzas are personal sized, with a medium crust and are $11, $12 or $13.

We ordered a Hawaiian Pizza which came with Parma Ham, Pineapple, fresh Mozzarella Cheese, and Tomato Sauce. The chunks of Pineapple were fresh and large, they were delicious. The ham was also good although nothing spectacular. I liked the Mozzarella pretty well and it did seem fresh but the Tomato Sauce wasn’t anything to write home about. The size of the pizza was maybe slightly bigger than MOD or Blaze but that’s in large part thanks to the crust. I did enjoy the crust pretty well and thought it was cooked well, being flaky and doughy.

We’ve also tried the Gorgonzola E Pere which consists of Gorgonzola Cheese, Tomato Sauce, Pears. This is my favorite pizza that I’ve tried at the restaurant as the Gorgonzola and Pear were a perfect (no pun intended) pairing. While I’m still not crazy about the sauce used, the cheese and fruit were the predominant tastes and they were very good. If you like a little bit of sweetness on your pizza then I’d recommend this one.

The other pizza we tried was the Porchetta which is served with Porchetta Ham, fresh Mozzarella Cheese, and Tomato Sauce. In hindsight, I wish I tried the Capri for something a little different but there’s always next time. Honestly, this was similar to the Hawaiian except I liked the Porchetta a little more than the Parma Ham. The taste here became a little monotonous without Pineapple there to give it a different flavor.

Overall, both of these pizzas were good but not great. I didn’t think Napolini did anything to differentiate itself from other fast, casual pizza places like it. That’s from a positive and negative perspective though. I think grabbing a late night snack if the parks are closed here is a good way to go but, outside of that, I wouldn’t recommend Napolini over many other places at the resort, although it’s better pizza than Alien Pizza Planet. There are better options inside of the parks and at the nearby hotels.

Overall Rating – 7/10

Have you tried Napolini Pizzeria? Let us know your thoughts, along with any questions you might have, in the comments! Planning a trip to Disneyland Resort? Check out our Disneyland Trip Planning Guide to help you out. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends and like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!