Grand Opening: Bella Napoli Serves Brick-Oven Pizza 'By The Inch' On Bay Parkway

A Neapolitan-style brick-oven pizzeria is open for business on Bay Parkway, taking the spot of another popular pizza joint.

More than 80 guests came out to celebrate the March 20 grand opening of the family-owned Bella Napoli (7116 Bay Parkway), which serves pizza and calzones exactly the way the foods are made in Naples, Italy. For example, pizza is sold by the inch rather than by the slice, and simple Neapolitan-style calzones are fried instead of baked. A 14-inch pie will run you between $10 and $16, while 29-incher costs up to $30.

Pizza is sold by the inch, rather than by the slice.

“I’ve got real Italians from Naples making the pizza. They don’t speak a word of English,” said manager Vincenzio Auriuso, who moved from the Italian city as a child and spent the last two decades managing Caffe Napoli, a popular sit-down restaurant in Manhattan’s Little Italy.

When asked why anyone would leave Naples for Brooklyn, Auriuso joked, “We had to kidnap them.”

Fried calzones filled with cheese and tomatoes are a common street food in Naples.

Of course, he was referring to brother-in-law Pasquale Ostretico, a childhood friend from Naples who moved to Brooklyn a year ago and married Auriuso’s sister. Family patriarch Gennaro Auriuso, who ran Pizza Dela Rosa in Bay Ridge for many years, invested in the spacious, new eatery so that his now-grown kids could continue the family business.

Pasquale Ostretico, “head pizza-maker,” moved to Brooklyn from Naples last year.

Bella Napoli is already a wonderful addition to the neighborhood. The chic, modern space is centrally located near 71st Street, close to several local schools, including Brooklyn School of Inquiry and Seth Lowe I.S. 96 – where students and staff often leave school grounds during lunchtime in search of food. Wall-to-ceiling glass doors will open up the pizzeria to the street during warmer months, which is likely transform the appearance of the block.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Bella Napoli, and good luck!

Call Bella Napoli at (718)483-9920 to place an order or visit them at 7116 Bay Parkway.