I Masanielli by Francesco Martucci

The people behind it

I Masanielli is the pizzeria of Francesco Martucci, whom the website presents as the owner and chef of the venue on Viale Giulio Douhet, in Caserta. Luciano Pignataro, in the portrait published in November 2024, describes him as a pizza maker who stays at the oven almost every day of the year, able to hold together family values and constant renewal; Martucci told him he will stop only when he can no longer carry on, and that his son has enrolled at catering school.

In Caserta the Martucci name stands for a family of pizza makers: Scatti di Gusto recalls that his brother Sasà runs another highly regarded pizzeria in the city, I Masanielli di Sasà Martucci, not to be confused with this one. The two venues appear separately in the 50 Top Pizza guide's rankings.

Sources: I Masanielli di Francesco Martucci — sito ufficiale · Luciano Pignataro Wine & Food Blog — Ritorno al futuro con Francesco Martucci: I Masanielli a Caserta (2024) · Scatti di Gusto — I Masanielli: recensione (2023) · 50 Top Pizza — 50 Top Pizza Italia 2026: classifica completa

What they make

Martucci's offer pairs classic pizzas with a line of research that Passione Gourmet, in its September 2026 review, judges by the standards of a restaurant: 17.5 out of 20 for the food, with praise for the distinctiveness of the doughs and the refined search for pairings. The signature pizza is built on a blend of flours that seeks lightness without losing structure.

Dissapore had described a soft, elastic, very highly hydrated dough, and the "three-temperature" pizzas: steamed at 100 degrees, fried at 180 and toasted at the mouth of the oven at 400. Among the creations named by the sources are the Assoluto di Pomodoro, with seven tomato preparations, the Seven textures of onion, the Futuro di Marinara and the Marinara Atomica, 50 Top Pizza's Pizza of the Year 2025. There is also a tasting menu, which Scatti di Gusto described in 2023 as eight courses.

Sources: Passione Gourmet — I Masanielli di Francesco Martucci (2026) · Dissapore — I Masanielli di Francesco Martucci a Caserta, recensione (2020) · 50 Top Pizza — 50 Top Pizza Italia 2025: I Masanielli di Francesco Martucci è la migliore pizzeria in Italia · Scatti di Gusto — I Masanielli: recensione (2023)

Ingredients and territory

For Martucci, fiordilatte, tomato and basil are irreplaceable on a pizza. In a Scatti di Gusto feature on fiordilatte he explains that he puts 120 grams on the Margherita, a quantity chosen by moisture, drained weight and cut, and that he prefers to see it in patches on the pizza rather than melted into a pink blend with the tomato; from the cut of the knife and the way the blade is marked, he says, you can tell how fresh the cheese is.

The sources do not say today which dairy the fiordilatte comes from: in 2017 Scatti di Gusto named Paolo Amato's dairy for cheeses and fior di latte and Costanzo of Aversa for buffalo mozzarella. In his 2024 portrait Luciano Pignataro lists Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO, fior di latte, gran riserva pecorino from the Lattari Mountains, dried San Marzano tomato and the onion of Alife, a farming town in the province of Caserta famous for precisely this vegetable.

Sources: Scatti di Gusto — La migliore mozzarella per la pizza è il fiordilatte, dicono Martucci e Sorbillo (2022) · Scatti di Gusto — I Masanielli di Francesco Martucci a Caserta (2017) · Luciano Pignataro Wine & Food Blog — Ritorno al futuro con Francesco Martucci: I Masanielli a Caserta (2024)

Recognition

The 50 Top Pizza guide, edited by Barbara Guerra, Luciano Pignataro and Albert Sapere, named I Masanielli by Francesco Martucci the best pizzeria in Italy in its 2025 edition, presented at the Teatro Manzoni in Milan; in the same edition the Marinara Atomica received the Pizza of the Year award, the Latteria Sorrentina Award.

In the 2026 edition of 50 Top Pizza Italia, won by Confine in Milan, I Masanielli is joint second with Seu Pizza Illuminati of Rome and is named Top Pizzeria in Campania 2026. In the world ranking, 50 Top Pizza World 2026, presented at the Teatro Mercadante in Naples, it is joint fourth, again alongside Seu Pizza Illuminati. Among press reviews, Passione Gourmet in 2026 gives 17.5 out of 20 for the food and 15 out of 20 for hospitality.

Sources: 50 Top Pizza — 50 Top Pizza Italia 2025: I Masanielli di Francesco Martucci è la migliore pizzeria in Italia · 50 Top Pizza — 50 Top Pizza Italia 2026: classifica completa · 50 Top Pizza — 50 Top Pizza World 2026: classifica completa · Passione Gourmet — I Masanielli di Francesco Martucci (2026)

Going there

I Masanielli is at Viale Giulio Douhet 11, in Caserta; the website gives the phone number +39 0823 741284 and an online booking system. The opening hours published on the website show the pizzeria closed on Mondays, evening service from Tuesday to Sunday from 7 pm and lunch from Thursday to Saturday.

It is wise to book well ahead: Scatti di Gusto reports that evening service starts with a roll call of bookings and that anyone more than ten minutes late may lose the table, while finding a seat without a booking is unlikely. Besides the pizzas on the menu, the website offers a tasting menu, a dessert list and a wine list. Anyone coming to Caserta for Martucci should check the sign: I Masanielli di Sasà Martucci is a different pizzeria, run by his brother.

Sources: I Masanielli di Francesco Martucci — sito ufficiale · Scatti di Gusto — I Masanielli: recensione (2023)

Products and flavours

Fiordilatte

PAT · Cheeses

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Mozzarella di Bufala Campana (buffalo mozzarella)

PDO · Cheeses

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Alife onion

Slow Food Presidium · Fruit, vegetables and pulses

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Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO

History, stretching and hand-cutting, PDO rules, landscapes and practical tips for recognising and enjoying buffalo-milk mozzarella.

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Photo: Popo le Chien / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Resized and converted to WebP.

The region

Campania