Fried pizza is as Neapolitan as buffalo mozzarella. It's been sold in Naples, Italy by restaurants like Fiorenzano and Pizzerie Starita, for decades and decades. The owner of Pizzeria Di Matteo once even claimed the fried version was more popular than the baked kind until the 1950s, and it still accounts for a third of the restaurant's sales.

Gino Sorbillo, who has been described in the American press as the most famous pizza man in Naples, has made a signature of it. In fact, Sorbillo served fried pizza in New York (the second capital of the holy amalgamation of tomato sauce, cheese, and dough) before he did the classic baked pies. About a decade ago, New York pizza got back to its roots as a Neapolitan pizza wave washed over the city like a spilled jar of tomato sauce creeping over a cutting board. This brought with it Naples' puffy crusts, minimalist toppings, and... fried dough.