The Birth of the Pizza Margherita: A Slice of Italian History In the crowded streets of 18th-century Naples, pizza was born as humble street food for the working class. By 1807, over 50 pizzerias dotted the city, serving affordable flatbreads topped with tomatoes, a New World ingredient that had become a staple in Italian cuisine. The now-famous Pizza Margherita has its origins in 1889, when pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito of Pizzeria Brandi created a special pizza to honor Queen Margherita of Savoy