Pizza Fritta 180 brings fried pizza to Surry Hills, Sydney

It's rude to eat on the street in some cultures. Evidently not in Naples nor, as of today, Surry Hills.

Luigi Esposito gives you his blessing as he swings open Pizza Fritta 180, on Crown Street.

"I'd love to see people out on the street like in Naples," says Esposito. "We can seat 30 or 40, but it's street food. It's a great thing to grab late, which is why we're applying for a 2am licence."

It is the flash-fried pizza Esposito has been eating since childhood and even sold house-to-house in his neighbourhood as a pre-teen. The 180 in the name is a reference to the temperature of the oil they cook at.

Similar to fried calzone, Esposito will add go-to pizza toppings (San Marzano tomatoes, prosciutto, mozzarella) as well as knocking out an eggplant parmigiana version. There's also a Nutella pizza fritta for sweet-tooths.

Early this month Good Food revealed Esposito, the man behind the pizza many judge the best Neapolitan-style in Sydney, had snared the site on the corner of Crown and Foveaux.

But even before his arrival, the two blocks of Crown Street between Foveaux and Albion were mounting a strong case for the title of Sydney's emerging Little Italy. Pizza Fritta has opened on the same side of the street as the Maurice Terzini-fronted Dolphin Hotel and across from Jared Merlino's Bartolo and Eugenio Maiale's Flour Eggs Water.

Esposito believes Pizza Fritta 180 will tie in with another near neighbour. "I'd love to see people lined up out the front like Messina," he says.

Open daily noon-10pm at 428 Crown Street, Surry Hills, pizzafritta180.com.au.