It is located in the rear of the Palazzo della Prefettura, which lies in front and to side of the Royal Palace of Naples, both of which face the Piazza del Plebiscito.

The coffeehouse was founded in 1860 by Vincenzo Apuzzo, whose dream was to make his club the most important of the newborn Italy and he succeeded because he became the official supplier of the Real Casa.

It was the meeting point of Oscar Wilde, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Ernest Hemingway, Matilde Serao,[2] Princess Sissi, Jean Paul Sartre,[3][4] Guy de Maupassant, Émile Zola, and Benedetto Croce.

[5] Located near the Teatro di San Carlo, the cafe used to host musicians and orchestra directors before their performances in the main theatre of Naples.

On January 1 2002, the Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who was linked to the city by a special empathy,[6] paid his first caffè in euro at the Gambrinus in Naples.