Positano restaurants: Our ultimate list of the best

Positano and the rest of the rugged Amalfi coast is a mecca for delicious Cucina Povera favourites from seafood to pasta to gelato.  Below, is a round-up of our favourite Positano restaurants to embrace the good life, spectacular views included.

[Last Update: March 2023]

The Italians have a saying, “In beautiful places, you eat like a dog”, but that certainly does not apply to bella Positano where stunningly beautiful Michelin-star hotel fine dining, charming nonna-run tavernas, and cool A-list filled ristorante with views to knock your socks off, reign supreme.

Between seaside hikes, yacht trips, and sunset Aperol Spritz sips, you’ll likely work up a Mediterranean-sized appetite, but lucky for you, we have done the arduous task of tasting our way through the Amalfi coast to bring you only the best Positano restaurants, the kind of places that make the most of local produce and make local specialities shine.

Be sure to make a reservation if you visit Positano in high season as eating and drinking are some of the most popular past-times for locals and visitors alike on this stunning coast.

Whether you choose to stay in a self-catering apartment, villa, or at one of Positano’s charming hotels, let’s be honest, time spent on this magical coast is too precious to waste on a bad meal.

Positano restaurants that will wow you with fine dining

#1 La Sponda at the iconic Sirenuse Hotel

Join the fashionable set at La Sponda situated at the spectacular Sirenuse Hotel with its hundreds of candles and bougainvilla-laced dining room. Arrive early enough for aperitivo at the champagne bar at le Sirenuse, the best spot for a 360 view to admire the sunset over the Tyrrhenian Sea, upscale cocktail in hand.

Then stroll over to La Sponda. This is one of the best Positano restaurants, a Michelin-starred dinner spot that has been graced by many famous faces. Come for the colourful vista of stucco houses and Marina Grande and stay for the refined classic Cucina Povera washed down with a pink Bellini or Prosecco.

You can look forward to dishes such as sea bass with candied lemon, chestnut ravioli with truffles, eggplant parmigiana and pillows of hot lemon soufflé. You’ll leave wanting a reservation for tomorrow night’s dinner (and the day after that) too, without a doubt.

Address: Via Cristoforo Colombo, 30, 84017 Positano, +39 089 875066, Visit website

#2 Ristorante Al Palazzo Murat

Some of the best Positano restaurants perfectly capture the spirit of yesteryear. At this magical restaurant that seems to take you back in time, dinner is served beneath the palms on a romantic garden terrace of the grand old Hotel Palazzo Murat.

The fragrant citrus fruits, seasonal vegetables and herbs used to create flavourful local Mediterranean dishes with a modern twist are all harvested from the kitchen garden that has been lovingly created by Donna Carmela. Ristorante Al Palazzo Murat’s ongoing dedication to fresh, in-season local ingredients blended with the illustrious history of this special spot, keep ensuring their well-deserved place on the list of top restaurants in Positano.

Address: Via dei Mulini, 23, 84017 Positano, +39 089 875177, Visit website

#3 Zass at Il San Pietro

Enjoy farm-to-fork deliciousness at its best. Zass at the Hotel Il Sal Pietro just outside Positano offers views to die for and a menu inspired by the Mediterranean ocean and a fabulous array of fresh seasonal produce from their mountainside farm and sun-drenched gardens.

Here, same as at other Positano restaurants, they serve typical dishes rooted in tradition, but with an innovative modern twist – think spaghetti Positano made with a variety of local tomatoes, John Dory in a lemon crust with a buffalo yogurt and potato purée and lobster tagliatelle.

Dinner can be enjoyed in the strawberry crème-colored dining room,on the terraces overlooking the coast or at the olive-wood chef’s table. White-jacketed waiters add to the elegant atmosphere but the vibe is far from stiff-upper-lip.

Address: Via Laurito, 2 – 84017 Positano, +39 089 812 080,  Visit website

#4 Don Alfonso 1890

Don Alfonso restaurant is another farm-to-fork favourite with beautiful organic produce straight from their off-site farm. The family-run Don Alfonso restaurant and Relais & Chateaux hotel are situated 12 km from Positano near Sant’ Agata.

For sure worth the drive for a visit to their subterranean wine and cheese cellar and a dreamy meal with standouts such as baked egg with burrata and black truffle.

Address: Corso Sant’Agata, 11/13, 80061 Sant’Agata Sui Due Golfi, Napoli, +39 081 878 00 26, Visit website

#5 Lo Scoglio da Tommaso, Marina del Cantone

The restaurant situated at Hotel Villa Gabrisa is a real family affair. As kids, they grew up with the most delicious and untouched local produce directly from the ocean and garden. It was a normal way of life to take part in family chores such as feeding the animals, gardening and cooking together with their parents in the kitchen creating long drawn-out family feasts.

Since 2003 when they opened Da Garbisa they bring the same joy and fortitude to continuing this culinary tradition and the restaurant menu offers Neapolitan dishes made with old family recipes that have been passed on from generation to generation.

But with a twist. At Da Gabrisa you can experience fine dining at very reasonable prices which is surprising considering the spectacular elevated setting and jaw-dropping views of Fornillo’s Bay and the Li’Galli Islands.

Add to that impeccable service and you will understand why diners return multiple nights during a week-long visit.

Restaurants in Positano that will keep you fell-fed with delicious regional dishes, just like Nonna did

#1 La Tagliata

This family-run restaurant is all about genuine home cooking. Mamma wakes up at five in the morning to prepare handmade pasta and the fixed price menu changes daily based on whatever is fresh and seasonal in the garden that is located at the property.

There is nothing stingy about this place, portions are generous, and so is the welcoming atmosphere of coming together and sharing. You can look forward to a feast that just keeps coming starting with bruschetta, then anti-pasta, after that pasta, followed by a meat or fish course and then finally dessert. Buon Appetito!

Address: Via Tagliata n. 32b, 84017, +39 089 875 872, Visit website

#2 Ristorante Donna Rosa, Montepertuso

Another family-run restaurant with fantastic food where grandma’s pasta recipes rule. Mamma Raffaella is in the kitchen with daughter Rosida and second daughter Erika waits on the tables.

Set in the mountain hamlet of Montepertuso, about a 20-minute drive up the mountain from Positano, Ristorante Donna Rosa is everyone’s favourite countryside trattoria serving homemade-pasta dishes like caramelle di aragosta, tiny tortellini stuffed with lobster, using only the freshest of ingredients.

Address: Via Montepertuso, 97/99, Positano, +39 089 81 18 06, Visit website

#3 Il Ritrovo, Montepertuso

Il Ritrovo, another gem tucked away in the mountaintop village of Montepertuso, is a slow food favourite, where regional dishes made with the best local ingredients keep customers incredibly well-fed.

The outside terrace has far-stretching sea views and inside, bunches of tomatoes and peppers are hanging from the ceiling beams, sweetening on the vine. Chef-owner Salvatore Barba also teaches cooking classes on request.

Address: Via Montepertuso, 77 – 84017 Positano, +39 089 812005, Visit website

Restaurants in Positano where you have an impossibly difficult choice: pizza, or pasta?

#1 Chez Black

This iconic restaurant situated right on the Marina Grande directly on the main drag has been around since the 1949 and rumour has it that it’s named for its owner’s deep all-year-round tan.

Instagram is ablaze with the popular heart-shaped pizza that Chez Black has become known for but you will really do yourself a disservice if you don’t look beyond this trendy bit of foodie fun and omit to dig into delicious local specialities on the menu such as spaghetti with sea urchin, or Paccheri pasta with Cod Fish. Yum!

Address: Via del Brigantino, 19, Positano, +39 089 875 036, Visit website

#2 Saraceno d’Oro

Have a meal at Saraceno d’Oro, and you’ll feel like you’re family. This relaxed family-run restaurant tops the list for reasonable prices and quality in Positano. The atmosphere is casual, perfect for families and you’re most likely going to enjoy your vongole pasta while the waiter shares with you the history and ownership of the restaurant.

Address: Via Pasitea, 254, Positano, +39 089.812.050, Visit website

The ultimate seafood restaurants in Positano serving regional seafood dishes that will go down swimmingly with local wine

#1 Lo Scoglio da Tommaso, Marina del Cantone

Yes, it is a bit of a trek away from Positano but you will not be sorry! About 50 km from Positano in the Marina del Cantone you will find this simple lodging with unpretentious seafront dining. Reachable by land or sea (our preferred way) it might seem a little excessive travelling this far for food, but it is a place that has food editors, chefs and celebs a-like waxing lyrical. And not without good reason.

Founded in 1958 by the De Simone family it is now run by the third generation and offers some of the finest examples of local cuisine with produce fresh from the sea and family farm. Come here for the spaghetti alla nerano (zucchini and cheese), baby eggplant with mozzarella, verdure miste (a copper pan of cooked seasonal vegetables from the farm) and escarole sweetened with raisins.

But you will be mad of course to miss out on the seafood, especially the fork-tender octopus, tartufi di mare (clams with a zesty lemon), flavourful linguine with sea urchin and steaming zuppa di pesce (fish soup).

And the setting perfectly fits with the meal, the restaurant is situated right on the water’s edge with a dining room deck built out over the water atop a boulder and the beach right next to it awaiting your sun-worshipping.

No wonder the word ‘love affair’ is carelessly thrown about by many describing this defiantly simple slice of food heaven. We have this filed under ‘best lunch ever’.

Address: Piazza delle Sirene, 15, Marina del Cantone, Massa Lubrense NA, +39 081 808 1026, Visit website

#2 Da Adolfo

Some Positano restaurants capture the spirit of la dolce vita to such an extent that it becomes the stuff of legend, and that is exactly what Da Adolfo personifies!

If you are visiting in summer and don’t have enough days to work your way through our list of Positano restaurants, be sure to not miss out on this one. Here sun-loving and local seafood comes together in the most delicious way. This is a true celebration of summer on the Italian coast.

This typical Italian beach club and restaurant is a little bit dilapidated but don’t let that deter you, the food is on-point. Here you get to enjoy delicious local fish right on the beach. Look out for the boat with a flag of a red fish in the port of Positano, this is the shuttle-boat that pick you up and takes you to Da Adolfo between 10h00 and 13h00.

Be sure to make a day of it with a drawn-out lunch and lounging on the beach, and don’t forget to book well in advance, it is super popular.

Address: Via Laurito, 40, 84017 Positano, +39 089875022, Visit website

Positano’s lighter side – salads, paninis, pastries, coffee and gelato

#1 Casa E Bottega

Positano restaurants tend to hero local food, the kind of dishes that makes the most of delicious locally-grown produce. Casa E Botega is special in that it is a rare find on the coast – a health-forward contemporary Italian café bringing the clean living trend to Positano.

Part shop, part restaurant you will find some more indulgent choices such as cakes and natural gelato on the menu, but the real focus here is on freshly squeezed juices, smoothie bowls and gourmet salads. A great choice for breakfast or a light lunch, especially if you are after some relief from all those delicious carbs!

Address: Viale Pasitea, 100, Positano, +39 089 875225, Visit website

#2 Brasserie at Covo de Saraceno

Great gelato and perfect for a quick coffee. Ask any of the locals and they will also tell you not to miss their pizzas. Visit Website

#3 Bar Internazionale

Next to the bus stop on Marconi is the Bar Internazionale, in the exact same spot it has occupied the past 100 years. A recent revamp has made further changes to the interior but from the outside, you can still imagine years gone by.

This is the perfect spot for some people watching and coffee and pastry whilst waiting for your bus, or simply because you feel like it.

Address: via G.Marconi, 306, Positano, +39 089 875434, Visit Facebook page

#3 Pasticceria La Zagara

Enjoy pastries and ice creams on the luscious vine over-grown garden terrace. A bit of an all-rounder here you can satisfy your hunger with a quick bite (pizza/salad), sip on a Bellini or have your fill of gelato. But the main reason you should visit Pasticceria La Zagara is the pastries such as the delizia al limone.

Address: Via dei Mulini, 10 – 84017 Positano, +39 089 875 964, Visit website

#4 Bar Mulino Verde di Collina

Perfectly located for early morning pastries and coffee on your way down to the beach, or for ice cream on your way back uphill. Of all the Positano restaurants this is the one that seldom a day will pass during our visit without popping in, often more than once. Here you will always find a good mix of locals and hungry tourists.

Address: Via C. Colombo, 1/3 Positano, +39 089 875 433, Visit website

Photography Credits: Liezel Norval-Kruger, Il San Pietro, Sirenuse, Palazzo Murat, Don Alfonso 1890, Saraceno d’Oro, Da Adolfo, La Tagliata, Ristorante Donna Rosa, Chez Black, Il Ritrovo, Casa E Bottega, Lo Scoglio da Tommaso, Covo de Saraceno, Bar Internazionale, Pasticceria La Zagara, Bar Mulino Verde di Collina.