Food Blogger’s Guide to Best Restaurants in Positano, Italy

Last Updated on: 29th May 2024, 03:38 pm

Positano has great Italian food restaurants with breathtaking views. It’s my second time staying there.  I’ll tell you which restaurants have the best views with high quality food for your money.

Coming from a seven-year Italian food blogger like myself, you know you’re going to get not only a foodie’s point of view but, an Italian foodie’s point of view! I’d spent days researching restaurants before our trip because good food is so important to me and my family. 

This was our best family vacation ever and we’ll have the memories and stories to share for the rest of our lives. 

Best Restaurants in Positano, Italy

Read about my first time in Positano and the Amalfi Coast too.

Being the daughter of Italian immigrants, I’ve been lucky to visit Italy over ten times in my lifetime since I was a baby.

Italian was my first language and I’ve learned to cook from my late mother and other family which is how I’m able to obtain, understand Italian cuisine and create authentic Italian recipes for my food blog.

European Vacation

After Covid died down and our boys were a bit old enough to handle an overseas trip without having a meltdown on the 8 1/2 hour plane trip, we decided it was time to take them overseas to meet their Italian family. We absolutely LOVED this trip! 

We’d flown into Nice, France and spent a few days wonderful days there. The bakeries, cafes and cheese shops were incredible along with the architecture and breathtaking views of the French Riviera. 

Then we took a Flix bus to Genoa, rented a car there and drove to Pisa, then to Rimini, then to Positano and a spent a few hours looking at the ruins in Pompei then to my family near Benevento, which is in the Compania region of southern Italy as is Positano.

We didn’t have mediocre food, let alone anything bad tasting the entire trip, including in Nice, France. WE LOVE ITALY (and France too.)

Amalfi Coast

We had the best time on the Amalfi Coast in the summer of 2023. It was a very memorable vacation and the trip of a lifetime! We took a boat tour at sunset of the Amalfi Coast while sipping Prosecco, Limoncello and some light snacks observing the breath-taking coastline.

It was our favorite thing to do on the Italian coast. 

You’ll see vibrant colored buildings and lemon trees lining the coast and everywhere else. Don’t go away without seeing my Limoncello tiramisu and Limoncello Cocktails!

This is where I got the idea for my Gnocchi alla Sorrentina recipe which is from a town nearby- beautiful Sorrento! 

If you don’t already know, Italians take their cooking SERIOUSLY! Italian cuisine is amongst the best in the world. I’m sure you’ll agree once you’ve eaten at just some of the fine dining establishments in Italy or any recommended restaurant.

You will find incredible food in Italy! As a matter of fact, you can stop adhoc at a roadside gas station and get a great sandwich and pizza. Sorry, but I can’t say the same in America where I’m very choosy of where I eat.

We stayed in Nocelle, which is a small town near Positano in the hills. It had specular views and we loved the little village which was near the Path of the Gods hiking trail. It was more affordable than staying in the town of Positano especially during peak season and still had the breathtaking views.

Eating in Italy

It’s up to you and they’re familiar with American eating habits. For example, Italians don’t drink cappuccino after 11 a.m. because the foamed milk interferes with digestion. They will order espresso any time of day.

In Italy, breakfast is eaten in the morning while lunch, the biggest meal of the day is eaten between 1-2 p.m. and dinner is eaten 8-10 p.m. In the summertime, dinner is often eaten late at night.

Pizza is a popular pick for nighttime although, you can order it during the day. Of course, you can’t leave Positano without eating the pizza. Pizza was invented in Naples by the Romans. You’re eating a piece of history!

Do try the buffalo mozzarella made with buffalo milk. It’s harder to find in America and is the best! It’s wonderful with caprese- fresh mozzarella slices, fresh, ripe tomato slices, fresh basil topped with extra virgin olive oil and perhaps a drizzle of balsamic glaze.

Be sure to get yourself a lemon sorbet at the cafes. They’re often served in a frozen whole lemon with the top cut off and the insides removed to put the lemon sorbet into. It’s very delicious and will help you cool off in the hot sun. 

If you see a restaurant that is not a Michelin-starred restaurant, that doesn’t mean it will not have good food. You’ll find delicious food all over Italy.

Obviously, the higher the Michelin star restaurant, the higher the price point so, keep that in mind if you don’t have money to blow or are not going for a special occasion.

Tipping

First, know that tipping in Italy is not 15-20% as it is in America. It’s 10% and optional. In the tourist areas, they’ve come accustomed to Americans not knowing this and may assume you’ll tip as if you don’t know but, it is not expected as it is in the U.S.

Their servers get paid more hourly than do ours so, they’re getting compensated. Don’t worry about that.

Additionally, in some cafes, you’ll be charged a cover charge to sit at a table if you don’t drink your cappuccino at the coffee bar. 

Meal Courses

Along the coastlines of Italy, you’ll find fresh seafood is plentiful and the dishes are made with local ingredients. Italians eat in courses but, you don’t have to order a three or four-course meal every time you go to a restaurant. 

You can simply order the first and second course or first and third course or just the fourth course. This applies for both lunch and dinner. In Italy and much of Europe, lunch is the bigger meal of the day, not dinner as it is in America. 

Breakfast is simply a croissant  or pastry and cappuccino or espresso often eaten at a cafe while standing at the bar. Note: if you eat at a table there may be a cover charge. See my tipping section below.

The first course is the appetizer course so, this is when you’ll get antipasto, caprese, and other aperativos. 

The second course is pasta. 

The third course is meat or seafood and vegetables. 

The fourth course is dessert and/or fruit. Try the Affogato– vanilla ice cream with hot espresso poured over top.

I encourage you to make dinner reservations months in advance especially during the summer months to secure your spots at popular restaurants. I’d spent hours upon hours doing this because I’m a foodie and I wanted to ensure we could walk to restaurants from our excursions and shopping.

Best Restaurants in Positano Italy

Getting around is easiest by boat. Look for water taxis. Walking on the narrow side walks of the windy roads, especially with kids, is dangerous, even during the day. Please, don’t even attempt it at night.

People drive fast around the turns and you don’t want to be in there way or someone can get hurt or even killed. That’s not a fun way to spend your vacation that you’ve probably saved for months or even years to take.

Also, be careful of pick pockets. Secure your belongings. I’ve found Positano to be a safe place and full of American tourists but, you want to be careful nonetheless especially in the city of Naples if you go there.

You will find delicious food at these restaurants but, likely, anywhere you go. One BIG tip is to not go to restaurants where someone outside asking you to come in and sit down.

They’re looking for customers because they probably don’t have great food like their competitors. Anyone knows that good restaurants have people waiting at peak times and this applies in Europe as well.

La Tagliata

Via Tagliata 32b, 84017 Positano SA.

This is a well-known trattoria in Positano. We’ve eaten at here twice, once in 2011 and again in 2023 and it was just as great twelve years later! The food is fantastic, traditional Italian cuisine served family style!

A “trattoria” is an eating establishment that is usually at or near the owner’s residence and the food is served in a more casual environment than a restaurant or “ristorante” which usually will be more formal usually with tablecloths.

My Italian family who lives in southern Italy took us there the first time in 2011. I remembered it a decade later and chose this trattoria to go back to. It was the place we chose to eat at on our first night on the Italian coast -Mediterranean side.

This restaurant is located high up in the hills of the mountain and spans three terraces overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. You’ll need to drive there or take the bus. However, they’ll pick you up at your hotel if you call them and make a reservation. 

It has outstanding views, both day and night. 

You can take nice pictures there as it’s also tropical looking.

They make their own fresh pasta, have their own vegetable gardens and serve you fresh meat and vegetables. Also, they offer cooking classes if that’s of interest to you.

Go hungry because they’ll feed you more than you can eat! The server will bring you plates of food for each course. However, it is a set menu of traditional Italian dishes that the chef decides each day.

Also, give yourself enough time to eat before going out afterward as this trattoria brings the food out in courses. You’ll get a four course meal- appetizers, pasta dishes, meat and vegetables course and dessert course.

As I’ve mentioned above, your meal will be served family style so, you’re not ordering off a menu, which is worth mentioning.

Because of that, they’ll bring you many options for appetizers, pasta, fish, meat and deserts. They also brought us a bottle of wine included in your per person charge, which was 60 Euros per person, including kids.

Had we wanted more wine, I’m certain they would have brought it.

Our boys were ages 10 and 11 at the time. Our youngest son is a picky eater and I asked the server to bring him steak and French fries because he didn’t like anything before the meat course. The kind server brought out a Porterhouse steak just for him! 

 You’ll be so full when you leave so I reiterate, go hungry!

Chez Black

Via del Brigantino, 19, Positano SA.

This restaurant is located in the town center and heart of Positano. It’s ground-level and near the bay overlooking the beach. It’s perfect for people watching and is easy to get to.

We had dinner there after we’d returned from our boat tour of the Amalfi Coast. We didn’t have reservations as we missed the one we had at the Saraceno d’Oro because we were at the wrong pier.

Be careful of this because there are multiple places named after the same saints.

At Chez Black, our kids had pizza and my husband and I ordered delicious, fresh seafood. 

I had a wonderful cosmo cocktail that I enjoyed. I was pleasantly surprised because multi-ingredient cocktails are an American invention, to the best of my knowledge, that many Italians have grown to love as well. I have a delicious selection of cocktail recipes too!

You must try my popular Limoncello Moscow Mules and Limoncello Mojitos!

Maestro

Via Arienzo, 30, 84017 Positano SA.

This elegant seaside restaurant has one of the gorgeous views and elegant covered terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. 

It has well-manicured grounds and a lovely entrance that we were brought through before taken to the beautiful terrace where we had lunch.

As you can see, Maestro has incredible views, with great service and delicious food. For all of these reasons, it’s pricy!

However, getting to this restaurant was difficult and if you don’t show up, they’ll keep your required deposit when you make the reservation so, know that before you go and plenty of time to find it. The restaurant  looked like a private residence with an iron gate with no clear sign of the restaurant name. 

We asked several people on the main road because our phone told us we were at the Maestro restaurant nearby but, we saw no clear signs with the name of the restaurant.

I didn’t like guessing and walking up the curvy road, which was dangerous for our family with young boys. It’s best to take a taxi to the destination.

After our fresh tuna tartar appetizers (which cost 40 Euros each according to our bill) I had the smoked ravioli which was delicious!

My husband had the spaghetti with clams which was also delicious. Here’s my own similar spaghetti with clams recipe.

Maestro had good options for kids too. This chicken BLT Club sandwich was filling and probably enough for two people. 

Our other son had this lobster roll. I like that they had American-style food offerings because some kids, I have one, that is picky. Variety is always good.

Many Americans eat there for lunch and were not dressed up either. I believe the restaurant expects that from Americans.

I saw American tourists wearing shorts and t-shirts rather than sun dresses and business casual attire that you’d expect to see in Europe at an upscale restaurant.

This was the most expensive meal we had on our trip to Italy and France in the summer of 2023. A liter of Pellegrino sparkling water was 15 Euros. 

People don’t usually drink tap water in Italy. They order bottled water either because they don’t like the taste of tap or they don’t trust that filtration system or both.

Antonio and Antonio, Bay of Naples

Via Partenope, 26, 80121 Napoli NA, Italy

If you venture into the Bay of Naples which is within thirty minutes of Positano,  It’s located across from a castle- Castel dell’Ovo which you can view from dining al fresco. Like many restaurants on the Italian coast, they serve fresh seafood.

This is where you will will eat the BEST spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) in your life!

They server gave my husband a bib so if he accidentally squirted himself with the tasty white clam sauce while twirling his al dente spaghetti, he wouldn’t get grease on his shirt. Luckily, he wore black.

Antonio and Antonio is the restaurant and it’s know for the best pizza (Neapolitan of course) and spaghetti alle vongole. I tried my husband’s and I couldn’t believe the flavors from the clam sauce. It was divine! Therefore, I made my own copy cat spaghetti and clams recipe.

They also have noteworthy, mouthwatering margherita pizza (shown below) and one of the best in Naples, Italy which is where pizza originated in Roman times. There are laws on how to make pizza. 

Because it’s wood fired pizza, some of the crust will be charred. Just scrape it off, if it bothers you. The server and pizza maker know it’s there and they’re not trying to fool you. 

Our last night in Positano, we had a reservation at Il Ritrovo Italian restaurant, which is in Montepertuso on the mountaintop overlooking the coast. They also have shuttle service with a reservation. Sadly, we didn’t make it to this restaurant.

We stayed in and I made and antipasto platter and pesto pasta for dinner. We ate alfresco that night on our terrace in Nocelle overlooking the same beautiful view.

Our apartment was walking distance to a little grocery store where we could easily pick up things we needed on the way back form the bus stop. It was near another restaurant we found on our last day and also near the Path of Gods hiking trail.

It was so sad to say arrivederci (good bye) once again to Positano but, until we meet again is all I can say for now.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my Food Blogger’s Guide to Best Restaurants in Positano, Italy and have a wonderful time eating your way through Positano and any other great sites in Italy!

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