Where to Eat in Positano
Eating in Positano is less about finding a restaurant than about knowing what the coast grows and catches, and fitting a long lunch around the day you have booked. Between the tours from Positano, this is what to order and how the town feeds you.
What the coast cooks
The kitchen here is the sea and the terraces: fish and seafood, lemons, tomatoes and the buffalo mozzarella of Campania. Pasta with clams or with the day's fish is the everyday order, and scialatielli, a short, thick fresh pasta credited to the chef Enrico Cosentino, is the one shape that belongs to this coast. Ask what came in that morning and let the kitchen choose.
Lemons, limoncello and delizia al limone
The lemon: the Sfusato Amalfitano, long, pointed and thick skinned, grown on the terraces and protected as Limone Costa d'Amalfi IGP. Limoncello: the peel steeped in spirit and sugar, poured cold at the end of a meal. Delizia al limone: a dome of sponge soaked and filled with lemon cream, created in 1978 by the Sorrento pastry chef Carmine Marzuillo.
You will meet all three on the tours: several boats pour limoncello on board, and the Rome and Naples days stop for a tasting.
Colatura from Cetara
Colatura di alici is an amber anchovy extract made in Cetara, the fishing village at the eastern end of the coast, and in October 2020 it became Italy's first fishery product with DOP status. A few drops on spaghetti with garlic and parsley is the classic way to taste it.
Lunch by boat at Laurito and the coves
Some of the coast's most memorable lunches are reached only from the water. Da Adolfo, on the cove of Laurito, sends its own boat with a red fish on the mast from Positano's pier. On the boat days, skippers often stop at a beach restaurant for lunch, which you pay for yourself unless your listing says otherwise.
How dining works here
In summer, book dinner a day or two ahead, especially for a table with a view. Lunch is long and late, and many beach restaurants serve only at lunchtime. On a tour day, eat before a morning Pompeii pickup or plan a late lunch after a boat, since most fares leave the meal to you. Carry some cash; small places and boats prefer it.
Lunch on a tour day
Most boats serve drinks and snacks, and a few fares include a proper meal. Here is how the days with food in the description compare.
| Tour | Food | Price | Book |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pompeii Tour with Lunch and Wine Tasting from Positano | Lunch included | From $294 per person | Check Availability |
| Capri and Blue Grotto Semi Private Boat Day Trip from Sorrento | Lunch included | From $211 per person | Check Availability |
| Cooking class with Pasta, mozzarella and Tiramisu with wine | Lunch included | From $70 per person | Check Availability |
| Small-Group Amalfi Coast Day Cruise from Positano | Food not included | From $130 per person | Check Availability |
| Amalfi Coast & Positano: Boat Tour with Snorkeling & Drinks | Snacks and drinks aboard | From $110 per person | Check Availability |
Cook it yourself in Agerola
The cooking class sold for Positano is held in Agerola, on the plateau above the coast: three hours making pasta, mozzarella and tiramisu, then eating what you made. It is well over an hour from Positano by road or SITA bus, so plan the return before you book.
Make your own pasta above the coast.
From $70 per person for a three-hour class in Agerola, the meal included.
Next: choose where to sleep on where to stay in Positano, or compare every tour on Positano Tours.