Pasticceria, bar and garden restaurant · €€
Next door on Via dei Mulini, a pasticceria and bar since 1950, with a garden terrace scented with citrus. Come in the morning for the pastry made on the premises: the Torta Zagara, chocolate with a sweet tangerine syrup, the Positanese Cioco, the Brutto ma Buono of almonds, black cherry, meringue and chocolate, a babà al rum or the delizia al limone, the coast's lemon-cream sponge. Later the kitchen turns to the Amalfi Coast cooking, with citrus ravioli, seafood scialatielli and grilled cod. No reservations are taken; it opens at 8:00 and closes on Wednesday.
Walk inVia dei Mulini 10, Positano
Mediterranean cooking on Le Sirenuse's candlelit terrace · €€€€
The restaurant of Le Sirenuse, in the MICHELIN Guide. In fine weather dinner moves out to the terrace over Positano's stacked houses, and at night the room is lit by hundreds of suspended candles, with guitar and mandolin playing and the church dome close by. Chef Gennaro Russo cooks the South simply and by the season: pasta al pomodoro, grilled branzino, lemon risotto with capers and a Neapolitan babà. Dinner only, every evening from 19:30 to 22:00 in season, April to October, and open to non-residents; book well ahead.
Book well ahead: tables go weeks outVia Cristoforo Colombo 30, Positano
Open-air cocktail bar · €€€
The open-air bar at the front of Le Sirenuse, named after Franco Sersale, one of the four siblings who opened the hotel in 1951, and fitted out by artists and craftsmen, down to the hand-painted blue tables and chairs. The list runs from house cocktails such as Franco's Fizz, with Italicus, almond milk and citrus, or the Path of the Gods, pistachio syrup and Champagne, to the classics and a short alcohol-free list, and a minimum spend applies per person. Open daily from 17:00 until late, April to October, weather permitting. No reservations, so come early at the busy times.
Walk inVia Cristoforo Colombo 30, Positano
Café for breakfast and lunch, and a design shop · €€
A café and shop on Viale Pasitea, opened in 2013 by its chef, Tanina Vanacore, to put Mediterranean cooking and Italian design under one roof. Come for a long breakfast or a light lunch of fresh, seasonal plates, raw dishes, pastries baked that morning and good coffee, international in style with Mediterranean roots, among hand-painted ceramics and Stamperia Bertozzi linens that are for sale. Breakfast runs from 9:00 to 12:00 and lunch from 12:15 to 15:00. It is walk-in only and closed on Monday, and the walk is uphill from Piazza dei Mulini.
Walk inViale Pasitea 100, Positano
Family trattoria, Campanian cooking and fish · €€
A family restaurant on Viale Pasitea, opened by Vincenzo in 1958 and now run by his grandson, also Vincenzo. It is in the MICHELIN Guide for keeping quality and generosity in balance in a town on every tourist route, with Campanian cooking built mostly on fish, a few small tables on the pavement of the street, and cocktails as well as wine from lunchtime. Open for lunch from 12:15 to 14:45 and dinner from 18:30 to 22:30, closed on Wednesday. Book online, and expect an uphill walk.
Reserve aheadViale Pasitea 172, Positano
Beach bistro and rooftop restaurant on Spiaggia Grande · €€€
At the eastern end of Spiaggia Grande, by the Grotte dell'Incanto, Rada puts a beach bistro by the sea and a rooftop restaurant on a terrace over the beach, and the rooftop is in the MICHELIN Guide. Come down for a long lunch at the beach bistro, open from 11:00 to midnight, or book the rooftop for dinner from 19:00: Mediterranean cooking built on the catch of the day, some meat dishes and a long list of Champagne. The Fly Bar, for drinks, opens at 18:00.
Reserve aheadVia Grotte dell'Incanto 51, Positano
Contemporary Campanian cooking, one MICHELIN star · €€€€
The restaurant of the Hotel Villa Franca, on Viale Pasitea in the upper part of Positano, with one MICHELIN star and only seven black marble tables under a glass ceiling, with windows that open in summer onto the sea and the Li Galli islands. Chef Savio Perna cooks light, local dishes: Vesuvio Blu, Gragnano pasta with blue lobster, Controne beans and Pantelleria capers, €50, or steamed turbot with samphire and a traditional anchovy sauce, €70. Tasting menus run from €180 to €280, and the list holds about 1,000 wines. Dinner from 19:30 to 22:30; book ahead and allow for the climb.
Book well ahead: tables go weeks outViale Pasitea 318, Positano
Breakfast is included in the room rate and is served on the terrace of Le Petit Murat, the courtyard bar: pastries, breads and croissants, jams and yogurt, fresh orange juice, organic cereals and gluten-free bread, and a cold buffet of raw vegetables, salmon, cheese and sliced fruit. Ask at check-in for the hours; before an early ferry, a small breakfast can be laid on if you ask the night before. Outside, La Zagara next door opens at 8:00 for its pastries, and Collina Positano Bakery on Piazza dei Mulini, 2 minutes away on foot, opens at 7:30 for cornetti, tarts, coffee and gelato.
