The Best Restaurants in Amalfi, Italy

With retro cinematic appeal, Marina Grande has been a hotspot on Amalfi’s Spiaggia Grande since the 1930s. Right on the sand, the restaurant and beach club’s splashy outdoor terraces have a relaxed vibe come nightfall. All the reliably good dishes are also the most straightforward, made with minimal ingredients: try the mussels in sweet-and-tart San Marzano tomato sauce.

Some families make you sing for your supper, but the Buonocore clan, owner-managers of Zeffiro Sereno, take you boating for your lunch. This surprisingly modest, sea-facing spot is inaccessible by foot, adding an element of VIP secrecy and adventure to your midday meal – book ahead and organise a pickup. Once you’re on shore, enjoy house specialities like the spaghetti alle vongole (clam spaghetti), best washed down with a glug of regional white wine.

It’s easy to build a day around Da Teresa, set on the Spiaggia Santa Croce. Rent a lounger in the morning, then throw on a cover-up and head to the trattoria once the sun starts coming on strong. Tubetti (tube-shaped pasta) with local squid and fresh tomatoes make a satisfying lunch that won’t weigh you down, should you want to wade back into the water. Just know that locals swear off swimming for at least two hours post-dining – an unwritten cultural rule, inherited from Italian elders, that still holds strong.

This homespun restaurant is a favourite in Amalfi’s Valle dei Mulini area, which is peppered with the antique cartiere (paper mills) that inspired its name. Leaving little room for international flourishes, traditional Amalfitan cuisine is the bread and butter at Cartari. Highlights such as totano e patate (squid and potatoes) and homemade seafood scialatielli – a fresh pasta popular along the Amalfi Coast – taste even better served atop the lovingly laid blue-and-gold tablecloths.

Up close and personal with the port of Amalfi, the Smeraldino has stellar views of maritime comings and goings. And an outdoor table isn’t a prerequisite for soaking up the scenery: the main indoor dining room, set on a jetty, is all windows and elegant white tablecloths. Fairly priced primi (first courses), such as the lemony prawn risotto, are worth ordering, and so is that second bottle of chilled Campania wine – purely to hold the table and take advantage of the views, of course.

Looking for more recommendations on the Amalfi Coast? Opt for a glitzy stay at one of these luxury hotels or enjoy more privacy in a holiday apartment. You can even book your next stay right here on Culture Trip. There’s plenty to do, too, from hiking the Amalfi Coast’s Path of the Gods to sipping intricate cocktails at some of the best bars around.

This is an updated version of an article originally by Courtney Stanley.