If you can't make it to chef Gennaro Esposito's two-Michelin-starred Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense, see what the fuss is about at his casual (but Michelin-starred) Capri outpost where the pizza ovens are always blazing and the food and preparations are as local as can be.
Via Madre Serafina 11
Capri, 80073
+39-081-837-7472
Call ahead to book a table with a view at this casual and wonderful restaurant in a 1600s home in Montepertuso, the hillside above Positano. The specialty is local seafood. The drive is treacherous (but well worth it), so let a local taxi make the trip or have the restaurant send a car.
Via Tagliata 14
Positano, 84017
+39-089-811-179
The coolest beach club on the island, at the base of the iconic Faraglioni in Marina Piccola. If you're not arriving by boat, then it's a long but very scenic walk down Via Tragara. Fresh seafood is the specialty. Lunch only, and reservations are a must.
Via Faraglioni
Capri, 80073
+39-081-837-0845
Easily the fanciest restaurant on the island, with two Michelin stars. Chef Andrea Migliaccio specializes in modern, light, and dazzling versions of regional cuisine. The setting is romantic but not cheesy: deep sofas, impressive artwork, Loro Piana fabrics, Murano glassware.
Hotel Capri Palace, Via Capodimonte 14
Capri, 80071
+39-081-978-0111
If you've fought the crowds to see the Blue Grotto, your reward is lunch here, a Michelin-starred restaurant and beach club that serves lunch and dinner. The fish is the thing to get, and save room for dessert. You could easily spend a day here. Plan accordingly.
Via Gradola 4-6
Anacapri, 80071
+39-081-837-1380
Settle in on a terrace hugging the cliffs with a plate of spaghetti and sea urchin, a fresh local fish, and a bottle of local Falanghina.
Via Terramare
Praiano, 84010
+39-089-874-377
Easily one of Italy's best restaurants, where local ingredients and classic dishes are reinterpreted into culinary art. There's a cooking school, a nearby farm, a small inn where rooms are named for herbs, and an underground wine cellar (ask for a tour after dinner). It's a self-contained gastronomic wonderland, a mix of refined and outrageously delicious food, and generous, loving hospitality.
Corso Sant'Agata 11/13
Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi, 80064
+39-081-878-0026
An elegant but comfortable restaurant in the heart of Amalfi serving traditional Amalfi fare: fresh fish appetizers, scialatielli and paccheri pastas, delicate fish entrees. They've been serving since 1872 because they know what they're doing.
Via Frá Gerardo Sasso 11
Amalfi, 84011
+39-089-871-345
It's easy to find a decent pizza on Capri. It's not as easy to find one where the open-air dining room has this kind of view over the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius on the horizon. There's a full menu of pastas, seafood, and vegetables, but the pizza to order is the perla. The "oyster" is a pizza crust folded in half; the "pearl" is a ball of fresh mozzarella inside.
Via Roma 38
Capri, 80073
+39-081-837-7108
A well-known and chic restaurant serving typical regional fare — pizza, seafood, pastas — to a loyal see-and-be-seen clientele. So Capri it hurts.
Via Fuorlovado 18/22
Capri, 80073
+39-081-837-0181
This family-run hotel and restaurant overlooking the sea is one of our favorite places on earth. It's incredibly well-priced, a low-fi operation that's high on charm. The De Simone family is wonderful; the casual restaurant is arguably the best on the Amalfi Coast. Locals, foodies, and celebs straight off their super yachts eat equally fabulously for hours at a time on the breezy patio on stilts over the water. Fresh seafood, handmade pasta, incredible vegetables and fruit plucked from the family farm that morning. If you believe in simple pleasures, Lo Scoglio is pure heaven.
Piazza delle Sirene 115
Marina del Cantone, Massa Lubrense, 80061
+39-081-808-1026