Where to Eat in Amalfi
Like a Local
A former maritime empire with a cuisine still shaped by the sea and the spice trade
🗝️ Key fact: Colatura di alici di Cetara — anchovy extract produced 10km from Amalfi in the village of Cetara — is the most complex and historically significant condiment in Southern Italy. A few drops over spaghetti with garlic and olive oil creates the most Amalfi Coast-specific dish you can eat. It is available in good delis in Amalfi and should be taken home.
Amalfi was a maritime republic that rivalled Venice and Genoa for Mediterranean trade in the 10th and 11th centuries — and the food culture reflects this history. The colatura di alici (anchovy extract) produced in the nearby village of Cetara is a direct descendant of the Roman garum, preserved here through an unbroken tradition. The scialatielli pasta that defines Amalfi Coast cooking was invented nearby. The lemons that grow on every terrace above the town are the sfusato amalfitano — one of the great citrus varieties in Italy.
Eating in Amalfi: The Local Rules
Eat lunch rather than dinner in Amalfi
The town empties of day-trippers after 5pm and the restaurants become noticeably calmer and more local. But the best seafood restaurants here are genuinely lunch operations — they buy from the morning boats and their best dishes may be gone by evening.
Colatura di alici is the ingredient to buy and take home
Available in small glass bottles at delis in Amalfi and in the Cetara village itself. A few drops over spaghetti with olive oil and garlic is the most Amalfi-specific pasta preparation. At home, use it anywhere you'd use anchovy paste — it adds depth without fishiness.
The sfusato amalfitano lemon is not decorative
The long, tapered, intensely fragrant lemon that grows on every terrace above Amalfi is used in cooking, in limoncello, and grated over pasta. The zest is the point — buy a lemon at the market and smell the skin before peeling.
Scialatielli should be made that morning
The hand-rolled Amalfi Coast pasta requires no egg — flour, local Fior di Latte cheese, basil, and milk only. Ask when you order whether the scialatielli were made that day. A kitchen that knows its pasta will answer immediately and correctly.
Where to Eat in Amalfi, By Neighbourhood
The neighbourhood you eat in matters as much as the restaurant you choose. Here's where locals eat — and the specific restaurants we'd book.
Centro (around the Duomo and harbour)
Amalfi is small enough that there is effectively one central area — the steps and piazzas radiating from the Duomo di Sant'Andrea down to the harbour. The restaurants worth visiting are within 10 minutes' walk of the main square, but the best ones require walking away from the immediately adjacent tourist menus.
La Caravella
The oldest Michelin-starred restaurant in Southern Italy (first star 1959, current star maintained) and a serious custodian of Amalfi Coast culinary tradition. The kitchen uses colatura di alici from Cetara, sfusato amalfitano lemons from the terraces above, and scialatielli made fresh daily. The tasting menu is a history of the Amalfi Coast in eight courses.
Pro tip: Book the tasting menu rather than à la carte — the kitchen tells a coherent story in the sequence that individual dishes don't convey. The colatura di alici pasta is always on the tasting menu and is the dish that defines this kitchen.
Trattoria Il Mulino
The most honest and local of the accessible restaurants in Amalfi — a family trattoria operating from a converted mill with a terrace above the town's main stream. The scialatielli are made that morning, the fish comes from the Amalfi harbour boats, and the prices reflect the food rather than the postcard view.
Pro tip: This trattoria is slightly off the main tourist path — walk up the Via dei Mulini past the paper museum to find it. The 5-minute walk eliminates 60% of the tourist premium.
Zaccaria
The best place in Amalfi to eat the dish defined by this coast: spaghetti alla colatura di alici (spaghetti dressed with the Cetara anchovy extract, olive oil, garlic, and parsley). The colatura at Zaccaria comes from a specific Cetara producer the family has worked with for three generations. Simple, specific, completely unreplicable at home without the right colatura.
Pro tip: Order the colatura spaghetti as your first course regardless of what else you order — this is the most Amalfi-specific dish available anywhere on this coast.
Cetara (10km east — worth the trip)
The fishing village of Cetara is where the colatura di alici is produced — the traditional anchovy extract that defines Amalfi Coast cooking. A 15-minute drive from Amalfi along the coast road, it has several excellent fish restaurants and the producers selling colatura directly. A half-day trip worth making.
Acquapazza
The best seafood restaurant in Cetara and the correct place to eat the colatura pasta — in the village where the ingredient is made, from a kitchen that sources it from the family producers across the street. The acqua pazza (Mediterranean fish poached in tomato, white wine, and olive oil) is the other essential order: the dish that names both the restaurant and the ancient Neapolitan cooking technique.
Pro tip: Buy two or three bottles of colatura di alici at the producers in Cetara to take home — it's significantly cheaper here than in Amalfi or Positano and the provenance is guaranteed.
Must-Try Dishes in Amalfi
The dishes that define this city's food identity — and where to find the best version of each.
Spaghetti alla Colatura di Alici
Spaghetti tossed with colatura di alici (Cetara anchovy extract), olive oil, garlic, parsley, and red chilli — no additional salt needed. The colatura provides deep umami and a complexity that makes this the most historically resonant pasta dish on the Amalfi Coast.
Zaccaria (Amalfi) or Acquapazza (Cetara) — both use genuine Cetara colatura
Colatura di Alici di Cetara
Anchovy extract made by salting and pressing anchovies for 12 months in chestnut barrels, then allowing the resulting liquid to filter through a small hole in the barrel bottom. The direct descendant of ancient Roman garum. Used in drops as a condiment and seasoning. Not fishy — deeply savoury.
Buy from the producers in Cetara village directly — look for Delfino Battista or Nettuno brand
Scialatielli ai Frutti di Mare
The hand-rolled Amalfi Coast pasta made without egg, served with the day's mixed seafood catch. The pasta has a slightly dense, chewy texture that holds up to the seafood cooking liquid better than more delicate pasta shapes.
Trattoria Il Mulino (Amalfi) — ask if made that morning
Alici Marinate
Fresh anchovies from the morning catch, marinated in sfusato amalfitano lemon juice until acid-cured, dressed with olive oil and parsley. The freshness of the anchovies makes this dish — the same fish tinned and sold internationally is a completely different product.
Any harbour restaurant in Amalfi or Cetara ordering daily from the local boats
Sfusato Amalfitano Limoncello
Made from the long, tapered sfusato amalfitano lemon grown on the terraces above the coast — the peel-to-juice ratio is higher than standard lemons, producing an intensely aromatic zest that creates a more complex limoncello than the Sorrento variety.
Local producers in Amalfi or Cetara — look for handwritten labels and local addresses
Best Markets in Amalfi
Amalfi Market (Piazza Duomo area)
Tue 8am–1pm (main market day)
A small weekly market in and around the main square selling seasonal produce, sfusato amalfitano lemons from the hillside terraces, local cheeses, and occasionally colatura di alici from Cetara producers. The Tuesday market is when local farmers descend from the hillside villages.
Cetara village (colatura producers)
Mon–Sat 9am–1pm, 4pm–7pm
Not a market but a village where you can buy colatura di alici directly from the producers — Delfino Battista and Nettuno are the two main traditional producers. The price is half what it is in tourist shops and the provenance is guaranteed.
The Food Tour We'd Actually Recommend
Cetara & Amalfi Coast Food Tour with Colatura Tasting
From $78/person
A half-day tour to Cetara village to visit a colatura producer, taste the anchovy extract at source, eat spaghetti alla colatura at a local trattoria, and buy directly from producers before returning to Amalfi. The most historically specific food experience on the coast.
Affiliate link — no extra cost to you
Tourist Traps to Avoid in Amalfi
The restaurants with outdoor seating immediately adjacent to the Duomo steps — the most expensive tables in Amalfi and reliably average cooking.
Limoncello and colatura di alici sold in decorative packaging in gift shops near the waterfront — buy from producers in Cetara for the authentic product at honest prices.
Any restaurant advertising a fixed tourist menu near the harbour — the Amalfi harbour area has a significant concentration of tourist-facing operations that know their customers are there for the view.
Paper products (Amalfi is historically famous for its paper mills) sold as 'traditional' in tourist shops — genuine Amalfi paper is still made at the Museo della Carta but most paper products sold as souvenirs are not locally produced.