I was there in Amalfi this March, 11th through the 17th, and it was jammed. I thought it was a shoulder month but if that is a shoulder month I would hate to see it in a peak month. Sorrento from the 17th to the 21st was better able to handle the tourists and locals.
I will probably go back next March but I might try to get there a bit earlier in the month. Great food and great people.
Not recent experiences tho i have verified that these 2 spots we enjoyed during a stay in Ravello are still going strong:
If you get to beautiful Ravello at lunch time, Cumpa Cosimo was very good altho it seems and is touristy. The combination pasta plate is a good choice. I cant comment on the more upscale places up there since we were off season and they were closed.
In Atrani (adjacent to Amalfi by a short walk through village passages and downhill by foot from Ravello) you might consider a place where we enjoyed an excellent seafood meal, A’Paranza https://www.ristoranteparanza.com/.
Katie Parla is very reliable for Italy generally. Here is her link for the Amalfi coast
I will be in Ravello Sunday, in your opinion what makes a place “ touristy”
Thanks. I am all about eating good local food so hanging a label on a place makes me want to avoid at all cost
A lot of people dont want to go to restaurants where there are a lot of non-Italian eaters (I guess I am one of them) Are you old enough to remember the infamous Il Latini in Florence?? This restaurant hasi been recommended probably all the way back to the Frommer Days - I think Arthur Schwartz liked it too - the owner had or still has a recommended cooking school. Lots of tourists go there. There may be a line. it seems like it should not be as good as it is but all the 3 pastas on our tris were absolutely delicious. (the dessert was skippable) There you are. We were there a number of years pre-pandemic but the current reviews suggest that its still going strong. At least when we were there there were very few affordable dining options in beautiful Ravello. This was the best.
Note, Katie suggested in the link I posted that there is a good pizzeria in Ravello now - its probably touristy too (the name of the game in the Costiera) but certainly an alternative!
Its notable that SlowFood hardly has any recommendations in the area now. Probably because the restaurants they used to recommend, like A’Paranza, Il Ritrovo, Aquapazza etc are now priced out of their range.
We dined there one night while staying in Ravello several years ago. It was very touristy and seemed almost schtick-y, but I had a really excellent fish for my main–probably was the pesce del giorno–filleted at the table, simple preparation, cooked and seasoned perfectly. I can’t remember what else we ordered.
If you are staying in Amalfi and on the hunt for great food in a less touristy place, I highly recommend taking the SITA bus south along the coast to the town of Cetara. I imagine that this is the atmosphere that was Amalfi 50 years ago. I felt as if I were on a movie set…just one Main Street a few steps from the bus stop. Why any food lover staying on the AC would skip Cetara is a mystery to me. I wrote about my meal there last week on this site. I do not mean to put down Amalfi in any way but for me, if for no one else, Cetara is the real thing…still a local village with a vibrant fishing industry…one of my favorite spots in southern Italy.
Jen…I do remember Il Latini…I went in late September 2001 and even then I think I had to queue! Can’t remember the food but do recall being seated at a long table with English-speaking tourists.
We went on our first trip to Italy in 1978. In Rome we had been following recommendations from Michelin and particularly Georgina Masson from her Companion Guide to Rome. That got us to Armando among other good places. In Florence we found out what following Frommer advice resulted in when we visited Il Latini - what you said, mobs of english speaking bargain hunters and vast servings of mediocre chow. I imagine it upgraded the food by the time you visited but the business model is still the same.
So I am in Sorrento, ate at one of the local restaurants, forgot the name, too many Limoncello’s fresh seafood and pasta.
Staying at Villa Astor had about 7 different pizzas best combo was onion & bacon with the freshly made mozzarella
Tonight catered affair at Astor Villa hopefully I can post some pictures with some interesting comments CIao for now
Have not been in the Amalfi area in about 10 years but liked CUMPA COSIMO ( remember the older female owner—Netta, I think— and how she gave hood guidance on what to order. Loved A Paranza where we ate on a few trips. But even better was a restaurant outside Massa on Sorrentine peninsula. I think it was in Slow Food and the name had the word “Torre” in it. (I think!). No tourists there for lunch back then and they had no website. I can find the name if you are interested. It was excellent!!! You can get there by bus I think.
Off topic, but I miss driving around Brooklyn and having WOR on the radio around lunchtime. Many times my lunch plans would change just on something he said.
So I am traveling with a few friends, one unbeknownst to me made a reservation at Donna Sophia in Sorrento.
Normally I am quite adverse to “ celebrity themed “ restaurants. This one pays homage to Sophia Loren
We did stay in a Villa she frequently visited so I sucked it up and went.
I had one of the best risotto dishes ever.
Perfectly balanced flavors with loads of fresh shrimp.
She had a spaghetti dish with seafood which a few others had and raved. So put this one on a list of places you might want to try.
Lemon cake was delicious but we were so in our cups drinking Limoncello Spritzers so we were all just a bit impaired, certainly a fun spot with Sophia Loren inspired decor
