Food to Try on the Amalfi Coast: Lemons, Seafood & Sfogliatelle

The Amalfi Coast’s food is Campanian cooking shaped by the sea and the lemon groves. Seafood drives most menus; the sfusato amalfitano lemon — longer, sweeter, and more fragrant than standard varieties — flavours everything from pasta to liqueur.

Limoncello

The Amalfi Coast produces some of Italy’s best limoncello, made from sfusato amalfitano lemons grown on the terraced hillsides. Buy it directly from producers in Amalfi or Ravello rather than tourist shops — the difference in quality is significant. Serve it ice-cold from the freezer.

Where to find it: Lemon groves (giardini di limoni) throughout the coast sell limoncello and lemon products directly at the farmstead gate — the sfusato amalfitano is IGP protected and notably sweeter than standard lemons. Pasticceria Pansa (Piazza Duomo, Amalfi, since 1830) — for limoncello pastries alongside sfogliatelle and delizia al limone. €3–8 per item.

Scialatielli

The coast’s signature pasta — a thick, irregular egg noodle, wider than spaghetti and shorter. It’s made fresh with basil in the dough and typically served with seafood: clams, mussels, local prawns, or a mixed frutti di mare. Any restaurant on the coast making it properly is worth the detour.

Where to eat it: La Caravella (Via Matteo Camera 12, Amalfi) — the oldest restaurant on the Amalfi Coast, open since 1959, serving scialatielli ai frutti di mare as a signature dish. €45–75/person.

Seafood

Grilled orata (sea bream) and spigola (sea bass) served whole with lemon and olive oil. Alici (fresh anchovies) marinated or fried — the local anchovies from Cetara, a fishing village east of Amalfi, are considered the finest in Italy. Colatura di alici (anchovy extract, Cetara’s fermented fish sauce) is used as a condiment in the same way Worcestershire sauce is used elsewhere — intensely savoury, worth buying a bottle.

Where to eat it: Il Pirata (Via Praiano waterfront, Praiano) — terrace above the sea, grilled fish, spaghetti alle vongole; good value relative to Positano and Amalfi. €35–65/person. Lo Guarracino (Via Positanesi d’America 12, Positano) — cliffside terrace, alici di menaica (a local anchovy variety), linguine with sea urchin. €45–75/person. Da Adolfo (Laurito beach, Positano) — mozzarella grilled on lemon leaves and grilled fish at a beach restaurant accessible only by private boat from Positano (free shuttle from Via del Brigantino). €40–70/person.

Delizia al Limone

A dome-shaped sponge cake soaked in lemon syrup and topped with lemon cream — lighter than its appearance suggests. Found in pastry shops throughout the coast; Sant’Agnello near Sorrento is credited with the invention.

Where to eat it: Pasticceria Pansa (Piazza Duomo, Amalfi, since 1830) — one of the oldest pastry shops on the coast; delizia al limone, sfogliatelle, and the full range of lemon-based confections. €3–8 per item.

Where to Eat

Tourist restaurants on the main waterfront areas charge significantly more than those a few steps back. In Positano, walk up the stepped alleys above the beach to find better-value options. In Amalfi, the restaurants around the duomo steps are tourist traps; the streets behind them less so. Cetara (east of Amalfi, 30 minutes by car or bus) has excellent restaurants at lower prices than the main coast.