Cafe Positano — Restaurant in Positano

CAPTURED OUR HEARTS BUT NOT OUR TUMMIES

Our hotel's staff recommended this restaurant so vigorously that we were almost convinced they would receive some sort of commission for the reservation they booked for us there. The hotel's shuttle came to pick us up from our hotel and we rode with a few other people from different hotels in the area. Thus, even before reaching the restaurant, we were already experiencing a friendly atmosphere in that van.

THE SETTING & AMBIANCE: Once we got there, we were given a prime table facing the sea. The view couldn't be any better. The table to our left was so close that it felt like we were sitting together. It turned out to be an excellent thing once again. We befriended and conversed with a mother-daughter couple hailing from Argentina during the whole dinner. We talked, tasted each others' dishes and became each other's photographers for the evening.

THE SERVICE: Excellent ! It felt like everyone there really enjoyed being there and making sure that their guests had a good time. We were actually regularly attended to by other tables' servers.

THE FOOD: We ordered a lobster risotto and a seafood linguine dish. The ingredients used were very fresh. Indeed, we had seen some vegetables being delivered there directly by local farmers that morning. Nonetheless, we weren't necessarily impressed by our dishes. We didn't taste the Italian flavors we were expecting. My risotto was 95% rice and 5% lobster. My wife's "Fruitti di Mare" lacked flavor also. After leaving, we actually went to a second restaurant that evening where we ordered the same dish and it came out just perfect (see my review about restaurant "Capricci").

OVERALL: Although we weren't wowed by the food, we had an amazing evening. This is a perfect spot for a date or a family dinner. The view, the staff, the ambiance created magic memories which we'll cherish for a lifetime. Besides, when you think about it, there is so much more to a dinner than a meal. Indeed, most of that food will eventually be expelled out of your digestive tube. What will remain however will be the experience that your brain and your heart will gain from it...And Caffe Positano definitely captured...

Disaster at the Café Positano

I recently had the misfortune of dining at what can only be described as the culinary equivalent of a dumpster fire, the so-called "Café Positano."

First off, the ambiance screamed "I give up." The decor seemed like it was last updated during the Renaissance, but not in a good way. The walls were adorned with peeling posters of Italy, making you wonder if you were in a restaurant or a forgotten subway station.

The service was so slow it felt like I was waiting for pasta made from wheat that hadn’t even been planted yet. Our waiter looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, and his attitude confirmed it. When our food finally arrived, it was a travesty. The spaghetti was so overcooked it could have been used as a weapon, and the sauce? It tasted like they used the bottom of the tomato can mixed with despair.

The pizza was a sad, soggy mess. I've had better from a frozen aisle at a discount store. And don't even get me started on the garlic bread - it was as if they toasted it with an iron from the 70s.

For dessert, we tried the tiramisu, which was more like "tira-misery." It was dry, flavorless, and seemed to have been assembled by someone with no love for food or humanity.

To top it all off, the bill was outrageously priced for such an abysmal experience. I left Café Positano with less money, less faith in humanity, and a vow never to return. Avoid this place like you'd avoid the plague.

Rating: One sad, overcooked noodle out of five.

Hope this meets your expectations for a...

We fell into this tourist trap because it was the end of the day and we had just entered Positano starving with that mood of “if I don’t sit down here I’ll be walking around forever grumpy looking for something” and no mood to research for something better in a quicker period of time. So we sat down, and it felt eh, rushed and impersonal, although the young guy waiters were nice(defo flirty) , and the food we had was just classics you can’t really go too wrong with so it was “nice”. I didn’t like the crowded - clutter feeling and my dog wasn’t comfortable - you may say this is not their fault but it did have this energy of “make money fast” that added to the feeling of clutter. The very sour cherry on top came at the end when first, in totally non Italian style the manager guy asked for a tip by telling us “tip is not included” and then, after we paid, even worse, he basically chased us away and told us to go finish our limoncellos in the “waiting area” which was a rock on the side of the street where people were waiting for tables. I was horrified at that total lack of hospitality ( especially Italian hospitality.) I know that in Positano it is possible to find good, authentic restaurants geared to pleasing their guests and not just moving with the tourist robot rhythm, because I have been to one like that last time I was in Positano, but these are not easy to find if you just “walk in” without any prior research, plans...