12 Great Restaurants in Capri

Ravioli ripieni di caciotta (cheese ravioli) is a classic Capri dish, and Al Grottino is the perfect place to try it. Their pasta is homemade and as you peruse the first courses, the specialities just keep getting better, including scialatielli con fiori di zucchini (pasta with courgette flowers) and gamberetti agli gnocchetti al ragù (shrimps with gnocchi in ragu).

For vegetarian options, there’s straccetti alla rucola (veggie strips with rocket). There are meat, fish and gluten-free dishes. Finish with a homemade tiramisù, panna cotta, semifreddi (semi-frozen desserts) or cake. It's set in a 15th-century building with barrel vaults, right by the square. Why not peruse the luxury boutiques and enjoy breathtaking views after your meal?

Da Gelsomina is the place to try spaghetti alla chiummenzana, a classic Campania dish invented in Capri. The name comes from the dialect term describing a crew waiting to board, who would cook pasta using only ingredients available on land: garlic, oil, tomatoes and olives. The restaurant’s at the end of Via Migliara, leading to an area with a stunning view from Faro di Punta Carena (Punta Carena Lighthouse) to the Faraglioni sea stacks.

There’s a free shuttle for customers, leaving from the centre of Anacapri. Eat on the terrace for a spectacular view or a sunset. Savour the island's flavours while admiring its beauty, from ravioli alla caprese (cheese ravioli in tomato sauce) to coniglio alla cacciatora (braised rabbit).

The owner of a lemon garden beside a vineyard, near the Marina Grande sea opened a restaurant called Da Paolino. Customers here could dine under an arbour of fragrant citrus fruits and drink wine from the vineyard's grapes. At first, only friends and locals enjoyed this candle and lamp-lit terrace.

Its beauty soon won over tourists, until the likes of Steven Spielberg, Elton John, Tom Cruise and Bruce Willis dined under this splendid pergola. They’re not the only celebrities to grace the tables: the traditional dishes are cooked using local products and vegetables from the garden. We recommend totano con le patate (squid and potatoes). For dessert, you'll be led to a buffet of homemade pastries.

At Da Antonio, a beach bar where you can enjoy a meal or snack during a day of sunbathing, time seems to stand still. You can even rent a deckchair and sun yourself on the terrace. It's on Capri’s popular Lido del Faro beach, on the island’s west side. the wildness of the sea and cliffs transforms into a spectacular sunset spot in the evening.

The restaurant’s aesthetic, with its wooden deckchairs and thatched veranda, harks back to the 1950s. They cook fresh dishes and snacks, with a salad, sandwich and pizza menu. The house special is caponata (chopped vegetables in an agrodolce sauce) one of Capri's most famous delicacies, best accompanied with vino bianco alle pesche (peach white wine).

La Rondinella immerses you in the island’s flavours. The restaurant’s located on the main road that goes through Anacapri and has close ties with local gastronomy. Take one of its specialities, spaghetti alla ciamurra. The name describes a grumpy farmer (a historic stereotype for Anacapri locals). The dish, despite the name, is scrumptious: pasta served with a sauce of fresh anchovies, green olives, garlic, oil and chilli.

Rondinella's menu features local recipes and ingredients exclusively: the red seabream is caught from Capri's sea and cooked with fresh tomatoes and parsley, and the island's kitchen gardens provide beef tomatoes used in the timeless insalata caprese (caprese salad). Desserts are traditional too, with excellent torta al limone (lemon cake).

Pescheria Le Botteghe (Le Botteghe Fish Market) has always been a touchstone for high-quality, fresh products. What’s better than enjoying fresh seafood in the centre of Capri? The fish is caught from the azure waters of the Gulf of Naples and used in traditional recipes that make local flavours and ingredients shine.

Thanks to some ingenuity, business doubled: in the morning you'll see crates of fish and shellfish, but return at lunchtime and the sales counters have been replaced by tables for enjoying an aperitif and delicious seafood specialities. Traditional flavours and imaginative pairings on offer include: crudità di pesce (seafood platters), ostriche (oysters), hamburger di tonno (tuna burgers), seafood pasta/rice dishes and the obligatory frittura di paranza (small fried fish).

Aurora is perhaps the only restaurant where you’d want to order a bidone (dustbin), a speciality pizza topped with ham and escarole or Capri figs. This sophisticated setting in Capri’s centre offers culinary classics and some delicious original dishes. Ever eaten a pizza all’acqua (water pizza)? It's made with a lighter dough and is extremely thin.

If you're more into classics, there are dishes with authentic ingredients and just a touch of originality. Wine aficionados can visit the cellar, a gorgeous barrel-vaulted room. The walls are covered in crates and bottles, featuring a selection of reds and whites from every region in Italy. You can try wine tasting or, for an even more unique atmosphere, dine in a private room.

Aumm Aumm isn't just a shrine to the Margherita. The menu contains around 30 types of pizza, all cooked in a wood oven with authentic local ingredients. They also have a restaurant service with rice/pasta dishes, fried food, salads, burgers and delicacies like saltimbocca (marinated ham-wrapped veal).

Football matches and big sports events are shown on the large TV screen, great for when your favourite team is playing while you're on holiday. To finish, or to console yourself if the match ended badly, the desserts menu is full of homemade cakes.

Le Grottelle restaurant is right on the road connecting the spectacular rock formation on the island’s east side to Capri’s centre. The restaurant was built out of some rock caves, and you can see the Gulf of Naples, Li Galli islands and Sorrento Peninsula from the terrace. They serve simple, flavoursome dishes, like spaghetti sciuè sciuè (spaghetti with cherry tomatoes). Scialatielli ai frutti di mare (seafood pasta) is a classic Campania dish.

Vuoi qualche idea su come proseguire il pasto? Coniglio alla cacciatora (braised rabbit) makes a great meat option, and for dessert there’s torta alla crema con visciole (cream cake with sour cherries). Ask for homemade liquore al finocchietto (fennel liqueur) or limoncello with dessert.

Capri Pasta, in a side street near the square, makes island delicacies to take away: rice/pasta, parmigiana di melanzane (baked aubergine, cheese and tomato), pies, fried food, polpette al vino bianco (meatballs in white wine sauce), small pizzas and focaccias.

The pasta’s homemade and the cuisine developed around the idea of a takeaway ravioli shop for locals and tourists. The dough for ravioli alla caprese (cheese ravioli in tomato sauce) contains just water, oil and flour, no egg. They now make several other specialities, so you can bag up the flavours of Capri and take them with you.

Pasticceria Buonocore is the place to go to sweeten your holiday. Located on Capri's central street, you're bound to pass it and be tempted by its treats. This historic shop’s been operating since the late 1900s, and also produces gelato. Why not seize the opportunity to taste the island's classic sweet? Torta caprese is an unusual cake, made with almonds, sugar, butter, egg and dark chocolate, but no flour or yeast. The result: a crunchy crust covering a soft centre.

If you're tempted by an ice cream in summertime, Pasticceria Buonocore serves it made-to-order hot wafers. The Neapolitan specialities in the window include the obligatory code di aragosta (flaky pastries filled with cream, chocolate or Chantilly cream).

For a day at the seaside and lunch on a terrace with views of the Faraglioni, head to Torre Saracena. This panoramic restaurant is in a resort in Baia di Marina Piccola (Marina Piccola Bay), founded in the early 1900s. The resort still has the qualities that made it famous, standing on wooden stilts and under pergolas along Capri's crystal-clear sea.

The restaurant’s verandas face the rock formations, now an iconic part of the island. Their traditional dishes include zuppa di pesce con scorfano e pomodorini (rockfish soup with cherry tomatoes), polpette di melanzane (aubergine balls) and pezzogna all’acqua pazza (red seabream, a typical Gulf of Naples fish, garlic, onions and pachino tomatoes). It’s a few hundred metres’ walk from the square.