Ristorante C'Era Una Volta

Lovely restaurant above Positano. We arrived at around 8 on a Sunday evening, late in the season but we're made very welcome, and we're well looked after throughout the evening. We were both quite tired and fancied something straightforward so I opted for the steak and chips, while my wife had pizza. Both were absolutely spot on and the steak was cooked beautifully. Maybe it was the half carafe of wine but it was one of the best evenings out in Positano that week. Also... Given that the restaurant is up in Chiesa Nuova, the prices are very reasonable by comparison to down at the big beach. Definitely worth the walk up a couple of steps.

Don’t miss this place! Our Airbnb was close by and we came here 3 different times. We couldn’t believe it wasn’t more crowded because the food was so much better than other places we visited in Positano (and more affordable). The Capricciosa pizza was so good we got it twice. The tiramisu with espresso was so light and tasty. The beautiful view was the icing on the cake. We hope to come back someday ❤️

Perfetto 👌 Friendly, great food, highly recommend the sea bass. Wow. Ended with a Tiramisu. Lovely authentic Italian restaurent. I wish I could come back again 🙏 Grazie mille.

Such a great value for the quality of food. Just as good as any meal you can have in lower Positano at half the prices. Maybe even better. See that steak? 20 euro. See that pizza? 3 euro. Both 10/10. Service is amazing and they make you feel at home.

Highly recommended. Excellent food quality and service. Pizzas, pasta, and seafood were amazing. We went twice to this place. Very reasonable prices for Positano compared to restaurants close to the port area.

We were advised to go here by Jade from our hotel. Wow, were we pleased to have found this restaurant. We love Italian food but to taste real Italian food you have to go here. We have eaten twice out of the three nights we had in Positano. We sat outside for our visit as the views were beautiful from outside. We sat indoors last night due to it being cold. We didn't book, but they were able to seat us. The wine there comes in a jug, which is so nice and different.  The food was mouthwatering, and we wish we had a restaurant like this in England. Thank you to the Chef and Waiters

This is the real authentic Italian restaurant you’re looking for! Family run, wonderful service, breathtaking views, delicious authentic food. It was one of the highlights of our trip! Fairly priced too.

Our accommodation in Positano was very close to this restaurant that is how we stumbled across it - thank god! It was such a blessing, we dined here 3 times in 3 days and every meal was delicious! And the service was lovely ☺️ My partner was so happy with the food and vibe he insisted on coming here every day, I was super happy as they were kind enough to accommodate a fussy vegan I even bought my own cheese and borrowed a grater 🙏 I had homemade pasta with tomato sauce and mushrooms it was nice to have the option of soft homemade pasta that wasn’t made with animal products I highly recommend this restaurant Thank you so much to the wait staff and the kitchen staff we really appreciate your service 😋 yum!

Fabulous!! Originally recommended by our host, we kind of let that slide. Did not try it until we were here for a few days. I wish we would have taken his advice sooner. It ended up being her favorite restaurant in Positano. we ate her twice. Ravioli with clams was wonderful as well as the homemade pasta with seafood. On another visit, we had the grilled Seabass and the gnocchi. Best prices in town - $11-25 entrees House wine $3 Beer 2.50 Try the steamed mussels. Simple. Pepper and lemon. Some of the best I've had. Staff fun and friendly. Chef really is top notch. OK Views are great. If you're not staying at the top. It's worth the 10 walk up the stairs! You won't be disappointed.

My sister and I had a lovely dinner here. Their Scialatielli is so fresh and delicious--it was a real treat. It's quite a hike up Positano, so make sure you have plenty of time and energy to conquer the stairs. The place was full of locals and you can tell that it's a favorite amongst those who are familiar with the area. The waitstaff was friendly and helpful.

We LOVED this restaurant. We had our first meal in Positano at C'era una Volta and before we even had our first bite, we could tell that the cooking was going to be super authentic and homemade. You can see the chef working hard in the kitchen making everything from scratch. We ordered the bolognese and a pizza with salami and olives... everything was amazing. The waiters were friendly and the chef even came out after the meal to see how we enjoyed the food. The dessert was also very special. We had a lemon Tiramisu, which was a first for us and it blew our minds. This was the perfect start to our 3 day stay in Positano!

Poor food - quality and flavor. Would not recommend . Overrated experience . No shrimp available. Mussels very small and way too much pepper. Pasta undercooked - sauce too sweet

This was an unfortunate meal. While the outside deck is relatively impressive, if you're sitting on the edge, you can't see the sites well as the plants really get in the way of much of the view. I ordered the seafood risotto, and it's not like it was bad but it was NOT risotto. It was a rice dish with some seafood in it. Texture and flavor was bland. My husband's seafood pasta was also blah. The tiramisu was mush. Maybe we were a victim or bad ordering but between an app, two entrees, and a dessert, we weren't impressed by any dish.

We stopped at the first place in Positano after walking down from Nocelle--what a pleasant surprise! The mussels were the best I've ever had, and the limoncello spritz was delicious. Beautiful setting, polite servers. So glad we stumbled on this gem!

This was our favorite restaurant we came to in Italy. We ended up going for lunch and for dinner while in positano because we loved it so much. The eggplant pasta is the greatest meal I've ever eaten. I didn't try the pizza, but my friends said it was the best pizza they had while we were in Italy. The food was out of this world, and to top it all off, we got an amazing view when we sat outside for lunch. I can't rave enough about this restaurant. The staff was so friendly and it was the cheapest meal we had in Europe. I would come here every day if I could. Such a great restaurant with reasonable prices. Everyone has to come here when passing through positano!!

Everything about our experience was incredible! We would have gone back again and again if possible. The food was so authentic, fresh and delicious. The staff was by far the friendliest and kindest and we've experienced in our two weeks in Italy. And the views are spectacular. This felt like a little hidden gem that we were so lucky to stumble upon.

AMAZING!! Food was fabulous and the service was excellent!!! We ate two nights in a row because we enjoyed it so much!!

I've had better seafood. I've had better pasta. The pasta was overpriced. The pizzas were good and cheap. The service was horrendous. You notice when others get bread baskets are you don't. You notice when others get their drinks refilled and you don't.

Despite the climb, this is a wonderful Positano restaurant, serving delicious pizza and pasta dishes. AND they have a friendly house cat!

Nice little restaurant with a great patio. Mark was training and so accommodating and nice. We had the fest experience because of him. All of the food was excellent- recommend getting the bruschetta and tiramisu!

Food was excellent and at a great price. The staff was delightfully "spicy" and friendly, and we made friends with them over time. We went back repeatedly during our time here and were never disappointed. Highly recommended!!!

Great food and service. We shared a pizza and I had the shrimp pasta. Felt like home.

The best service we have received in Positano. Free shuttle from where we were staying. Great view and excellent food. Five stars for sure.

Our friends rented an apartment just around the corner but didn't find this place until our last day. Everything is reasonably priced and our dinner was delicious. There is a 1.5euro pp seating charge, like many charge in Italy. We ordered a liter of local wine (for about €4), seasonal pizza which was eggplant, pumpkin and zucchini, eggplant parm, and pasta with eggplant (we love eggplant in Italy, hah!) our bill was under €30 and we had so much food to take home. Their pizza was very tasty, the homemade pasta was delicious, and mouth watering eggplant. We sat outside and they even gave us shawls to stay warm. All of the servers were very kind. We even had a pleasant long chat with one. Will come back if I'm ever in positano again!

One of the best meals & experiences we had in Positano! The food was delicious & the staff so friendly. Highly recommend.

Yelp is pretty useful in that it lets you know what restaurants are bad, so you can automatically filter those out, but it's not really the best for identifying a restaurant that's guaranteed to be good. Especially when there aren't many reviews of the place yet. This was one of those places...good reviews from about many 20 people, but we did not really enjoy our meal here. Maybe the kids from the hostel close by like it bc it has decent pizza at a reasonable price, but if you want ambiance or fresh seafood, I'd look elsewhere. Firstly we wanted to sit outside and have a view bc duh, it's Positano, but when we arrived without a reservation, we were seated at a table outside under some of the brightest fluorescent lights I have ever seen since elementary school. They eventually turned the brightness down to prevent our retinas from being scorched thank god. There were 4 or 5 open tables on edge of terrace with a view, but we were told they were reserved--- we finished our meal and no one had been seated at these tables btw, which was annoying to say the least. We ordered the mixed seafood pasta which was so fishy and gross we only ate a small portion of the clams and mussels and none of the pasta. We shared a pizza which was decent but a bit too cheesy for me. I also got the grilled shrimps which were actually pretty good and fresh, thus the 2 stars. Bottom line: if you're up this high in Positano or staying at the hostel, stop in for a decent pizza or the grilled shrimps. Make a reservation if you want a view. Ask them to turn on some music and turn down the lights! Better yet, head down the road a bit farther to Da Vincenzo for a much better meal.

This place is so good! Less ritzy than other places (a good thing in this town) and amazing food! Bigger portions than some other places here and friendly staff.

This is my third trip to Positano, and I have eaten here each time. The restaurant is cozy, the staff exceptionally friendly and helpful, and the pizza is delicious! I also tried their cheesecake this time - my family and I had to have seconds! The prices are also incredibly reasonable!

This restaurant was the nastiest restaurant I have been to. I ordered the swordfish it was nasty and cold. I ordered lemon drink with sugar it was bitter and inedible. I didn't even drink it. I ordered the pizza marinara it was nasty. Big red pizza with nothing in it. We ordered pizza with vegetables it barely had any vegetable and no salt. We payed 44 euros and I don't think it was worth it. I felt nasty after this restaurant and had a bad taste in my mouth.

Good food with Italian taste.Good vegetarian options.Pizza and pasta were good.Service is nice staff is courteous.They provide free shuttle service from and to your hotel.

This was our least favorite meal in Italy. Service was weird, pasta was well cooked but way under seasoned and it was just nothing special. We asked for salt and the check and the salt never came and the check took forever. I'm no stranger to Italian culture or restaurants and this was just really unpleasant all around. The environment was weird too with loud country and Latina music (?)on a brightly flashing speaker and our table had a view of the napkin laundry bin. The staff gave the table next to us bug spray to spray themselves for mosquitoes and that's all I could taste afterwards. I'd avoid if I were you.

Darn solid meal. We ordered 3 items that were daily specials, all were very good. The gnocchi della casa was excellent. This is a place worth hitting.

Stopped in for lunch! Best pizza I have had here, as well as cappucino. Service was excellent, and prices reasonable- 21 euro for Aperol Spritz, pizza, mixed salad, and cappucino. Views were outstanding. What a find! Great location to bus stops too.

We had a great experience here. It's laid back and delicious. The staff is fun and welcoming. Great for take out or dinning in. Very reasonably priced. I ate here 3 times during my stay in Town. Also.. Someone mention the "cover charge" but that's pretty standard for Italy. Tipping is not mandatory in Italy so it's very reasonable to charge a cover if dinning inside.

If you are in Positano and want to get away from the tourist crowds and commercial grade food, then this place is for you. Extremely generous portions, great taste, happy staff, and reasonably priced with a great view !!!

Some of the best seafood I've ever had. This place is very inconspicuous, almost as if disguised as a little pizzeria, but the food is incredible. We went on the earlier side and were given a table with a view immediately. The waiters were kind and funny. Make sure you listen to the specials, as they are amazing and super fresh. If they have the baby shrimp appetizer, it is spectacular. Also, the seafood pasta is perfect. Definitely a place for a seafood lover, but the steak is also very good for those who aren't big fans. The prices are also very good compared to other restaurants in Positano.

I won't go into the tedious story about how we tried to walk there using Google maps, took several wrong turns, and how we finally asked the Hotel Eden Roc to call the restaurant (they sent their van down to drive us). Don't try to walk there from downtown Positano, just trust me. Not a fancy place but the food was good and as we were being seated, passed a couple who were eating a pizza topped with french fries. Someone in our party insisted on ordering it and it was pretty good. My husb had a plate of fried fresh anchovies (which he loved) and I trusted the host to bring me the pasta of the day with fresh porcinis. The arugula salad was fresh, an the personal sized pitcher of house white was was very generous. The host was hilarious. He spoke English well and when I asked him how he learned, he told me he was the Maitre d' at one of the top Italian restaurants in Washington, DC. A nice, casual alternative to the fanciness of Positano. Just be sure to take a taxi there and back!

If you're staying at the top portion of Positano this is a must stop if you want to try some of this amazing Italian town's seafood and pizza. Amazing service and fair prices for the quality of dishes. Went here three different times and it was a great atmosphere and even better eats every time.

The best restaurant in Positano! Great food, service,staff, atmosphere and prices. I was even given a "blanket" because it was cool breezy outside. My favorite is their. pizza, I tried 3 different varieties, multiple times! I highly recommend;)

We absolutely loved this restaurant during our three day stay in Positano! We loved it so much that we went twice for dinner. The shuttle service was great as it picked us up from our hotel and took us back after our meal, a very underrated service when you realize just how mountainous the Amalfi Coast is. We al got dishes with fresh seafood and no one was disappointed. The staff was attentive and friendly and you could tell they take a lot of pride in their food. Their fresh seafood specials are always a good go to as they buy the fish fresh that day! We would absolutely recommend this restaurant and the view on the porch is amazing! This place is a must

First of all, do know that this restaurant offers a free pickup/drop off shuttle. Just call them with a time and place. We didn't know that so we hiked all the way up from the Positano beach. It was a long long hike but boy was it worth it. By the time we got there, we were sweating profusely and hungry. Which worked out great because the food is so great. There were six of us so we ordered a lot of food...must have been 15-18 dishes. But we finished them all and we all felt it was one of the best meals we had. When the bill came, we were in for a shock...it was less than 1/3 of what we paid for lunch that day. Wow! Great food and value...it definitely wasn't something we expected in Positano. So we ended up dining there the next day and again the day after. We tried nearly everything on their menu and truly loved everything. It really isn't like me to not have something to complain about. If you read my other reviews, you'll know. But I truly have nothing to complain about. OK, maybe just one thing...we went there for dinner at around 6:30pm on the first night and there were only 2-3 other tables. So, the servers were giving us a lot of attention. On the second night we got there around 9pm and the place is packed. So, the service was less than what we expected. We even had to ask for the menu. But I can so overlook that because they offer free shuttle service to/from my hotel on the other hill and their food is great and reasonably priced. I am so glad we found this place...I would definitely recommend it to all my friends and family and hope that I can come back again soon... My favorite dishes were the pasta, pizza, and fish. You have got to try their fish.

Went here on the recommendation of our hotel staff and could not have been more impressed. Service was fantastic, from the free shuttle from the hotel to the waiter recommending a great wine that was cheaper than the one we picked. Easily the best feed I've had in Italy, and it is probably the cheapest in Positano. Do yourself a favour and try the ravioli. Fantastico!

This restaurant left much to be desired. We were seated quickly but realized that we were placed in a room with all non-Italians. We never got bread, even though other tables around us got bread without asking. The waiter was dismissive and seemed annoyed when we tried to order in Italian. Sorry for trying! The food was OK, not bad but not anything memorable. The zucchini blossom appetizer was disappointing to say the least. The pasta dishes were average but honesty have had better gnocchi in America. Bolognese was not great. The biggest issue is that we were not told there would be a "cover charge" for eating dinner (1,50€ per person) and we didn't even order alcohol. It's not a lot but still annoying to find that out only after we ate there. Our waiter was so rude when we asked to split the bill. I understand if you can't do it but no need to be nasty about it! Quite turned off by this restaurant. Don't go out of your way!

Ever had that shameful feeling because you gave into peer pressure? Reviews of this place on trip advisor saying that the meals here were the best people had had during their entire trip in Italy made me feel very sad for these people by the end of the night. It's not where the locals go. Sorry. It has a van service to get tourists and I didn't hear anyone speaking italian. I'd avoid this place and go to Da Gabrisa for much much better food service and view. I was also peer pressured by the charismatic pushy male server to get shrimp antipasti and lobster pasta (didn't take much convincing because I'm a sucker for shellfish but still I had planned to order other dishes). The food. All just okay. Lobster a little tough and the "homemade" pasta that came with it was barilla for sure. Paparadelle bolognese was good and I liked it the best. Service: Terrible. We had made reservations and the van was supposed to get us at 8. We found out that they left without us and didn't even ring the hotel like they usually do. We finally got to our table at 8:40 and were then ignored for another 10 minutes. The pushy waiter who others name in reviews actually had the nerve to ask me how I would review the restaurant on tripadvisor. Service was very slow until it came close to paying when that server became even more friendly. Then he mentioned that service was not included in the bill. What service?? When he came to pick up the check he actually opened it right there to see how much tip we left. That kind of tacky behavior had us running for the hills. Literally we chose to walk back down over 400 steps to get to our hotel rather than take their shuttle. I'd avoid this place and go to Da Gabrisa for much much better food service and view. Sorry for the novel of a review but this was just our worst dining experience in positano.

Loved this place! Really good pizza and make sure to ask for their specials- anything with seafood is extremely fresh! Also don't miss the cannoli