Nobody leaves Capri complaining about the food. They complain about the evening.
The island is small, famous and socially loaded. A table is never only a table. It can be a lemon-grove ritual, a Michelin dinner, a beach-club lunch, a celebrity room, a quiet Anacapri evening, a sea-view lunch or a mistake you made because the name sounded familiar.
So the wrong way to ask is: what is the best restaurant in Capri?
The better question is: what kind of Capri evening are you trying to have?
Some restaurants are for lunch. Some are for the first night. Some are for the one serious dinner. Some are for people watching. Some are for escaping people watching. Some are famous because they deserve it; others are famous because Capri is very good at making fame look like taste.
Here is the Luxury.it edit.
1. Il Riccio
Best for the sea-level Capri lunch
Il Riccio is one of the most complete Capri restaurant experiences because it understands the island from the water.
Set in Anacapri near the Blue Grotto, it is described by Michelin as sitting a few metres from the Blue Grotto, right above the water, and as a quintessential Mediterranean fine-dining restaurant. Jumeirah Capri Palace describes Il Riccio as serving Mediterranean cuisine under chef Andrea Migliaccio.
This is not the place for a rushed dinner after shopping. Use Il Riccio for a long lunch. Sea, blue-and-white mood, fish, white wine, boat-day energy, the feeling that Capri works best when you stop trying to climb every stair and instead let the sea carry the afternoon.
Book it if: you want the best polished seafood lunch on the island.
Avoid it if: you want a low-key local trattoria or a budget meal.
2. L’Olivo
Best for the serious Michelin dinner
L’Olivo is the island’s most formal culinary statement.
Located at Jumeirah Capri Palace in Anacapri, Michelin lists L’Olivo as an “excellent cooking” restaurant in the 2026 Michelin Guide, with Italian contemporary and creative cuisine. It belongs in the same conversation as the country’s most serious kitchens, which is not something every island can claim.
This is the restaurant for the night you want to treat Capri as a serious gastronomic destination rather than a beautiful place with good pasta.
Anacapri matters here. It changes the mood. You are away from the Piazzetta, away from the most obvious evening crowd, inside a hotel that has turned food, art and wellness into a complete luxury language.
Book it if: you want the most refined dinner on the island.
Avoid it if: you want village atmosphere, lemon trees or casual Capri energy.
3. Le Monzù
Best for a romantic dinner with the Faraglioni mood
Le Monzù at Punta Tragara has the kind of setting that can easily make a restaurant lazy.
Fortunately, it is not only about the view. Michelin lists Le Monzù as a one-star restaurant in the 2026 guide, while Punta Tragara presents it as a Michelin-starred restaurant where Neapolitan imagination and Caprese tradition meet.
The reason to go is not simply dinner. It is the full approach: the walk toward Punta Tragara, the island becoming quieter, the Faraglioni nearby, the feeling that you have stepped slightly away from the more obvious Capri evening.
Book it if: you want a romantic, scenic, high-end dinner.
Avoid it if: you want lively table-hopping or celebrity-room energy.
4. Aurora
Best for the social Capri classic
Aurora is not just a restaurant. It is a Capri institution.
The official Aurora website states that the restaurant has a history of 130 years of passion and dedication, and its own identity is deeply tied to the island’s social and gastronomic life. Capri.com describes Aurora as a long-standing restaurant run by the D’Alessio family for more than a century.
This is the room for people who want Capri as society. The famous water pizza, the wine cellar, the narrow-street location, the sense of people looking around without admitting it. Aurora can feel too famous if you arrive expecting purity. It makes more sense if you understand that Capri is not pure. Capri is theatre, memory, habit, excess and charm all moving at once, which is exactly what the island’s golden age was built on.
Book it if: you want the classic social Capri dinner.
Avoid it if: you hate crowded famous rooms.
5. Da Paolino
Best for the lemon-grove fantasy
Da Paolino is one of the few restaurants whose visual identity is stronger than many hotels.
The official site calls it the restaurant where lemons are, set inside an enchanting lemon grove. Capri.com describes it as renowned for food and wine served beneath fragrant lemon trees, with an outdoor ambience unmatched on the island.
This is the Capri postcard, but in this case the postcard still has power. Go for the setting. Go with guests who have never been. Go for the pleasure of sitting under lemon trees and allowing the place to be slightly too obvious.
Do not go expecting the island’s most serious kitchen. Go expecting the island’s most famous garden dinner.
Book it if: you want the lemon-tree Capri experience.
Avoid it if: you are looking for culinary restraint.
6. La Fontelina
Best for the beach-club lunch by the Faraglioni
La Fontelina is one of Capri’s great daytime rituals.
The official Fontelina site states that it is open daily in 2026 from 18 April to 11 October, with high-season minimum spend applying for beach club and restaurant reservations. The beach page also lists 2026 beach club prices and says check-in must be before 1 p.m.
This is not a normal restaurant. It is a day. The walk down, the rocks, the blue-and-white setting, the Faraglioni, the lunch, the sea, the return. La Fontelina is expensive and sometimes over-discussed, but it remains one of the island’s defining experiences if used properly.
Book it if: you want the classic Faraglioni lunch and beach day.
Avoid it if: you want comfort, sand or low prices.
7. Da Gelsomina
Best for Anacapri, sunset and regional cooking
Da Gelsomina is the opposite of the overexposed Capri table.
Michelin lists it as regional and traditional cuisine in Anacapri. The restaurant’s official website places it along Via Migliera, surrounded by vineyards and perched above the Mediterranean, away from tourist crowds, and mentions its shuttle from Anacapri for restaurant guests.
This is the dinner for people who want Capri to breathe. It is not the place to show off. It is the place for a quieter table, traditional island food, sunset mood and a reminder that Capri has a countryside as well as a Piazzetta.
Book it if: you want a less obvious Anacapri evening.
Avoid it if: you want polished central glamour.
8. Terrazza Tiberio
Best for an elegant town dinner
Terrazza Tiberio works because it gives central Capri a more controlled tone.
Michelin describes it as an elegant restaurant on the first floor of the Capri Tiberio Palace, with a terrace overlooking the rooftops of Capri. The hotel states that Terrazza Tiberio is open daily for lunch and dinner.
This is not the loudest choice. That is its value. Use it when you want an elegant dinner in town without the full Aurora theatre or the logistical commitment of Anacapri. It is especially useful if you are staying centrally and want to avoid turning dinner into a journey, the same logic behind the island’s newest hotel dining rooms.
Book it if: you want polished central Capri without too much noise.
Avoid it if: you want a beach or cliffside setting.
9. Da Tonino
Best for serious cooking without the obvious scene
Da Tonino is one of the restaurants that helps Capri avoid becoming a caricature.
Michelin includes Da Tonino among its Capri selections. It is the kind of place that belongs in a good Capri itinerary because it gives the island a more grounded dinner option: not beach club, not lemon fantasy, not central scene, not hotel fine dining.
This is often where the better second or third night should go.
Book it if: you want a more serious local dinner.
Avoid it if: you want the most glamorous room.
10. Gennaro Amitrano
Best for an intimate modern table
Gennaro Amitrano is small, modern and more precise than many people expect from Capri.
Michelin lists it in Capri with modern and Mediterranean cuisine. This is the place for travellers who want a contemporary, chef-led dinner without turning the evening into a hotel production.
The value is intimacy. Capri can make everything feel public. A smaller modern restaurant can be a relief.
Book it if: you want a compact, modern, food-led dinner.
Avoid it if: you want a big Capri scene.
The Luxury.it ranking by occasion
Best lunch by the sea: Il Riccio
Best serious dinner: L’Olivo
Best romantic dinner: Le Monzù
Best social classic: Aurora
Best lemon-grove fantasy: Da Paolino
Best beach-club day: La Fontelina
Best Anacapri escape: Da Gelsomina
Best elegant central dinner: Terrazza Tiberio
Best serious local table: Da Tonino
Best intimate modern table: Gennaro Amitrano
Where people get it wrong
Do not book Capri restaurants only by fame.
If you want a lemon grove, choose Da Paolino. If you want a serious dinner, choose L’Olivo or Le Monzù. If you want the sea at lunch, choose Il Riccio or La Fontelina. If you want the classic social room, choose Aurora. If you want to escape the central Capri machine, go to Anacapri.
Capri becomes expensive very quickly when you choose the wrong table. It pays you back when the table matches the night.
Luxury.it perspective
The best restaurant in Capri does not exist. The best restaurant for the evening does. That is the island’s rule. Capri is too layered, too social and too theatrical for one address to solve every mood. The right table depends on whether you want sea, status, romance, memory, quiet or food. Book the mood first. Then book the restaurant.
Related guides
Capri in the Dolce Vita Years · Il Capri Hotel · Michelin Star Restaurants in Italy · Restaurants
Building your Capri evenings between sea, table and Piazzetta? Request access through Luxury.it Concierge.
