Positano Restaurant

Tried to go here before Christmas and the place was packed. We wised up and made reservations this time. This small restaurant has a wonderful ambience and a very attentive wait staff. I had the penne, and my date enjoyed the gnocchi.
The price is pretty standard for a nice night out, with our bill coming to just over $ 80 with tax and tip (this included a half liter of wine).
I would recommend this place for a nice date night out, or a special occasion with the family.

Went for dinner last night with friends. Food was excellent, as was the service. Would definitely go back!

This is the first time I’ve been here and it was honestly a fantastic experience. I’ve been to Italian restaurants before, but this one is definitely a standout. Not only was the food amazing (the gnocchi was so good, we also had the pizzas and that was made with fresh tasting ingredients), but the service was even better. The staff was simply superb — very nice, polite, and warm. I didn’t get the names of the two gentlemen that served us, but I think they provided me with the best service I’ve ever gotten in this city.
I would definitely recommend dropping by. The prices are just right and the food is awesome.

great food, atmosphere and great sever!
i recommend try their walnut cream pasta!

Pitiful experience at Positano
Do you enjoy cold, dry and stale bread before your meal? How about under cooked, still visibly raw pizza dough? And do you like paying an exorbitant amount of money for the displeasure of it? Well, then hit up Positano and you’ll be positively thrilled. I do not know how this place possibly has such a high rating. Let’s dig in to the details (but not the food — bleh).
⁰⁄₁₀: The bread and tomato sauce appetizer everyone raves about. Maybe we just got unlucky, but I’ve rarely had such obviously week-​old, dry, stale bread at a restaurant where they have the audacity to charge $ 9.50 for their house wine and $ 12.50 for Bruschetta (tomatoes and bread — really?). I didn’t even like the sauce. It had almost a fishy taste… maybe anchovy?
⁵⁄₁₀: Pizza positano — Positively pathetic. The too-​thin crust, being under cooked (you could see it was still glistening and raw under the layer of spinach that covered the entire surface — even Popeye wouldn’t be able to handle this much spinach in one serving. The other toppings on it: sundried tomatoes, goat cheese, chicken were decent. The psicy oil that came with it was gross. And Il Sogno (in the area) has a far better spicy oil — but their food is overall even worse). I even did take the pieces left home to see if it would taste better fully cooked, but it came out chewy, tough and leather-​tender.
7.5÷10: Gnocci tricolore. This was the only saving grace of the meal. And it was supposed to be all MINE. But my date insisted on taking half and I almost stabbed him with a fork when he tried to take ¾ of it –he was the one who wanted the pathetic pizza! I wasn’t even interested in that. Anyway, gnocchi was soft, and flavorful, but did need the extra Parmesan and black pepper served table side.
⁴⁄₁₀: Service. If ONLY someone had come to ask us how our meal was — we could have sent back the pizza. But they dropped off the food and never asked how it was. I would have sent it back but my date kept eating it, regardless… How? I don’t know. When we had half a pizza left, I tagged down a waiter and mentioned that it was underdone. He apologized a lot, but then said «I wish you would have told me earlier so I could have done something — could have fixed it.» Um so why exactly, can’t you now? You can’t make us a fresh half a pizza — or give us at least 50% off — or a free dessert or glass of wine? Yes, they could have done any of those things, but they didn’t offer — and I wasn’t paying, and that’s the only reason I didn’t push. I was also unimpressed that our waiter did not give him name. Service 101 is that you greet your diners by saying «Hi, name name is _​_​_​, and I’ll be your server tonight.» No one made pleasantries and chatted with us. The only reason they don’t get a 0 is because — even though the waiter didn’t do anything to fix our problems, he did apologize — and we were able to get a seat without reservation at a 6pm on a Friday.
Positano is possibly the worst of the Italian restos in the midtown area. If you do make the trek, the fresh, homemade pasta seems to be the only good thing. And at $ 15.50 for a vegetarian dish of the cheapest pasta, I think the place’s prices are as inflated as their ego. I’d advise true lovers of fresh Italian cuisine to take a pass on the positively forgettable Positano.

This is our favorite local eatery. I love the seafood linguine and fried calamari.
Nice at atmosphere that is casual, I highly advise a reservation especially on Friday to Sunday as it could get very busy.

Incredibly good food, nice cozy atmosphere, good prices, sincere and fast service. Wonderful place for dinner. Highly recommended.

SO GOOD. Wow. Went for the first time on Good Friday and have been thinking about it since. First off, atmosphere is fabulous. Quaint, cozy, and no TVs (which is apparently hard to find?). Our servers were excellent– friendly, attentive, knowledgeable, and gave us our privacy. We ordered the bruschetta not knowing that we would receive complimentary bread and homemade tomato sauce for dipping. Both were great. The bread and tomato sauce was a novel idea and the bruschetta was also novel– on crispy pizza dough with fresh tomatoes. For fullness’ sake we probably did not need the bruschetta after all but enjoyed nonetheless!
For mains, we had the agnolotti fiorentina (ricotta and spinach stuffed pasta with tomato basil sauce), farfalle rustico, and the pansotti alle noci (stuffed pasta in walnut cream sauce). I had the pansotti alle noci– and my god, no words to describe how delicious this was! A tad sweet in taste because of the walnuts, but a wonderful nutty creamy sauce and delicious pasta. My fellow diners also enjoyed their meals. The prices were great– I was very surprised the mains were around $ 15 and I expected lesser quality but obviously did not experience that. I believe the meat mains are more pricey, but still reasonable.
We took the lemon tiramisu home for dessert but did not eat it until the next day so it didn’t hold up that great. Maybe don’t take it home? Meant to be eaten straight away.
We also enjoyed the Chianti Vernaiolo ’12 ~ Rocca Delle Macie wine and I liked it so much I tracked down where to buy a bottle. Wonderful!
Highly recommended for anyone wanting a sense of occasion without being too fanciful. Try the pansotti alle noci!!!

We got the pappardelle with veal Ragu. We also got another order to take-​out.
The calamari was a must-​get and for dessert the cannoli was delicious.
The pasta sauce with bread was interesting… would have preferred olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

We love this restaurant, the staff, and food are great. Whether it’s fish, pizza or pasta, the food is delicious, my husband loves the bruschetta. This is the best Italian restaurant in town

Made a reservation a few days in advance, which was confirmed by telephone. When we arrived, our table was not ready and we were left standing by the door for about 10 minutes. No apology was provided whatsoever and no commitment was made to provide us with a table. While I was looking forward to trying this neighbourhood restaurant for some time, all I can say was that I was disappointed!

Good service. Make a reservation.

Excellent service at this warm, friendly neighbourhood restaurant. The sweet sausage and penne and the pizza were delicious. The pasta was fresh and impossible not to finish. The gnocchi was delicious, delicate and the perfect comfort food. The salads were fine but the standouts were the pizza and pasta. Highly recommend Positano for a casual, reasonably priced dinner. Park in front of the restaurant (at cost) or on a side street. Reservations are recommended on busy weekends.

The service is great. They can always somehow make my glass of water full all the time even though I keep drinking it: p Also I think the staff are friendly.
The food is decent too. I would recommend everyone to try this restaurant out

Dining at Positano was a lovely experience. First of all, service was exceptional: attentive without being constantly in your face.
We split a bruscheta and Positano pizza (spinach, goat cheese, chicken and sundried tomatoes). Both were very good, and more than enough for two people. Oh, and their bread and especially tomato dipping sauce were delicious.
For desert I got a lemon tiramisu and my companion got an affogato. Both were an excellent way to finish the meal.
The restaurant is on the smaller side, so if you are planning to eat on a Saturday, come early (or late).

It is like like eating at my grandma’s house. Homy great Italian food, love the antipasto, nice service. They also do take out. Highly recommended for good Italian good.

This was our first visit to Positano, prompted by the excellent reviews on this site. We were not disappointed, and shared a wonderful meal with our out-​of-​town guests who were staying in the area.
The food was exceptional, the service warm and welcoming.
We chose from the nightly specials… all dishes were perfectly prepared wIth super fresh ingredients and nicely presented.
It’s not anywhere close to our neighborhood, but definitely worth the trek across town!

Fantastic experience here. Atmosphere is cozy, service is excellent and attentive. Pizza, pasta, beef carpaccio etc all excellent too, and reasonably priced.
Although every table but one was full when we arrived, service never wavered, very prompt.
Overall a solid experience. The décor is a little dated, but it’s inoffensive enough. Will be back very soon!

This was my first time going to Positano, it was a Sunday evening so the restaurant was not that busy.
We were seated quite quickly, I order the Pasta di Sicily with Sausage, the walnut house sauce with penne, and a dessert. The food came out quickly and the service was quite good. The restaurant itself is very clean, a bright atmosphere with friendly staff who actually speak Italian.
I will definitely be going back.

Very reliable, high quality fare. Excellent service and lovely atmosphere.
Wine list isn’t extensive but very broad selection
A great neighborhood bistro