"Positano's beachfront landmark — book Chez Black for sea-urchin spaghetti and fresh seafood on the Spiaggia Grande, run by the Russo family since 1949."
Chez Black has anchored the Spiaggia Grande in Positano since 1949, when Salvatore Russo — nicknamed “the Black” — opened it on the beachfront. Three generations of the Russo family have run it since, and it remains the town's best-known table right on the sand. It is a seafood institution as much as a restaurant: the place visitors and returning regulars head to for lunch off the beach or dinner by the water.
The kitchen is built on the day's catch. The signature is the spaghetti ai ricci di mare — spaghetti with sea urchin — alongside paccheri with seafood, a classic fish soup and a much-ordered octopus carpaccio. Pizza and simpler plates run alongside for the beach crowd. It is honest, ingredient-led cooking rather than fine dining, and the Positano beachfront premium shows on the bill: a seafood lunch or dinner with wine sits comfortably in the upper-mid bracket.
The room is a nautical landmark in its own right: wood panelling, brass detailing and carved mermaids, opening straight onto the Spiaggia Grande with the cliffs and dome of Positano behind. It runs busy and cheerful all day, from beach lunches to sunset dinners. Service is brisk and used to a full house. The terrace tables facing the water are the prize and book earliest, so reserve ahead in summer.
For a first date, an anniversary lunch or a celebratory beach dinner, Chez Black is one of Positano's surest picks: the beachfront setting, the seafood and the landmark room do the work. A natural first-date and anniversary table, and an easy birthday booking on the sand.
Not for anyone seeking a quiet, hushed dinner or low prices — Chez Black is a busy beachfront landmark with a Positano premium, built for the setting as much as the food.
Chez Black is at Via del Brigantino 19, directly on the Spiaggia Grande beachfront in the centre of Positano on the Amalfi Coast.
Chez Black was founded in 1949 by Salvatore Russo, nicknamed 'the Black', and has been run by the Russo family for three generations since.
The spaghetti ai ricci di mare — spaghetti with sea urchin — is the signature, alongside seafood paccheri, fish soup and octopus carpaccio.
A seafood meal with wine sits in the upper-mid bracket; the Positano beachfront setting carries a premium over inland tables.
Yes, especially in summer. Reserve ahead and ask for a terrace table facing the water, which book earliest.
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