We just returned from a vacation that included two week in delightful and beautiful Santa Margherita Liguria. Our neighbors told us what a beautiful place this is, and we are so glad that we were able to experience it for ourselves. It is a beautiful resort town, but also a working fishing town as well. Each week day the fishing boats come in about 4:00 p.m. and the fish market is open from about 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The fishermen also seem to deliver to the local restaurants.
We were delighted to discover that Rick now includes Santa Margherita in his Italy guidebook, but based on the information in the 2014 guide, it seems that he or one of his reps has not been there for a little while. Here are some updates and information based on our experience in May 2014:
Try renting an apartment in Santa Margherita. It is much more affordable than the hotels that Rick has listed. The website HomeAway.com is a good source.
Ristorante "A'Lampara" no longer exists. The metal shutters are down over the entrances and so is the sign.
Restaurants we discovered instead:
Trattoria Baicin on Via Algeria 5. We ate here about 4 times and it is consistently good on all the regional dishes. The women who run it are personable, pleasant, and hard-working. Prices are very reasonable.
Il Faro was mentioned in one of the Frommer guidebooks. The owner/waiter was very personable, the food good, the prices reasonable, and the dining room very pleasant.
da Gennaro -- Rick mentions this in his guidebook, and we also liked it. It's in the center, has nice outdoor seating, attentive waiters, and good food (and reasonable prices).
Alfredo's this hotel is around the corner -- sort of -- in the direction of Portofino from Gennaro's. It is on the bottom floor of a hotel. We preferred the Pizza Salami Picante here over Gennaro's. It also has good Troife al Pesto.
We found a nice waterfront bar on the "Portofino" side of the waterfront. It's called Tortuga. It has good aperitifs and provides a nice array of small plates free of charge with a drink. Actually, we found all the "bars" in Santa Margherita did so.
The only reason that we're alerting Rick Steves' staff to this entry is that the guidebook definitely should be updated about Ristorante "A'Lampara." The restaurant Il Faro is across the street from where A'Lampara used to be, and unfortunately we did not think to ask the owner/waiter what happened to A'Lampara.