Sicily Restaurants
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Sicily - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in Sicily - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
One of Palermo's best modern pizzerias serves delicious Neapolitan pies from a big oven in the open kitchen—the genius is in the crust, which is seared in a matter of seconds. The owners make their money on a quick turnover (so don't expect a long, leisurely meal), but the pizza is delicious and the place often serves until midnight—later than almost any other restaurant in the neighborhood.
Top-quality local ingredients are used in this modern, brightly lit pizzeria, where a vast range of pizzas are served, including seasonal, gourmet, and gluten-free varieties. The eclectic menu also takes in delicious antipasti, meat and seafood burgers, pastas, and seafood dishes. Order from a range of bottled or draught artisan beers (including American pale ales) to accompany your meal. Service is rapid and the patient staff answers all queries.
Centrally located on the main piazza in Ustica town, this trattoria's outdoor terrace is a marvelous spot for feeling like you're in the thick of local life while enjoying first-class food. Seafood is the main feature, of course, on a menu that combines traditional dishes, such as prawn ravioli, with more adventurous juxtapositions, like the antipasto of grilled octopus with lentil purée. Service is warm and willing, and there's a good wine list.
Arancine—fried rice balls—are ubiquitous all over Sicily, but rarely do you find them prepared while you wait or offered in such a range as in this little snack shop near Porta Trapani. The menu lists more than 35 varieties, which include swordfish, smoked salmon, and curry fillings, as well as vegetarian and vegan options. They make ideal stomach-fillers at any time, not least as snack lunches on the go.
Only the finest agricultural produce of the nearby Madonie mountains goes into the simple but fabulous dishes served in this informal eatery attached to the Palazzo Butera art gallery. The frequently changing menu---dependent on the season and what's available from their suppliers---might include chicken breasts in orange sauce and almonds; vegetarian meatballs with ricotta cheese; or sausages braised in red wine with kale. Cheeses, cold cuts, and salads are also on offer, or you might settle for a "gourmet sandwich" stuffed with buffalo mozzarella, prosciutto, anchovies, and mortadella. Many of these items are for sale in the small delicatessen inside, too, where there are a few tables in addition to the ones on the pavement.
Here's a novelty for Palermo in the form of a superb modern restaurant located within a museum dedicated to Steve Jobs and Apple products, a surprisingly successful combination; you not only have the ability to revisit ancient IT devices and learn about the history of the tech company, but the food is pretty excellent. Each of the dishes is a revelation, from the pumpkin with miso and fermented black garlic to the ravioli with stewed veal cheek and pigeon with red-wine scented quince. Vegetarian options are as good as any that Palermo has to offer—best sampled in a set tasting menu. The elevated prices are commensurate with the sophisticated cuisine . The venue is also extraordinary as the restaurant is housed within the Palazzo Castrone, one of the city's finest old palaces, just steps away from the Cathedral and entered through a beautiful courtyard.
There's a regular trickle of locals to this gelateria conveniently located opposite the hydrofoil port. Most opt for the local favorite: ice cream in a brioche with a couple of wafer biscuits poking out. But it's not just the creamy and tangy ice creams that pull in the crowds, there are also delicious granitas, cakes, and desserts on offer, like the semifreddo cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries or blueberries. There's limited seating outside, and it stays open late.
This welcoming osteria near the train station makes a perfect lunch stop. With friendly staff and an appealing modern interior—red-tiled floor, chic basket lampshades, and rows of hanging wine bottles—it serves up inexpensive but expertly prepared dishes of local specialties such as risotto with prawns and artichoke cream, and baccalà su macco de fave (salted cod on a bean and fennel stew). The house wine is delicious, and the desserts are also worth sampling.
This restaurant in Favignana's main square is a must for seafood-lovers. The short, daily changing menu is constructed around the catch of the day, from the grand portions of antipasti to the main courses, and all ingredients are strictly seasonal. The choices may vary, but the kitchen's approach to such dishes as polpette alla ricciola (roulades of amberjack) and calamaro ripieno (stuffed squid) is always creative and original. Choose between dining within the wood-covered interior space or in the terrace garden, which backs onto the town's church. You might finish off your meal with a glass of alloro (laurel) liqueur. The restaurant's name recalls the chant of fishermen during the annual Mattanza tuna catch.
This popular restaurant on the pedestrianized Corso Vittorio Emanuele occupies some former stables, though the modern art on the walls and its candlelit tables evoke far more romantic associations. Dishes are predominantly local and sea-based, like a delicious fish couscous, ghiotta di pesce misto (mixed seafood in a rich sauce of tomatoes, olives, and capers), and swordfish involtini (roulades) served with orange. If you want a change from seafood, try the caserecce al pesto trapanese e melanzane fritte, a variant of the famous local pasta dish made with almonds and tomato and topped with fried eggplant. In summer, you can dine at outdoor tables.
As befits a simple trattoria in a traditional provincial town, this is an unashamedly old-fashioned place, unswayed by any desire to innovate, instead relying on time-tested local recipes that have satisfied generations of customers. Take the signature dish: Spaghetti Corleone, a hearty concoction of tomato, garlic, ham, and egg piled on a generous helping of pasta. For the main course, the local sausages, expertly prepared with fennel and white wine, are worth sampling. Round off your meal with homemade cannoli, and leave in a state of quiet contentment.
Turn-of-the-20th-century wooden cabinets, marble-top tables, and cast-iron ovens characterize this neighborhood bakery, celebrated for its Sicilian snacks and inexpensive meals. The big pot on the counter holds the delicious regional specialty pani cà meusa (boiled calf's spleen with caciocavallo cheese and salt), but the squeamish can opt for chickpea fritters or an enormous arancina (stuffed, fried rice ball).
If you want to expereince Italian street food, Marsala-style, try this small shop named for the ropelike pasta that is typical in Trapani province, and offered here in cartons for consuming either at one of the tables in the piazza outside or as you walk along. Order the type you prefer ("classic," wholefood, or gluten-free), choose your sauce, which could be seafood, meat, or vegetarian, and order whatever additions take your fancy, maybe fresh breadcrumbs with garlic, Sicilian pecorino, toasted pine nuts, or baked ricotta. Wine, beer, and soft drinks are also available.
Just steps away from Quattro Canti, this smart snack stop has everything you could want to accompany a break from sightseeing: panini, house-made pastries and biscuits, ice cream, and good coffee. There are tables in the cozy interior and out on the pavement, and pastas, pizzas, and salads are also served if you want something more substantial.
Not many tourists find their way to this traditional trattoria deep in the heart of Trapani's old Jewish quarter, but those that do will find themselves in a typical rustic ambience, surrounded by a small army of Sicilian puppets hanging from the ceiling, shelves full of wine bottles, copper pots and pans on the walls, and even an intact Sicilian cart. The menu focuses on traditional island dishes, of course, including grilled or fried squid and swordfish prepared with oregano from Pantelleria and capers from the Aeolian islands. There's an excellent wine list, and the service is both personal and professional.
After experiencing the cozy but basic trattorias located down Palermo's twisting alleyways, take a sweet break at this modern gelateria along the main drag, which serves exceptional gourmet ice cream. The flavors change with the seasons, but don't miss the tangerine sorbet that bursts with sweet citrus tang or the classic zabaglione custard.
On the edge of the Vucciria, this is one of Palermo's oldest restaurants, dating back to 1890, and still dear to the hearts of locals for its wintertime namesake dish, tortellini in brodo (in beef broth), the specialty of the house. There's an extensive antipasto buffet, and you can't go wrong with the fritella di fave, piselli, and carciofi e ricotta (fried fava beans, peas, artichokes, and ricotta). There's a good selection of offal dishes including oxtail, tongue and tripe, and hearty slow-cooked pork shank for the less adventurous.
For fine dining in Mondello, you can't go wrong with Charleston, a local institution where the dishes are of the highest quality and the white-gloved waiters offer impeccable service. Partly hidden behind a low white wall directly opposite the beach, the restaurant is an odd combination of the traditional and the contemporary, as the setting is stately and refined while the menu has the minimalist yet adventurous quality of cutting-edge cuisine. Despite the elegant setting, the mood is relaxed and authentic. The dishes, which use the finest ingredients to give a modern twist to Sicilian culinary traditions, are best sampled on one of the set-price menus, which include a multi-course tasting menu (€75). The involtini di pesce spada (swordfish wrapped with cheese, sultanas, and pine nuts) is a stand-out.
There's usually a bit of a bustle in and around this ice-cream parlor near Piazza della Repubblica, popular with children and gelato fans of all ages. The ice creams are free of hydrogenated fats and come in an enticing range of flavors; popular choices include ricotta, pistachio, and, naturally, Marsala. The granitas, too, are highly rated, and cannoli, crepes, and waffles are also available. There are a few brightly colored tables and chairs in the air-conditioned interior.
Seafood is the cuisine of choice in Mondello, though the quality on offer at many of the seafront restaurants can be patchy, to say the least, but you'll find no complaints at this family-run trattoria. With a smart, modern interior and an outdoor terrace, it has an upbeat ambience and a helpful English-speaking staff. Don't get too distracted by the long list of antipasti, good as they are, for there are many choices to choose from for your main. If available, you can't go wrong with the fettuccine with pistachio cream and prawns, or perhaps a steaming pile of spaghetti with clams and mussels, followed by the catch of the day (which really has been caught on the day). A good choice of Sicilian wines is also offered.
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