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.
This intimate Michelin-starred restaurant is a fantastic option if you are staying in Modica overnight. Forget the usual starchy tablecloths and formal service, this place is all about the food, with the chef cooking his own personal takes on classic Sicilian dishes, including options like trucioli pasta with cheese fondue, lemon, capers, and coffee; grilled lettuce with pork cheek, caviar, and walnuts; and cannoli with ricotta cheese and cotton candy for dessert. The €120 tasting menu comes very highly recommended, but for something more affordable, stop in for lunch to have a similar experience for €50, or consider Accursio Radici (which means Accursio Roots, the cheaper sister restaurant) a few doors down.
Simply one of the finest restaurants in Sicily, Capitolo Primo offers an utterly unique dining experience in the graceful winter garden of Relais Briuccia's Art Nouveau town house. Chef-owner Damiano Ferraro is an endlessly creative chef, spinning his magic daily with the freshest of local Sicilian produce. Ferraro is a local who dreamed big and worked all over the world (including at the Dorchester in London and with the Roux Brothers at La Gavroche) then returned home and created this gastronomic paradise in the shabby little town of Montallegro. There are both tasting- and à la carte menus.
Starting in 1968, the mini-empire of owner Alfredo Olivieri was built one granita and one pane cunzato at a time, and no summer on Salina is complete without a stop at his little shop off the Marina Garibaldi piazza in Lingua. You'll find all the classic granita flavors (almond, coffee, lemon, pistachio), but it's the seasonal fruits that shine here: mulberry, fig, wild blackberries, watermelon, and cantaloupe. For something more savory, the overladen open sandwiches known as pane cunzato (one recent August they served 1,500 in a single day) pile on the signature flavors of the region. Look for the "Eoliana" full of capers, olives, anchovies, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. Olivieri also has a full-service trattoria and a bakery, both steps from the original panineria.
A gracious series of delicately arched rooms at this beloved local eatery are lined with wine bottles and sepia-tone images of the old town. À la carte preparations bring together fresh seafood and inspired creativity: sample, for instance, the sublime spaghetti delle Sirene (with sea urchin and shrimp in butter) or cod with saffron from the Ibleian hills with a courgette puree. If you want, you can put yourself in the hands of the chef and opt for one of the exquisite tasting menus, which start at €75 excluding wine. The wine list is, in a word, extraordinary, and allows you to choose from the best wines in Italy and beyond.
This small bar and deli is another must-visit spot on the fringes of Ortigia's historic market. You can choose from a generously stuffed panini, a plate of the local antipasti, or a small plate of whatever is in season from the sea. Be sure to visit the deli before you leave to stock on food-based souvenirs to take home.
This eatery has minimalist decor and young owners who are committed to local produce—right down to listing all producers on their website—without being scared to experiment. The wine list is really interesting, focusing mainly on small Sicilian bottles, and there is also a good selection of artisan beer.
You might not expect to find an ultramodern—even hip—place to dine within a few minutes' drive of Agrigento's ancient temples, yet Il Re di Girgenti offers up pleasing versions of Sicilian classics in a trendy, country-chic atmosphere (think funky black-and-white tile floors mixed with shelves lined with old-fashioned crockery) popular with young locals. The thoughtful wine list offers good prices on both local wines and those from throughout Sicily. Weather permitting, be sure to dine on the terrace for outstanding temple views.
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.
For the best of what's locally in season, look to chef Marco Cannizzaro and his 25-seat fine-dining restaurant. Harvested from Etna to the Ionian Sea, the primary ingredients of the area simply shine in his hands: Nerello mascelese grapes show up as rich sauces, wild greens harvested from the slopes of Etna make their way into risottos or stuffed into tender calamari meatballs, and donkey, an economical protein staple of the area, is transformed into flavorful and refined tartare. The commitment here to the area's materia prima informs the soul of the restaurant.
One of the most famous restaurants in Sicily, and one of only two on the island to have been awarded a second Michelin star, La Madia is a must-visit when you're here. Chef Pino Cuttaio is a legend within Sicily and beyond thanks to his incredible talent for creating unique dishes that fuse tradition and innovation, without ever losing sight of the kind of simplicity that allows the brilliance and flavors of first-rate Sicilian produce to shine. There are three tasting menus, as well as an à la carte menu.
Open since 1987, La Nicchia is a Pantelleria institution, occupying an old dammuso and serving typical island dishes made with carefully sourced island ingredients: typically potatoes, cherry tomatoes, capers, almonds, and fresh herbs married with seasonal vegetables, fresh fish, and other seafood. In summer there are tables under the lemon trees in a traditional walled Pantescan garden. They also do good pizza, while their offshoot next-door, Dispensa Pantesca, serves a selection of informal light dishes to take away or enjoy with a glass of wine on the roof of the dammuso for amazing sunset views.
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.
In a fantastic spot by the now-drained river in Scicli, you'll need to book ahead here to enjoy a meal since it's quite popular with locals. That's thanks to the menu and the fact that you can enjoy a variety of dining options, from a simple aperitivo to a full-blown meal from the ever-changing seasonal menu. Choose a wine from the exceptional wine list to accompany your meal and listen to the owner or his staff tell you with pride how everything is produced locally or organically. If you want a reminder of your meal, you can buy some ingredients from the small display at the back of the restaurant.
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.
Inside this rustic osteria, where there's not an inch of wall space spared from decor, the larger-than-life Grasso Rosario holds court as he bounces from table to table offering opinions and insight on his Slow Food--focused menu. Drawing upon the abundance of the region, the menu highlights the black hog from the Nebrodi mountains, a local cultivar of kohlrabi (in arancini and as a pasta), porcini mushrooms, and perfectly grilled and roasted meats (think pork knuckle, ribs, veal, and lamb). The Sicily-heavy wine list is a sommelier's dream.
Palazzolo Acreide has become a bit of a food town in recent years, and this blink-and-you-miss-it spot, housed in an ancient grotto off the main street, is a big part of that. The family-run restaurant offers house antipasti big enough to share (like the unique Mortadella mousse) and a short menu of high-quality entrées including a black lentil risotto. For dessert, don't miss the grape granita: two frozen berries and a lemon semifreddo.
Considered by many as one of Noto's best restaurants, getting to Crocifisso is a bit of a hike as it's in the upper town. Most walking routes involve long flights of steps, although you could also take a car or taxi up around the edge of town. It is one of the Baroque town's finest restaurants, serving traditional dishes presented in a contemporary style in a beautiful modern dining room. With a wonderful wine list that includes many Sicilian natural wines, a meal here is truly one to remember.
The plain exterior here gives no hint of the sleek, cool design inside this welcoming restaurant just off of Noto's main street where all of the dishes—from fresh pastas to creative seafood and exceptional daily specials—shine a light on local premium ingredients. Although the small outdoor patio allows for great people-watching, it's inside that the restaurant really shines; the chic multilevel dining area highlights modern art, a stylish complement to the restaurant's thoroughly modern food.
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