food recs for sicily for our 20 day trip this May
 

As many of you know, I love a good meal. Ek, looking at you. Doesn't have to be fancy and we won't be bringing mens jacket or a fancy dress for me.

Palermo - 4 nights
Agrigento- 1 night
Ragusa- 3 nights
Ortygia- 4 nights
Lipari-5 nights
Cefalu- 2 nights

Appreciate it as always. If you ate something fantastic, let me know too.

It's been a while since I was in Sicily, but some of the restaurants I enjoyed still get decent reviews:

Agrigento: Per Bacco
Ortigia: Ristorante Porta Marina

Enjoy your trip!

Plambers my last two trips (2023,2024) did not cover most of those places.
Will you have a car?

I will post the links tomorrow from the most recent reports; DON CAMILLO in Ortigia is no secret but it's excellent, if on the pricey side! As good as it was when I was there bout 20 years ago or more. Also, look in Siracusa, off the island. Ortigia has become really jammed with foreign tourists since I had been there in the past, so I'd try to get away from the main restaurants on the island if possible, not that they are bad at all, but it might be better to go to a more local-type spot.....

In Siracusa itself, not far from the bridge: LATTERIA DI MAMA IABICA; but get the rabbit there:

https://www.storienogastronomiche.it...ito-slow-food/

I know LA MADIA is up there in price, and its in Licata, but if you can manage that tiny place, it's a wonderful experience with only a few tables and personal experience from Chef Cuttaia. Some of the best places we found were best reached with a car.

I have not been to Palermo or Cefalu in decades.....

Just a minor point but important if you are looking up details on Italy etc, there is no "y" in Italian so Siracusa or Ortigia

Our favorite meal in Palermo last May was at Il Vizietto. Here's an article about it from Culinary Backstreets. I didn't take photos because it was our first night, and I was jetlagged, but the polpette di sarde were every bit as good as they look in the photo. And the restaurant had a unique take on caponata with apple.

Whether or not you take a tour with Culinary Backstreets (we did and enjoyed it), the website has dozens of recent food stories for Palermo that might provide some ideas.

Usually I agree with eckscrunchy but we had probably the worst meal and service of our lives at Don Camillo in Ortigia, Sicily.
We had made a reservation in person a few days earlier due to a recommendation from a close family member who gave it rave reviews. When we arrived we were treated extremely rudely and told that we did not have a reservation!
Some chaos ensued, more screaming, until the man who had taken our reservation arrived and tried to straighten things out. We were seated, given a menu and should have left. The rude man who had greeted us had already ruined our evening starting with his loud screaming at us! We picked at our food, and left. We have never had any other experience like this one at Don Camillo in our lives!

In Palermo our 2 favorite meals were

- Maqueda Bistrot on the lively Via Maqueda. Outside seats you are amidst amidst a lot of pedestrian traffic - like all of the sidewalk cafes. Thats nice if you like that atmosphere. Inside is quiet, and is a modern, upscale restaurant vibe. Food and service was great. In coastal areas I steer mostly to fresh seafood

- a street deli in the Ballaro market area - fresh sliced cold cuts, cheese, pane, and grilled veggies. We thoroughly enjoyed the fresh food, smells and sounds of sitting outside right in the heart of the local market.

Elsewhere in Sicily we loved all the fresh seafood. My favorite meals were “catch of the day” which some places was swordfish, others a whole branzino, or pasta with cozze (mussels) and/ or vongole (tiny clams). The most unique dish was a large antipasto of assorted gamberi crudo. Whole, raw, mini shrimp, head and tails still on, drizzled with lemon and olio. Yum.

Some of the vegetarian friendly places we enjoyed back in 2023:
Palermo : Il Mirto e La Rosa. Pizzeria Frida or Focacceria Basile for more casual fare. And look out for local specialties like cannoli (at Cappello, Costa) and arancini (at Ke Palle).
Agrigento : Tipiko (casual)
Ragusa (Ibla) : La Bettola, Thats a Moro. Gelati di Vini for dessert.
Ortigia : Moon (Vegan). Largely self catered in Ortigia (rented an apartment), but some of the best gelato in Sicily is here - Voglia Matta, Belfiore and the outstanding Gusto.

Enjoy your trip!

HappyT, I do remember your bad experience at Don Camilo and I hesitated about going because I trust your opinions. I really wanted pasta with ricci, one of their signature dishes and I did have a great meal, but it IS a bit fancy nd over-the-top for Siracusa....

I'll put my last two threads up here, plus one I began about eating in Siracusa that yielded some good info about there and about Cefalu, from a food website; but on these two trips we did not go to most of the places the OP is headed; If you are open to taking a taxi from Ibla, we did go to a place we liked a lot, La Capinera. One place I do not recommend in Ibla is the famous IL DUOMO....just too formal and the food was too fussy for me.

https://www.hungryonion.org/t/siracusa-sicily/40164

Ragusa is near the end of this thread....

https://www.hungryonion.org/t/sicily...-2023/34398/34

There's another thread on this site but I will try to find it later......

We traveled to Sicily in 2023 so hopefully these are not too dated. (Trip report still not posted as of this date.)
Palermo
Cicala - wine bar, tapas, dinner specials
Archestrato di Gela - We dream of the pizza we got here. Resrvations recommended. Lovely caprese salad, Pizza Prioli with tomato, proscuitto, pistachio, burrata, basil
Ortigia
La Putia Delle Cosa Buone - open all day, great octopus on mash and anchovy pasta. We had a nice, cheap lunch here. Waited about thirty minutes for a table.
Retroscena - This is a beautiful, small restaurant. Fabulous salad with strawberries, avocado, ricotta and almonds, ricotta ravioil in a honey fig sauce, nicely seasoned roast octopus but overcooked

I wish I could be more help here; I can tell you one place I do not recommend in Ragusa: IL DUOMO. It's the most famous place in the area and while there was nothing wrong with it, it was just too fancy, tasting menu, celebrity chef..... But my sister, who had been to Ragusa a few years before me, loved that place so much that they ate there twice, so go figure.

I asked abut the car because after checking out (not eating there) a few places in Ragusa Ibla, I thought its might be better to go outside the town, so we went to LA CAPINERA, where there seemed to be no tourists. This is a really handsome place with great food, but you need to drive or take a taxi. When you look at the TripAdvisor page, you can see that there is only a small fraction of reviews in English; vast majority are in Italian so I always figure that's a good sign. Look at the menu: They have grilled meats (they call this barbecue here) along with pizza and all the local pastas, etc...

https://www.ristorantelacapineraragu....11.2024-1.pdf





And I forgot, two MUSTS in Ibla, but both are very casual:

SALMUERIA BAROCCO is a deli about a block from the Duomo, on the way to the public gardens. They have tables out front where people (many tourists) order "charcuterie plates (there's that phrase again); but I went to buy some cheeses and the donkey salami, and lots of chocolate to take back to the room. Definitely go there. Inteeretingn posters bout the various meats and cheeses of Sicily. (Look for the bright yellow cheese from Enna, among more local varieties)

www.salumeriabarocco.it





Even better is a tiny place popular with students and some tourists. Famous for their arancini but they have other dishes also.....I think it's a definite for lunch or for a snackt: CANTUNERA IBLA. They have tales outside and you could also take the food into the adjacent piazza, or park..... The menu lists all kinds of interesting fillings for the arancini and they are fried to order, not kept warmed under a heating element.

https://cantunera.it/arancine-comiso-ragusaibla/

And you know about GIUMMARRA, the paneficio in upper Ragusa...but that's only for take out.



https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d1434e0db.jpeg
Arancini menu at Cantunera Ibla
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f063b2962.jpeg
Arancini stuffed with apple, speck and asiago cheese---a bit of NE italy in Ragusa!!
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b0d983cab.jpeg
La Capinera---great place slightly outside Ragusa but too far to walk
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...29237ea23.jpeg
Pizza antipasti at La Capinera
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b8a575e8e.jpeg
Interior of this very pretty restaurant; very good pricing, too.

In Palermo:
Ristorantino Sobremesa
Tannura Osteria
A'Cuncuma

All the above were very good. Thought Palermo has the best food we ate in Sicily.