Sicily-restaurant recommendations
 

Our itinerary for 12 nights in November takes in Palermo, Erice, Agrigento, Siracusa and Cefalu. If anyone has any recommendations of mid-price range restaurants I would be most grateful!

Meg - I ate at a fantastic restaurant in Erice when I visited Sicily this past June. As most restaurants in Sicily do, this one specialized in seafood. Are you interested in seafood? I'll presume that you are. I'll work on finding the name of the place and get back to you.

While wandering the back streets of the old town in Siracusa looking for lunch, we came across a fairly large restaurant stretching between two buildings on both sides of a small street. It was called Trattoria Archimedes. It was so jammed with people we first thought it was a bus tour haven, but then realized it was just an incredibly popular place with locals -- we were the only Americans, but made to feel very welcome at their last table. We had a spectacular meal of pastas - macaroni Norma and a tagliatelle of the house, with a swordfish sauce (?), and a huge platter of wonderfully fresh and perfectly grilled mixed seafoods. We drank our favorite Sicilian wine, Tancredi. The meal was the highlight of our stay there -- what the place lacks in atmosphere it more than makes up in food and friendliness. <BR>Our favorite place in Agrigento was on the terrace under the stars and the spell of the night lit Temples at the Villa Athena, but in November, I'd doubt that would be possible. The food was nothing extraordinary, just an unbelievable atmosphere. Had another wonderful dinner in Palermo at La Scuderie, well known and highly recommended place, again with a wonderful garden atmosphere, but the inside looked equally nice. We were just shocked as there were only four tables of patrons the whole evening in this very large restaurant, and they all seemed to be tourists like us -- which seems typical of the recommendations I get from Fodors guidebooks. We had equally wonderful, but more casual and inexpensive meals in Palermo, but I do not have the names of any of them. My routine is to look for the busiest ones with the most locals.

La Corte degli Sfizi, Agrigento was great and fairly cheap. Start with the self-service buffet of antipasti. <BR>A great restaurant in a great city in a great island!

Ristorante La Brace in Cefalu: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, wonderful, delicious food in a very attractive and cosy place for a very reasonable price. But anyway, it's more difficult to find a bad restaurant in Sicily then to find a good restaurant!

Ristorante Sant'Andrea near the Church of San Domenico in Palermo (alley off of Via Roma, opposite the Main Post Office, at the entrance to the Vucciria Market). Family owned, great food, moderate prices. Reservations recommended. Within easy walking distance of the Teatro Massimo and Piazza Castelnuovo/Politeama Garibaldi.

Thanks for the great response. Will report back on my return!

Took several recommendations<BR>Palermo= ate at Sant'Andrea near Church of San Domenico. Hard to find as it's down a tiny alleyway, very lcose to the Vucciria market. Wonderful atmosphere, attentive service from young waiting staff, excellent fish and fresh vegetables<BR>Erice- Ate in the restaurant of our hotel Moderno. Excellent fish again and delicious cassata. Rarher brightly lit but friendly attentive service.<BR>Siracusa- ate at Trattoria Archimede. Arrived at 8pm to get the last table. A large group of Americans were celebrating a birthday- cake ceremoniously carried in with candles lit; another table was full of Italian business men and there were several tables full of Italians (all from one family celebrating an anniversary) So noisy and fun with delicious food (try the antipasti buffet) We also ate at La Foglia in old Siracusa (two blocks down from the Duomo) Delightfully eccentric with organic food and unusual home-made wines. In Cefalu we tried La Brace and went back each evening for dinner- excellent little restaurant, run by Dietmar since 1979. Great seafood. Try drinking their Corvo red wine- superb.