194 Best Restaurants in Sicily, Italy

Brothers Salvo and Vito La Rosa serve memorable seafood and meat dishes, exquisite homemade desserts, and a wide choice of wines at this old-school Catania eatery a 3-km (2-mile) taxi ride north of the city center. The restaurant specializes in the ancient dish ripiddu nivicatu (risotto with cuttlefish ink and fresh ricotta cheese), as well as sarde a beccafico (stuffed sardines) and calamari ripieni alla griglia (stuffed and grilled).

For a taste of the best in local cuisine, come to this intimate, family-run spot with a nice little menu of selected pizzas, pasta dishes, and mains featuring the fresh seasonal ingredients you grow to expect in Sicilian restaurants. Service is warm, friendly, and very accommodating of children.

For really big plates of meat and a wine cellar full of red wine, head to this little "wolf's lair" that looks exactly how you want a Sicilian steakhouse to look (stone walls, exposed wooden rafters, and arched alcoves packed with wine). The portions are ample, so it's best to go with a group and share.

If it's seafood you're looking for, you'll feel at home at this harborside fish restaurant, where the day's catch is displayed in a chiller at the front. Couscous features among the starters, as does the outstanding busiate con gambero, pistacchio e bottarga (pasta with prawns, chopped pistachios, and tuna roe); mains change daily, but tuna cooked in citrus and the grilled swordfish are usually on the menu. The interior is modern, with small tables and a large glass front, and there's also a terrace for eating al fresco by the water.

Steps away from the Duomo's exquisitely patterned apse, this backstreet wine bar, restaurant, and deli entices you in with offers of wine, beer, and food. You won't be disappointed thanks to the top-quality fare, whether you order a bulging panino, a tagliere (tray) of cold meats, cheeses, and preserves, or a more substantial dish of veal or pork involtini (roulades) or house-made sausages. Accompany your meal with a glass of wine or beer or a cocktail. The interior decor is warm and inviting, the stone walls are decorated with ceramics, mosaics, and hanging salamis and cheeses, and there are tables outside in fine weather. It stays open late, too.

For some great Sicilian cakes and ice cream on your way to the Archaeological Park, visit this bar-cum-pasticceria. It's popular with locals, especially on Sunday mornings, when they come for a late breakfast and take away golden trays of exquisite pastries for lunch, so you may have to line up for your cakes.

This eatery right on the beach at Selinunte is really no more than a glorified salad bar, although it also serves a nice selection of grilled fish and seafood (often sardines). Serve yourself from the delicacies on the center spread; the lunch buffet is very affordable, while dinner doesn't cost much more, often served by the owner whose constant back-and-forth to look after customers has earned this place the nickname "Da Yoyo". As a bonus, there are sun beds and umbrellas at reasonable prices if you want to unwind before the next archaeological bonanza.

On the grounds of the expansive Gulfi winery, which produces well-regarded organic wines, you’ll find a unique place for a sophisticated lunch or dinner, with sweeping views of the Chiaramonte hills and vineyards (about a half-hour drive north of Ragusa). The chef skillfully uses local ingredients to prepare Sicilian dishes with a twist in the modern dining room which features handblown chandeliers and a design-focused black-and-red color scheme; in warmer months, enjoy your meal on the lovely terrace.

Perched on the edge of the Arab quarter of the beautifully preserved village of Sambuca di Sicilia (14 miles northwest of Caltabellotta), this pizzeria/restaurant is the perfect stop for a lunchtime sightseeing break. The menu offers a range of local dishes, including busiate pasta with shrimps and fresh tomatoes; sausages; escalopes with mushrooms; and grilled fish—particularly noteworthy is the fine selection of antipasti. Portions are abundant and prices are reasonable. It's located in a peaceful corner of the village opposite the grand Chiesa Madre church, with fine views over the adjacent valley from its rustic-like interior and the outdoor terrace.

The village of Siculiana is nothing special, but its idyllic location above a golden beach backed by glinting white cliffs is best appreciated from a table at this inexpensive restaurant-bar right on the seafront. Along with the usual seafood pasta and grilled and deep-fried fish mains, there are several more inventive dishes, including some tempting vegetarian pastas and a daily fish soup.

Following a Slow Food philosophy, this restaurant strives to be a typical Sicilian neighborhood destination in every sense. In the morning, you'll find just-from-the-oven breads, pastries, fresh-squeezed juice, and goat's milk yogurt at the front counter while the restaurant's main menu pays homage to the area's distinct culinary traditions, such as donkey steaks or donkey mortadella, pastas with anchovies and breadcrumbs, and macco soup from fava beans. There's also a small bodega (putia) that sells ingredients from the producers they use.

At this traditional restaurant located on a side street near the main piazza, you can sit on a tree-lined patio overlooking the sea or in the white-walled dining room and munch on free panelle (chickpea fritters) while waiting for your main dish, which will be served tableside, spooned from the cooking pots to your plate by the friendly staff. The pastas are exemplary (there are even gluten-free options), but the specialty is the seafood couscous, served with a bowl of fish broth on the side.

Located on the spit of land between Ganzirri Lake and the sea, this earnest little trattoria serves the freshest fish possible. A young chef, Gaetano Borgosano, has taken over the 60-year-old restaurant and has smartly kept its iconic dishes, such as fried mussels (stuffed with breadcrumbs and fried on the half shell) and fish meatballs in a Messinese ghiotto (sauce of tomatoes, capers, and celery) while introducing his own updates such as swordfish agrodolce. The menu is merely a guide, as the waiter will bring a platter of fresh fish to your table so you can choose from the daily catch.

Restaurants line the Aci Trezza seafront, and you honestly can't do wrong with any of them, but Graziano's osteria is especially known for its excellent selection of fresh seafood. The pastas are quite good, as are the whole fish preparations (you can see the available catch on ice in the corner of the dining room), but the stand-out here is the mixed antipasti selections of both raw and cooked seafood. The abundant crudo platter—piled with oysters, razor clams, sea urchin, scampi, and gamberi rossi—feels like the centerpiece of a Bacchanal feast.

Housed in the former church of Sant'Alberto, with some of its old stone walls left exposed, this restaurant (a cut above what you might expect from an "osteria") flaunts its authentically traditional character. The menu shows the same respect for local cuisine, but dishes are enlivened by a fresh, modern approach, including old favorites like caponata, antipasto rustico, creamy risottos, and seafood pastas—all highly rated by locals as well as tourists. Among the desserts, the almond and mandarin semifreddos and the wine-poached pears coated in chocolate deserve a special mention.

One of Agrigento’s most popular restaurants, Osteria Ex Panificio is housed in a former bakery on the main street of the old town. Typical Sicilian fish and seafood dishes dominate, and there is a terrace for outside dining in summer, and a cozy interior decorated with bakery equipment and hand-written bread recipes.

A cozy place tucked up a narrow alley behind the Duomo, Osteria Scopari is relaxed and buzzy, with good scorched wood-fired pizza, often with inventive and original toppings, and delicious fish and seafood pasta and risotto. Mains, as ever, are grilled fish and seafood.

At this slow-food tavern, conveniently located right behind the Castello Maniace, you can sit back and enjoy both surf and turf dishes in the vaulted interior or—even better—on the outdoor terrace. One major plus is that you can order half portions of several pasta dishes or opt for a secondo, like the unusual pesce in crosta di patate (grilled fish in a potato crust)—all served on hand-painted ceramic ware.

An acronym for "Pane, Mortadella, and Champagne," Pamocha indeed specializes in bubbles, masterful salumi plates, all the bruschetta, and raw seafood towers of oysters, sweet red shrimp, tuna, and caviar. Typically the portions at this glam-meets-rustic café are small, making it perfect for aperitivo or a late-night snack (it's open until 2 am)

If you're stocking up for a day by the sea, stop in this bakery to fill your picnic basket. In addition to the freshly baked bread (whose scent wafts into the town's narrow alleyways), look for overstuffed sandwiches, arancini, and tender focaccia. And if you haven't already gotten your cannoli fix during your time in Sicily, their pistachio-dusted version is excellent.

A civic institution facing Palermo's old fishing port, this standing-room-only joint has been serving its titular calf's spleen sandwich for more than 70 years. The original owner's grandsons still produce this local specialty sprinkled with a bit of salt and some lemon and served with or without cheese to a buzzing crowd of Palermo's well-weathered elders. The sandwich here may very well beat Antica Focacceria San Francesco's for the title of best in town, though not everyone will acquire the taste for it.

One of the very few places to eat in Aidone, this is a simple bar just down the hill from the museum. The welcoming owner makes great coffee and fills cornetti to order with chocolate, custard cream, jam, or ricotta.

For the best granita and gelato in town, don't miss Bar Giulio. It's also an excellent place for coffee or a traditional sweet Sicilian breakfast of granita and sweet bread brioche. 

In Aci Castello, your granita go-to is Caffè & Dolcezza. Their pistachio flavor is exceptionally good, creamy and studded with bits of ground pistachio. They also serve a wide variety of local pasticceria specialties, both sweet and savory. Don't miss the crispelle di riso, the local version of zeppole, made with rice. They're fried to order and then drizzled with orange blossom honey.

Wood-lined and unadorned, this family-run pastry shop is one of the best places to try Modica’s signature crescent-shape cookies, the ‘mpanatigghi. These soft cookies are filled with a mixture of chocolate, almonds, and veal, a combination that works surprisingly well. The meat was added to the cookies as a way of making the snacks more nutritious on long voyages. The shop is also known for its delicious chocolate squares that are modeled to look like the city’s cobblestones.

No marzipan devotee should leave Taormina without trying one of the almond sweets—maybe in the guise of the ubiquitous fico d'India (prickly pear) or in more unusual frutta martorana varieties—at Pasticceria Etna. A block of almond paste makes a good souvenir—you can bring it home to make an almond latte or granita.

Fans of marzipan will delight at the range of almond sweets on offer here in the shape of the ubiquitous fico d'India (prickly pear) and other fruit. A block of almond paste makes a good souvenir—you can bring it home to make an almond latte or granita.

Fans of Sicilian sweets make a beeline for this place run by Maria Grammatico, who gained international fame with Bitter Almonds, her life story of growing up in a convent orphanage, cowritten with Mary Taylor Simeti. Her almond-paste creations are works of art, molded into striking shapes, including dolls and animals. There are a few tables and a tiny balcony with wonderful views.

A local favorite for over a century, Irrera is known for its cassata, pignolata (little balls of sweet fried dough held together by honey or chocolate), and filled-to-order cannoli. Grab a spot on the outside terrace to sate your sweet tooth and do a little people-watching.