106 Best Restaurants in Sicily, Italy

This refreshingly atypical spot raises simple Sicilian street food to new gastronomic heights. The exuberant owner, Rosario Umbriaco, has won national prizes for his arancini; try the version with two strata of rice and melted saffron Piacentino Ennese cheese to find out why. He also makes what may be the most divine cannoli in Sicily, frying the tubular wafer in olive oil, rather than lard, and filling to order with cool, fresh, just-sweetened ricotta and candied orange from Noto’s famous Caffè Sicilia. In summer there are tables outside.

With its sober interior, reasonable prices, and local clientele, this place on a quiet square rises above the majority of San Vito's tourist-oriented eateries. Seafood, of course, predominates on the menu, best sampled in such dishes as fish couscous, risotto allo scoglio, and cassatelle in brodo di pesce (fresh pasta in a fish broth, stuffed with ricotta, almonds, parsley, and garlic). Service is polite and professional, there are tables outside, and (unusually for this resort destination) the restaurant stays open all winter.

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 traditional, including such starters as a delicious fish couscous and busiate pasta with Trapani-style pesto (which is made with ground almonds instead of pine nuts and tomatoes) and eggplant, while among the mains you'll be tempted by ghiotta di pesce misto (mixed seafood in a rich sauce of tomatoes, olives, and capers), and grilled swordfish. In summer, you can dine at outdoor tables.

Pick up lunch or dinner to go from Al Castello, perfect for a seaside picnic or a meal at your Airbnb. They roast whole chickens daily (rotisserie style) and have an impressive line of baked pastas, roasted potatoes, sautéed or grilled vegetables, and involtini stuffed with cheese, bacon, or pistachios. The storefront is tiny (there's no on-site dining), and it's best reached by foot; Via Re Martino is the main artery of Aci Castello and has extremely limited parking.

Nicola Mendolia's seaside restaurant is comfortable, casual, and faithfully focused on food—primarily pizza, but with an extensive selection of seafood, pasta, and meat, too. Dark, heavy wooden tables create a comfortable environment filled with a mix of jovial locals and businesspeople, though the most memorable option is to dine on the spacious terrace.

Just inside the arched Porta Garibaldi gateway to the old town, this bar and restaurant offers a handy place to pause for a snack or drink. Food choices include a fine seafood salad as well as a full menu of hot dishes. There are tables inside and out on the street, but best of all are those in the broad tree-filled courtyard across the street, providing a secluded and shady retreat from the hot Sicilian sun.

Housed within a landmark Belle Epoque building—originally a lido—right on the beach, this semiformal restaurant offers a memorable dining experience, not least for its broad terrace with unrivaled views of sea and mountains. The menu is strong on seafood, including such dishes as couscous with seared whitefish simmered in a sauce of fresh tomato pesto and almonds, while among the meat choices is a fillet of beef cooked in red wine with a saffron potato mousse. A good selection of antipasti and salads is also available.

Marble-top tables, cast-iron ovens, and walls adorned with turn-of-the-20th-century black-and-white photographs characterize this neighborhood bakery, celebrated for the Sicilian snacks and inexpensive meals it has been doling out since 1834. 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 enormous arancini. There are tables in the piazza in front of the lovely facade of the church of San Francesco d'Assisi, as well as in the two capacious rooms upstairs.

This food van, parked at the start of the main boulevard Viale della Vittoria, has been selling pane e panelle (soft bread rolls stuffed with deep-fried chickpea flour fritters) since 1954. If you are interested in other traditional street food, look out for the Grattatella van (ice shaved to order and served in cups with fruit syrups) and U Panuzzu Ca Meusa (soft rolls with spleen, lemon, and ricotta), both of which have no fixed place, but the Grattatella is often in the resort of San Leone in the summer, while U Panuzzo can be found at lots of local summer events.

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, and is mainly seafood, 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.

Thanks to a recent revamp in the kitchen, this hotel restaurant is a great new dining destination. Their philosophy of “cucina terroir” (territory cooking) and “short kilometer” focuses first and foremost on using the vegetables grown on the estate’s own garden, the island's local seafood, other Mediterranean products (most of all capers), and applying the traditional techniques to bread making using ancient grains. Old recipes have been revitalized, and lighter dishes are available at lunch, but make sure you save room to sample the award-winning signature sweets for dessert afterwards!

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.

Housed in an old palazzo, this casual place has served meals since 1889 and famously keeps a medieval specialty, controfiletto all'Ennese (a veal fillet with onions, artichokes, guanciale, and white wine), on the menu, in addition to a range of slightly more modern seasonal dishes. Choose from a decent selection of Sicilian wines to accompany your meal while you take in the large mirrored wall and local pottery.

In an understated palazzo on a cobblestone street near the Duomo, star chef Ciccio Sultano prepares imaginative and beautifully plated splurge-worthy dinners and a three-course prix-fixe lunch menu that include unforgettable variations on classic Sicilian cuisine. Although dishes can be ordered à la carte, tasting menus convey a fuller sense of the chef's signature style, which uses the finest ingredients from around the island in subtly extravagant combinations.

This gourmet delicatessen and bistro-café makes a trip to the island’s scruffy main town worth your while (and helpfully happens to be close to the gas station). The Emporio is a showcase for the many artisanal pestos, pâtés, sauces, preserved vegetables, and jams produced and beautifully bottled by islanders, and also has a very good selection of local wines. And it's not just a shop: from May to October, the outdoor terrace is open for breakfast, lunch, and aperitivo.

Duck into this intimate courtyard within earshot of Piazza del Duomo's buskers for unusual preparations and flavor combos like busiate pasta with shrimp in a pistachio cream sauce. Let engaging hostess Michela guide you through the menu and suggest a suitable wine accompaniment, such as the well-balanced white Vinera Etna Bianco. 

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 panino, a plate of the local antipasto, 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 place just off the harborfront in the heart of the old town has a buzzy, modern vibe despite the ancient look of the spacious and elegantly vaulted interior. The restaurant is a big hit with locals for its extensive and excellent seafood-based menu, which includes calamaro ripieno (stuffed squid with creamed artichoke, pine nuts, and raisins), torrone di pescspada (swordfish with pistachio, honey, almonds, and orange), and a delicious fish soup, all served on exuberantly decorated crockery from nearby Erice. Everything is fresh and tasty, and the service is efficient but friendly.

As the name suggests, this is a temple to everything from the sea, caught fresh and prepared simply by smiling chef Sergio. Choose from local clams, prawns anointed with lime, calamari, or whatever else that has been recently caught. 

Fast food has a different meaning in Sicily: in every town you'll see bars and cafés offering a selection of ready-to-eat savory pastries filled with meats and cheeses, small pizzettes, arancini, and quiches. In Acireale, the place to go is Il Rosticcere, where chef Puccio has some 30 years experience creating the exemplar of the genre.

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 fare. 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 puree. Service is warm and willing, and there's a good wine list. It's worth booking ahead in summer.

This salumeria and enoteca with outdoor tables is a great choice for a midday snack of cold cuts, perhaps accompanied by a glass of cool white wine chosen from the formidable wine list. Your tagliere (tray) might include various hunks of local cheeses, a selection of salamis and hams, and a bowl of olives. Pane cunzato (seasoned bread topped with tomato, onion, anchovies, and capers) and craft beers are also served.

A quite subdued place, La Bettola has walls with wooden shelves full of Sicilian wine, white linen tablecloths, elegant cutlery, and service imbued with the ease of tradition. The focus, inevitably, is on local fish, including swordfish and anchovies, with seafood pasta and other seafood main courses, several featuring the red prawns for which Mazara is known. It is largely frequented by locals, although in the summer travelers will be attracted to the outdoor terrace. 

Another of the island's hidden gems is the lovely restaurant at La Canna, a casual dining option that offers down-home cooking, a homey environment, and spectacular sea views. There is no menu as chef and hotel owner Grazia decides on a whim what she feels like cooking that particular day (based on what is seasonal and fresh) but whatever that ends up being is guaranteed to be packed full of flavor, as everything used is either from their very own garden on the premises or from local vendors from surrounding islands and in Sicily. It's open to nonguests.

La Locanda di Postino’s hotel restaurant offers traditional Aeolian and Sicilian cuisine in two serene settings—their quaint courtyard garden or their panoramic terrace overlooking the sea. Serving the freshest fish and seasonal vegetables with locally sourced products and ingredients, each tasty dish by chef and owner Amelia combines tradition and innovation with a respect for raw materials from sea and land—all paired perfectly with their hand selected wines available by the glass and the bottle. Open every day for lunch and dinner.

Named for a historic structure that was used to store Malvasia grapes at night after sitting in the sun all day (the pinnata), this restaurant consistently delivers the exact flavors you want to eat on a Mediterranean island. Diners linger late into the evening over raw seafood, roasted fish, grilled octopus, and pastas dressed with wild fennel, caper pesto, fresh ricotta, or rich cuttlefish ink. Dine alfresco on the massive terrace overlooking vineyards and the sea from Malfa's southern edge.

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).

Steps away from the Duomo's exquisitely patterned apse, this backstreet wine bar, restaurant, and deli is enticing. 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 fennel-flavored sausages. Accompany your meal with a glass of wine, a 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.

Housed within a hotel of the same name on the outskirts of town, this reliable and refreshing meal stop for visitors to Corleone offers a range of local dishes that includes steaks and seafood. Choose from an enticing array of antipasti and pastas, which you might follow up with a fillet of beef with porcini mushrooms from the nearby Ficuzza forest or a fritto misto of fried fish in a barbecue sauce. The spacious, modern setting and the friendliness of the staff help to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere. It is located north of Corleone's center, a 20-minute walk (or five-minute drive) from the Anti-Mafia museum.

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.