141 Best Restaurants in Sicily, Italy

In the sleepy town of Santa Rita, you'll find a culinary gem worth the drive off the beaten path. Driving along narrow roads that may be filled with sheep herders, you'll get to Forno Santa Rita, a bakery managed by a father-and-son team who mill regional wheat to make the most delicate focaccia you'll ever taste. They also make pasta from the same organic semolina, which you can buy pre-packaged at their little shop along with other products like sauces, beers, and jams from the area. The bakery has a small dining room and a terrace. It's popular, especially on the weekends, so reservations are a must (send a text or call on WhatsApp). 

This wholesaler specializes in oysters, mollusks, and crustaceans, and offers a tasting room that has become an obligatory stop for seafood aficionados in town. This may look like nothing but a fish market, but diners are dazzled by the quality of the seafood. There are 24 kinds of oysters, all manner of clams (including Galician percebes), local red prawns in several sizes, and a tank of lobsters and crabs as well as fresh seasonal tuna. Choose between having your fish raw, steamed, grilled, or a la gratin, and dine in the simple blue and white conservatory while enjoying a glass or two of local white wine. You can also get a fine fish couscous (one portion is ample for two people). 

This charming and renowned pizzeria offers a fantastic array of toppings, from the classic Margherita to a changing selection of "gourmet" pizzas. Personalize your pizza toppings and pair your meal with a selection of great antipasti for a filling and satisfying meal.

Although Bar Corso is open for 20 continuous hours daily, the highlight is breakfast. This bustling café is filled with locals and tourists having their morning coffee with freshly made breads and pastries. The counter is filled with regional pastries like cucchitelle, a traditional pastry made with almond flour. Those with a savory palate will enjoy the bread made with semolina flour and filled with ham and cheese. Although the inside space is compact, there's a large outdoor seating area where you can people-watch. 

To enhance a postprandial passeggiata along one of Palermo's main strolling thoroughfares, make a stop at this modern gelateria to pick up one of its exceptional gourmet ice creams. The flavors change with the seasons, but you should find the tangerine sorbet that bursts with sweet citrus tang and the classic cannolo siciliano available year-round.

If you are visiting the local historic market nearby, this is a singular spot to queue and refuel, although online plaudits have made it überpopular. The owner Andrea and squadra can usually be found outside tempting people with their bulging panini stuffed with cheese, ham, grilled vegetables, jam, and piquant pickle. 

With a scorching urban music soundtrack, Saretta and his young squadra work 8 am till late over the flames to prepare well-priced, simple, and tasty plates of seafood. Grab a seat by the open kitchen or on the cooler street-side dining tables, and order one of their heaped plates, like the fab mixed seafood (squid, shrimp, and catch of the day) and a cold DOC Messina beer.

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.

Lawyer-turned-baker Valeria Messina has singlehandedly revived the use of heirloom grains in Catania. At her welcoming little corner bakery, she uses tumminia, perciasacchi, maiorca, and timilia flours to create crusty sourdough loaves, focaccia, buttery biscotti, and traditional pizza marinara. Don't miss her schiacciata (a sort of filled pizza) stuffed with the ingredients of the season, from broccoli or chicory to roasted peppers with mint or anchovies and capers.

You'll smell this panificio and focacceria before you arrive, as the scent of baking bread wafts down the street. The 45-year-old Francesco Arena works with ancient grains (like tumminia, perciasacchi, and rusello) and a hearty mother yeast to produce tender focaccia topped with everything from sun-sweetened tomatoes to escarole, crusty loaves, ham-and-cheese filled pidone, and the flakiest croissants. Arena has bread baking in his bones; his nonna opened the first family bakery in 1939, and his father followed suit with his own in 1970.

Pizza is something Sicilians eat at least weekly, and Frumento has been the area standard-bearer of excellence since it opened in 2015. Choose from five different dough options (from a classic Neapolitan style to rye to ancient Sicilian grains) as your base, and then pick one of the 65 different topping combos. Ingredients range from the classics (tomato, buffalo mozzarella, salami) to things like capers from Salina, bottarga, 'nduja, and wild fennel pesto. The young owner is especially passionate about natural wine, and the list reflects that. There's a second location in Catania.

Agrigento's finest ice-cream parlor creates memorable versions of key Sicilian favorites such as pistachio, almond, and cassata, along with a superb "pecorino" made with fresh sheep's milk ricotta. Besides the famous gelato, there's a great selection of pastries, the most popular being the cannoli. Those looking to cool down can order a cocktail and take in the view of the city from the terrace. 

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 artisanal beer.

Even on rainy days (which admittedly there aren't many of), the sun seems to shine bright here. You can order what is, arguably, the best granita in the Catania area; the pistachio is so creamy you'll swear it has added dairy. The blood orange highlights the robust flavor of the local citrus while the lemon is refreshingly bright, sweet, and tart; and the chocolate is dark and rich. Area residents pop in to have granita with warm brioche for breakfast, lunch, or as an afternoon snack (yes, granita counts as lunch).

What Americans know as Sicilian pizza quite frankly doesn't exist in Sicily, but at this historic café and pizzeria that's been around since the 1800s, you'll find the real pizza siciliana. Though you can find the dish throughout the area, especially in Viagrande and Zafferana, Urna is said to be its inventor: they stuff tender calzone pastry with Tuma cheese, anchovies, and black peppercorns, and then deep-fry the half-moon delicacy. The result is a gooey, savory, flaky delight. Eat it in the outside garden or get it to go.

Top-quality local ingredients are used in this modern, brightly lit pizzeria, where a vast range of pizzas are served—including seasonal, gourmet, and gluten-free varieties—with a choice of four different doughs. The eclectic menu also takes in delicious antipasti, burgers, pastas, and seafood. To accompany your meal, order from a good selection of bottled or draught artisan beers. Service is rapid, and the patient staff answer all queries.

The concept of a "home restaurant," where people set up small restaurants in their homes, is becoming increasingly popular in Sicily. A five-minute car ride from Scala dei Turchi, you'll find "A Casa di Donatella," a tiny dining room inside the home of Donatella, a passionate home cook. Don't expect fine dining, but rather a warm home environment where you'll sample hearty homemade pastas and fresh seafood. If you're looking for an affordable and unique experience, give it a try. Reservations are essential, so call ahead (via WhatsApp).

In the back of a butcher shop that's been operating since 1968, the Pennisi family opened this meat-focused 30-seat restaurant in December 2017. In the front, you'll find cases full of dry-aged beef; house-made sausages, guanciale, lardo, pancetta, and headcheese; whole chickens; beef liver and veal tongue; and skewers of hand-rolled involtini. You choose your meat from the cases, and they prepare it over a live-fire grill in the back, which you can watch through the plate-glass wall.    

Walking through the gate of this little spot feels like entering a pizza speakeasy—it's located at the end of a cul-de-sac in the garden and ground floor of the owners' home (the name means "in a corner of the world"), and you'd be forgiven for thinking you've gotten the directions wrong. They use a slow, cold fermentation process to create crusts with deep flavors that they ply to turn out calzones and about 15 different pizzas each night. The menu is scrawled on a chalkboard (take a photo when you arrive for easy reference) and features beautiful combos, such as chicory with toasted breadcrumbs and black olives or pear and walnut with gorgonzola. 

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 30 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.

For the tastiest snacks head to this neighborhood bakery for a selection of traditional savory bites and focaccia. Pack a picnic, and embrace your carb cravings with their fresh bread and dolci delights such as ricotta-filled nfigghiulate, nutty 'n' fruity tortini, and raisin- or chocolate-dotted paninetti buns.

There's a regular trickle of locals to this gelateria conveniently located opposite the hydrofoil port. Most opt for the local favorite: ice cream in a brioche with a couple of wafer biscuits poking out. But it's not just the creamy and tangy ice creams that pull in the crowds; there are also delicious granitas, cakes, and desserts on offer, including a delicious semifreddo cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries or blueberries. There's limited seating outside, and it stays open late.

Pick a pew and sip an aperitivo beside the now-drained river in Scicli, then enjoy small plates that encompass the best Scicli produce. Popular from morning to late at night, the restaurant's seasonal menus feature such classics as busiata pasta twirls with sardines, as well as novel creations like barbecued bacalà lacquered with mustard and honey. Choose a wine from the exceptional 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.

Chef Danilo Conti started with a passion for wine and subsequently grew deeper respect for the soil of his home territory. The dishes at his osteria just steps from the port in Lipari are clean and balanced—the opposite of fussy—but primarily celebrate the fishing and agricultural traditions of the island, highlighting their seasonal, locally grown citrus and herbs.

Set on a big square in Piazza Armerina that hosts the town’s weekly market, this is one of the very few pasticcerias that continue to make their own cornetti—light, delicious, and filled to order with custard cream, ricotta, jam, or chocolate. Other delights include iris (a deep-fried doughnut ball filled with chocolate) and krapfen (a doughnut ring filled with custard cream). There is a small covered terrace outside.

In the picture-perfect medieval town of Randazzo, high on the northern side of Etna, this generations-old bakery sits at the foot of the basilica in Piazza Santa Maria. Now run by Giovanna, the daughter of Santo, the pasticceria is especially known for its exceptional gelato and granita, which are made with all-natural products, with no artificial bases, colors, or flavorings. Look for an upgrade to the tastes you already know and love, such as rich and creamy pistachio gelato studded with orange zest and candied pistachios. Or try a seasonal granita with flavors informed by the wares of local farmers, such as wild mulberry, yellow raspberry, apricot, or prickly pear.

In the Sicilian food world, the name Giuseppe Arena is synonymous with sweets. He's a maestro gelatiere (master gelato maker) who specializes in artisanal gelato, sorbet, and granita, working with fresh fruits of the season and products from the region, such as hazelnuts from the nearby Nebrodi mountains. He made his first granita at age seven with his grandfather, and through a series of competitions has been called one of the best gelato makers in Italy.

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, known as trunzu (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.