10 Best Local Restaurants in Sicily

Buatta Cucina Popolana is a Palermo restaurant that proves excellent food doesn’t have to be expensive. This place specialises in the Sicilian classics. Among the types of pasta offered include bucatini and anelletti (ring-shaped pasta). 

Also on the menu are cod, sardines and a pot of paranza (assorted small fried fish) with a kind of cornmeal polenta called frascatula, plus meat dishes such as rabbit, pork chops and sausage. It’s hearty fare, cooked well, at prices that won’t break the bank.

Me Cumpari Turiddu is a Catania restaurant that serves up traditional Sicilian food “just like grandma used to make” to locals. However, once you set eyes on this place, you’ll agree that grandma’s dining room was never this stylish. Boasting exposed stonework, lofty ceilings and glittering chandeliers, this place oozes Italian glamour.

The food’s equally impressive, whether you pop in for morning coffee, a lunch of sandwiches made from freshly baked bread, or a slice of cake in the afternoon. You can opt to dine either at Me Cumpari Turiddu's no-frills bistro (which specialises in Sicilian street food) or its fancier restaurant.

Antica Filanda is a restaurant in Capri Leone, run by a family that knows a thing or 2 about hospitality and food. Part of the Antica Filanda Hostel, the restaurant is surrounded by olive trees. From up here, you get to admire 3 of the Seven Sisters – the Aeolian islands of Alicudi, Filicudi and Salina – and the dazzling blue Tyrrhenian Sea.

Antica Filanda’s team of 4 chefs treats food like an art form, using locally sourced ingredients to produce beautifully presented and tasty dishes. Try the potato and mint ravioli with black truffle, followed by slow-cooked veal cheeks. Wrap things up with tiramisu semifreddo with coffee foam or a prickly pear jelly.

Osteria Expanificio occupies a former bakery that's tucked away in the corner of a cobbled square in Agrigento. The restaurant is simple, channelling a rustic-chic vibe with a dash of contemporary flair. Meanwhile, its menu consists of traditional Sicilian dishes that change with the seasons.

Must-try dishes at Osteria Expanificio include warm octopus salad, pasta tossed in wild boar ragù, and tender veal shank in a decadent Nero d’Avola sauce. The subtly lit and tucked-away setting makes it great for a dinner date in the hilltop city on Sicily's southwest shore.

A Putia Do Calabrisi is a Catania trattoria that has resisted the temptation to mess with tradition. Decor-wise, the tables are worn and photos hanging on the wall are there for the memories they bring, rather than for their aesthetic.

Like the food, it’s old school, but that’s the point. This is the kind of meal you might be served at home if your family knows all there is to know about Sicilian cooking. The emphasis is on flavour and aroma. Try the pasta al forno and roast pork, paired with their house wine.

Ristorante Da Vittorio serves up simple seafood in Menfi. When its chef came here from Bergamo, he had an ambition of opening a simple restaurant by the sea. That’s exactly what he did, and decades later, it's one of Sicily's best local restaurants.

Vittorio’s menu changes each morning, dependent on the catch of the day. Sea urchins, sardines, sea bass, octopus, amberjack – sometimes right from the boat. This is straightforward fare, using ingredients that don’t need to be embellished to shine.  

Al Tortellino is a simple dining spot serving local dishes at good value prices in Catania. Its no-frills decor won’t win any style awards, but who cares when the food tastes great and the portions are generous? This is the place to come for homemade pasta – you eat it here and buy a bag to take home. The pizzas are just as delicious, with plenty of choices when it comes to toppings. 

You can find Al Tortellino along Via Giuseppe Simili, about 1.3 km east of notable landmarks like the Roman Amphitheater of Catania and Villa Bellini park. 

Rosticceria Palermitana Arancina Planet is one of the best spots in Noto if you’re looking for street food. This simple place is a great place to try arancina (also called arancino by locals) – a delicious ball of deep-fried breaded rice that’s been eaten in this part of the world for centuries.

The menu contains more varieties than most places, flavoured with spinach, mushrooms, chicken, ragù or even horse meat. If you work your way through the list, there are also a few pasta and pizza dishes to enjoy. 

Ristorante Sicilia in Tavora is a popular seafood restaurant in Ortigia. Its wooden ceiling and whitewashed walls are charmingly rustic, but the food is what brings regulars back over and over again.

Start with raw red shrimps with a creamy burrata or some fresh ceviche. Follow up with homemade pasta tossed with sardines or cuttlefish, or the signature spaghetti with salty anchovies. Hearty fish stews or grilled sea bass and swordfish round off this memorable maritime feast.

Cantina Siciliana is an osteria in Trapani that at first glimpse, transports you to North Africa. But you’ll soon learn that couscous is as big a deal in this part of Sicily as the breaded seafood and fresh pasta sitting alongside it on the menu. Once you get your head around that, the place will start to make sense. 

Cantina Siciliana first opened as a tavern back in 1958. The decor is equally eclectic: a collection of antique coffee grinders perch on a shelf above vivid blue wall tiles that could just as easily be Tunisian and Moorish ceramic heads contrast with the puppets that hang from the rafters. It all works – and it’s no wonder the place has thrived for so long.