Tasting menus, Michelin stars and the chefs redefining Palermo.
Tasting menus, Michelin stars, and the kitchens redefining what fine dining means in Palermo.
Gagini on Via dei Cassari between Vucciria and Cala in Palermo is a contemporary Sicilian fine-dining room inside the 16th-century workshop of sculptor Antonello Gagini, with a new kitchen team since 2025.
Tip: Closed Monday. The wine pairing is entirely Sicilian; the natural-wine extension flight is worth the supplement.
Limu in Bagheria 15km east of Palermo holds one Michelin star under chef Nino Ferreri inside the 1565 Torre Ferrante, a lemon-themed contemporary Sicilian carte.
Tip: Closed Tuesday. The lemon-themed tasting is the signature; book the upstairs terrace at sunset.
Bye Bye Blues on Via del Garofalo in Mondello was Sicily's first female-chef Michelin-starred room under Patrizia Di Benedetto, holding the star from 2010 to 2020 and still serving a strong tasting carte of Sicilian seafood and reinterpreted classics.
Tip: Closed Tuesday lunch. The 6-course tasting is the entry point; book the patio April to October.
MEC Restaurant on Via Vittorio Emanuele opposite Palermo Cathedral holds one Michelin star inside an Apple-computer museum, chef Carmelo Trentacosti reinterpreting Sicilian classics.
Tip: Closed Sunday. The caponata with Modica chocolate is the signature opener; book the balcony table.
Osteria dei Vespri on Piazza Croce dei Vespri in Palermo's Kalsa quarter occupies a wing of Palazzo Gangi (the Visconti film Il Gattopardo location) for a refined Sicilian carte.
Tip: Closed Sunday. The two tasting menus run 65 and 85 euros; the wine list is one of the city's deepest.
Osteria Mercede on Via Sammartino in Palermo's Politeama runs a 25-cover seafood-only fine-dining room with raw plates, ricci di mare pasta and grilled red tuna among the highlights of the carte.
Tip: Book a week ahead at weekends. The 8-course tasting tracks the day's market catch.
Casa Charleston on Via Magliocco in Palermo relaunched in November 2025 in the former Pasticceria Mazzara space (the restaurant's original 1967 home), with a ground-floor cafe-bistrot and a first-floor fine-dining room led by chefs Giovanni Solofra and Roberta Merolli.
Tip: Bistrot lunch is cheaper than the first-floor fine-dining service. Book the upstairs tasting two weeks ahead.
Cin Cin on Via Manin near the Politeama theatre in Palermo is one of the city's senior fine-edge rooms, ranked in L'Espresso's top 5 Palermo tables, Sicilian seafood and meat carte.
Tip: Dinner only Monday to Saturday from 19:00. The wine list is entirely Sicilian; ask about Etna by the glass.
Corona Trattoria on Via Marconi in Palermo's Liberta is a family-run seafood room opened in 2015 by Gianni Corona, daily catch from the Palermitan fishermen, modern raw plates alongside the city's pasta classics.
Tip: Book three days ahead at weekends. The chef's tasting tracks the day's catch.
Editor picks in Palermo include Gagini Restaurant, Limu, Bye Bye Blues, plus the full fine dining chapter on TableJourney.