Sicilian fine dining€€€€politeama
Casa Charleston on Via Magliocco in Palermo reopened in 2025 in its original 1967 home, the former Pasticceria Mazzara, with a ground-floor cafe and bistrot and a first-floor fine-dining room.
Signature: Melanzana Charleston, Pesce spada alla ghiotta, Cassata
Order: The historic melanzana Charleston and the house cassata, finished with a glass of Marsala Vergine.
Tip: Cafe-bistrot at ground level for lunch; the first-floor restaurant is the formal Sicilian carte. Book the upstairs two weeks ahead.
Sicilian seafood€€borgo-vecchio
Trattoria Da Pino on Via dello Spezio in Palermo's Borgo Vecchio is a family-run seafood-driven room, daily-changing chalkboard carte dictated by the morning Borgo Vecchio market.
Signature: Caponata, Spaghetti con le sarde, Involtini di sarde
Order: Involtini di sarde and the spaghetti con le sarde, with a glass of Grillo.
Tip: Cash works fastest. Lunch is the value entry; book one day ahead for Sunday lunch.
Sicilian fine dining€€€€vucciria
Gagini Restaurant on Via dei Cassari between the Vucciria market and Cala harbour in Palermo serves a contemporary Sicilian carte inside the 16th-century workshop of sculptor Antonello Gagini, relaunched with a new kitchen team in 2025.
Signature: Tasting menu, Crudo di gambero rosso, Bottarga risotto
Order: The chef's tasting menu, anchored by raw gambero rosso and the bottarga course.
Tip: Book two weeks ahead. The wine pairing is entirely Sicilian; the natural-wine extension flight is worth the supplement.
Sicilian fine dining€€€€mondello
Bye Bye Blues on Via del Garofalo in Mondello, the room where Patrizia Di Benedetto became Sicily's first female Michelin-starred chef in 2010, retains a strong contemporary Sicilian carte after losing the star in 2020.
Signature: Tasting menu, Pasta con bottarga di tonno, Pesce del giorno
Order: The chef's tasting menu; pasta con bottarga di tonno is the most-photographed primo.
Tip: Closed Tuesday lunch. The 6-course tasting is the entry point; book the patio in summer.
Sicilian€€loggia
Buatta Cucina Popolana on Via Vittorio Emanuele in Palermo is the city's flagship cucina povera room, a Michelin Bib Gourmand for seasonal Sicilian plates inside an 1870 grocer's shopfront.
Signature: Sarde a beccafico, Caponata, Pasta con le sarde
Order: Sarde a beccafico and the caponata, the two flagships of the Palermo carte.
Tip: Book ahead, this is the busiest mid-range room in the city. The shared platter starter for two is the efficient lunch order.
Sicilian€€loggia
Bisso Bistrot at the Quattro Canti crossroads in Palermo is a former Casa del Libro bookshop turned communal-table bistro for Sicilian classics, no reservations, queues most nights.
Signature: Pasta alla Norma, Caponata, Involtini di melanzane
Order: Pasta alla Norma and the involtini di melanzane, with house red.
Tip: No reservations. Arrive 12:30 for lunch or 19:30 for dinner; the communal table fills first.
