(Michelin Guide Restaurants)

GAGINI RESTAURANT
CREATIVE - RUSTIC In the beating heart of the city, between Vucciria and the small port of Cala, a restaurant with a modern design and bright colors, able to enhance even more the charm of the ancient walls that welcome it, once the workshop of the sculptor Antonello Gagini. For about a year a new chef with a double nationality - Italian and Brazilian - after many years around Europe (at starred restaurants) arrives here in Palermo.
Menu 70/110 € - Carte 55/75 € via dei Cassari 35 - 091 589918 - Closed Monday

BUATTA CUCINA POPOLANA
SICILIAN - CONVIVIAL In the beautiful and historic rooms of an old store, here you will find a lively and dynamic restaurant where traditional dishes alternate with the seasons. Among the musts: bucatini with sardines and roulade with blue fish.
Menu 32€ - Carta 23/45€ - via Vittorio Emanuele 176 - 091 322378 - Closed on Monday

BEBOP
CONTEMPORARY - COZY After classical studies, a young self-taught chef decided to follow his true passion: cooking! Recipes that are inspired by the Sicilian tradition reworked with personal taste, using excellent regional products. The restaurant is in the city center, very intimate and elegant, but also pleasantly informal service. Only island wines.
Menu 55/65€ - Carta 45/73 € via Riccardo Wagner 3 - 329 534 0388 - Closed at midday and Mondays

CASTELLO A MARE
MODERN - FASHIONABLE Next to the tourist port of Cala and inside the archaeological park of Castello a Mare, this is a modern restaurant not lacking in elegance for a contemporary cuisine that revisits the flavors of the island even more intriguing the evening atmosphere. If the dehors is on the ground floor, on the terrace - in the summer - you can have tasty aperitifs.
Menu 30€ (pranzo), 50/70 € - Carta 20/70 € - via Filippo Patti 2 - 091 748 4777 - Closed on Monday

OSTERIA DEI VESPRI
MODERN - WELCOMING Located in the pedestrian area, one of its halls was immortalized in a historic film and although the kitchen is always up to date, its modern dishes are based on authentic local products. If a warm welcome and a long-standing management are further incentives to stop, there's more... In the adjacent bistro Occhio Vivo (a Sicilian term for "watch out") you can enjoy a simpler but still tasty cuisine. Be careful, don't miss it.
Menu 32€ (pranzo)/120€ - Carte 77/102 € - square Croce dei Vespri 6 - 097 617 1637 - Closed on Sunday

L'OTTAVA NOTA
CREATIVE - COZY It is one of those nice, modern, cheerful places: just as they are fashionable today. The cuisine is strongly linked to the territory and therefore also to the fish, while the elaborations are delicious and contemporary.
Menu 40/70 € - Carte 40/70 €
street Butera 55 - 091 616 8601 - Closed Monday-Saturday at noon, Sunday

(Espresso Guide Restaurants)

A' CUNCUMA
Via Judica 21
Tel. 320.1646036
Open: dinner
Closed: Sunday
Annual closing: two weeks between January and February; the second half of July
Credit cards: all
Price: from 50 to 85
A stone's throw from the Mercato del Capo, in the heart of the historic center, this small restaurant celebrates typical products and traditional Palermo cuisine in a pleasantly innovative way. The care in the choice of ingredients and the ability to harmonize them emerges in the pistachio wafer, scampi, licorice and goat cheese and in the reinterpretation of the classic arancina with caciocavallo cheese, raw prawns and black truffle. Native wine cellar and courteous service. Tastings at 60 and 70 euros, on 70 a la carte.

AJA MOLA
Via dei Cassari 39
Tel. 091.7296599
Open: lunch and dinner
Closed: Monday
Annual closing: variables
Credit cards: all
Price: from 30 to 70
The seafood restaurant that wears modernity but dialogues respectfully with the daily catch is in the historic center, between the Cala and the Vucciria market. The kitchen is on view, with the young and already good cook at work, as well as the fish, to choose cooked in salt, foil or barbecue. The pasta soup with lobster is sumptuous, while the fried fish and the sautés among the main courses are impeccable, accompanied by organic and 'natural' wines, also by the glass. Tasting menu at 50 and 65 euros.

ARCHESTRATO DI GELA
Vedi inserto "Le migliori pizzerie d'Italia"

BADALAMENTI CUCINA E BOTTEGA
Viale Galatea 55
Tel. 091.450213
Open: lunch and dinner
Closed: Monday lunch
Annual closing: variables
Credit cards: all
Price: from 30 to 65
From the shelves and the counter to the table. Plus a few market gems offered daily off the menu. This is the convincing formula of the restaurant of this wine store of excellence on one of the roads that lead from the city to Mondello, the beach of Palermo. The blue fish meatballs on caramelized onions with honey and beer are tasty, as tradition dictates the "walled" meatballs with a ritual final slipper. Beautiful and wide choice of wines, also takeaway. Cost around 50 euro.

CICALA
Steet Sant'Alessandro 29
Tel. 091.7782543
Open: only in the evening; also for lunch on Sundays
Closed: Tuesday; always open in summer
Annual closing: variable between January and February
Credit cards: AU,BM,CS,DC,VISA,EU
Price: da 20 a 45
The theory of bottles on display on the shelves on the walls does not deceive: here you cook and with concreteness. The informal atmosphere and the attentive welcome introduce you to simple and tasty market proposals, which draw on the local tradition but do not disdain timid excursions outside the region. The sea predominates, with the irresistible bruchette with sea urchins and the catch of the day baked or grilled. Unconventional wine cellar told with competence and passion. About 30 euros.

CORONA
Street Guglielo Marconi 9
Tel. 091.335139
Open: lunch and dinner
Closed: Monday; Sunday evening; in summer Sunday, Monday lunchtime
Annual closing: two variable weeks in August
Credit cards: all
Price: from 20 to 45
Even if the menu includes the classics of Palermo's seafood cuisine, the surprises come from the catch that arrives daily from the nearby village of Terrasini. So it happens that next to the pasta all'anciova or sardines a beccafico artfully made, a palàmita to be interpreted at the moment pops out of the menu. The owner, together with his son, gracefully carries on the family tradition. The wine list is interesting and the bill is around 35 euros.

DISPENSA
Street Isidoro La Lumia 30
Tel. 091.8248750
Open: lunch and dinner
Closed: Tuesday; Sunday from June to September
Annual closing: August
Credit cards: all
Price: from 25 to 45
Under a beautiful wooden ceiling finely decorated, a multifaceted project that bears the signature of the chref Giuseppe Costa and makes coexist the Sicilian cuisine of the house, that of popular restaurants and street-food. The proposals range from the excellent meats of an established butcher's shop and classics such as pasta with broccoli 'arriminati' or with conoglio 'alla stimpirata', passing through salads and bread 'cunzato' reinterpreted. The wine cellar is of good quality, service is polite and the bill is around 30 euros.

LE ANGELICHE
Alley Abbadia 10-14
Tel. 091.6157095
Open: lunch and dinner; only dinner in summer
Closed: Monday
Annual closing: variables
Credit cards: all
Price: from 20 to 50
An all-female restaurant in the heart of the Cape Market. Vegetables, fruit and fish at zero meter, then; everything else from small trusted producers. The result is a cuisine that makes the freshness and integrity of flavors its credo, with a good ability to combine tradition and beautiful insights. Excellent olives 'cunzate', delicious gnocchi with Sicilian pesto and clams. Do not miss the desserts. Small cellar and smiling service. About 35 euros.

MEC RESTAURANT
Street Vittorio Emanuele 452
Tel. 091.9891901
Open: dinner
Closed: Monday
Annual closing: variable in January and August
Credit cards: all
Price: from 80 to 100
A few steps away from the Cathedral, in a sixteenth-century building, the Mec was born, a museum dedicated to Steve Jobs and his creations. In this elegant and pop architecture, Carmelo Trentacosti's cuisine makes its way, taking up the thrust of the context: technique, color and selected raw materials. The amuse-bouche - a Bavarian cheese with burrata, tomato and anchovies, a mock pea pod with crunchy bread and black olive earth and an urchin ice cream with puffed bread. Freshness and mediterraneanity in the risotto with plankton, raw goat meat, sea urchins and green mandarin. Fulfilling the false lean pork with Jerusalem artichoke, mousse of tuma persa and Sicilian truffle. Among the desserts the "cacio e pere" tart with liquorice crumble and beet ice cream. Adequate wine list and service. About 100 euro.

MOLO SANT'ERASMO
Cove Sant'Erasmo
Tel. 388.7892914
Open: lunch and dinner
Closed: never
Annual closing: never
Credit cards: all
Price: from 25 to 55
Unique location and evocative pieds dans l'eau overlooking the renovated Molo Sant'Erasmo for this recently opened seafood restaurant with an offering that ranges from an array of original tapas, plateau and tartare to the more traditional dishes of Palermo's seafood cuisine. The tacos with shrimp tartare and seaweed mayonnaise are tasty, the classic pasta all'anciova is standard, and the tuna with eggplant "ammuttunata" is satisfying. Regional wine cellar and informal service. About 45 euros.

PALAZZO BRANCIFORTE
Street Bara all'Olivella 2
Tel. 091.321748
Open: lunch and dinner
Closed: Monday lunch
Annual closing: one week in august
Credit cards: AU,BM,CS,DC,MC,VISA,EU
Price: from 40 to 70
The sense of solidity and composure of the patrician home that hosts it reverberates in this restaurant in the heart of the city. The young chef, with the strength of important and formative experiences abroad, syncretizes with maturity the island's gastronomic culture with creative and innovative drives in the wake of consistency and continuity. No winks to fashions and trends, but well-governed games of flavors and textures in the black tortelli of buffalo and scallops with sea urchin emulsion or in the cut of amberjack with its cous sous with turmeric. The desserts are amusing, with the "Temptation of Adam" in pole position. The wine cellar is up to the task and the service is punctual. Tasting menu at 60, 65 and 70 euros. About 60 a la carte.

QUATTROVENTI
Street Enrico Albanese 30-32
Tel. 091.6259187
Open: only in the evening; sunday also at lunch
Closed: Monday
Annual closing: two weeks in mid-January
Credit cards: all
Price: from 30 to 70
A Sicilian cuisine interpreted with wit and elegance, far from stereotypes. In a contemporary environment designed with sobriety and warmth, shows off - supported by the sure hand of the chef - a market cuisine that aims high. After the "cannolo salato con baccalà mantecato" (salted cannoli with creamed cod), the spaghetti soup "pizziato" with scarfano, potatoes, toasted hazelnuts and wild vegetables is worth mentioning. Tantalizing wine cellar, gin and tonic cards, conciliatory service. Menu from 45 to 70 euros, 45 a la carte.

ALSO...

(Gambero Rosso Guide Restaurants)

OSTERIA BALLARO'

Street Colascibetta, 25 tit
tel 091.326488
Closed: always open
Covers: 90
€ 45 wines excluded
TRACTORY
This place is the result of the project of Gianluca Bono and his wife Doriana, who saw in the ballarò of Palermo, a place of life, colors, voices, mixes and multi-ethnicity, the ideal place for a gastronomic space of quality bringing in the old stables of Palazzo Cattolica a real market in the market. All products made in Sicily, from cheese to vegetables, from fish to meat, and all prepared with the right creative vein by chef Calogero Branca. Tuna tartare in spicy sauce with green apple and wasabi sorbet, or the classic Ballarò steet food, with panelle, crocchè and sficionelli. Among the first courses the memory of childhood Palermo of fried pasta, typical forgotten flavor of crispy pasta cooked in a pan. Interesting wine list with a wide selection of biodynamic and "natural" wines, not only Sicilian. Menus from 25 and 35 euro with 3 or 4 courses. Young and dynamic service.

BUATTA CUCINA POPOLANA

Street Vittorio Emanuele, 176
tel 091322378
Close: Monday all day
Covers: 70
€ 30 wines excluded
TRACTORY
Very central - in the pedestrian section of via Vittorio Emanuele -, it is the right address to meet Palermo's traditional cuisine. The rooms have the charm of the stores of a hundred years ago, the furnishings (and the external sign) are those of a historic suitcase store. But in the hat racks and in the showcase parade ogqi regional wines to plate "natural" labels, the result of patron Franco Virga's research. In the open kitchen works Fabio Cardilia, Roman roots. His tasting menu (8 courses for 38 euros) includes starters (sardines a beccafico, sfincione, sweetbreads and solicarnia, mixed boiled meats) and first courses such as timbale of anelletti, bucatini with sardines and fennel, ravioli with ricotta and fifth quarter. of ricotta cheese with the fifth quarter. Fish of the day or in soup, or stuffed black pork chop among the seconds. Classic and delicious desserts. Informal and friendly service.

GIGI MANGIA'

street Principe di Belmonte, 104d
tel 091587651
Close: Sunday evening; in summer all day Sunday
Covers: 30
€ 60 wines excluded
RESTAURANT
Nomen omen for the local Gigi Mangia, chef and owner who knows how to make his customers eat well by offering traditional dishes never trivial, because well revised and enriched with modern touches. What makes the dishes special is the careful selection of raw materials, often local. Shrimp cocktail, sesame tuna tataki, stuffed squid, arancine and homemade pasta are accompanied by a good selection of wines, especially islanders, and served with courtesy in a welcoming environment.

ENOSTERIA LIBERTA' VINI NATURALI E CUCINA

street Libertà , 93
tel 0919102341
Close: Monday all day
Covers: 20
€ 30 wines excluded
Credit cards : AE,MCard, Visa, POS
WINE BAR
In street Libertà, in the living room of Palermo, it is a young, sparkling, innovative place, very popular both for an aperitif and for a light lunch or dinner with friends. The idea starts from the wine bar with only natural wines or wines produced by small independent producers, and then moves to a creative-traditional cuisine that respects the local tradition. Creative-traditional cuisine that respects local products. Caponata of fried zucchini, pappardelle all'anciova and middica arrustuta and anchovies alla parmelitana. Also cocktail bar for mixology and territorial drinks.

MOLO SANT'ERASMO

Caletta Sant'Erasmo, 999
tel 3887892914
Close: sempre aperto
Covers: 70
€ 40 wines excluded
Credit cards: all
TRACTORY
Modern seafood restaurant overlooking the sea, with outdoor area and cocktail bar, located in the cove of the village of the same name and with boats and amateur fishermen to characterize the atmosphere. Share raw fish, bruschetta, fritturine or barbecue octopus. First courses include margherite all'anciova and spaghettoni with sea urchins and prawn tartare. Then slice of fish of the day all'eoliana or cod with chips and mayonnaise. Desserts simple, but lovely. Regional wine list with some national proposals and some Champagne. Informal service.

PICONE

via G. Marconi, 36
tel 091331300
Close: domenica
Covers: 50
€ 45 wines excluded
Credit cards: tutte
WINE BAR
This wine bar with kitchen, one of the most important in the region, and not only, has largely exceeded half a century of age, known in 1946. Inossidabile, it is still represented by Francesco Picone, born in 1929, supported by Vera Bonanno, the heart of the choices and research. More than 6,000 references stappabiii - including a remarkable and eclectic selection of Champagne - and combined with piotti of the day. Among the edible proposals, bacon and figs, sandwiches with roast beef and guacamole sauce, ratatouille of sautéed vegetables with Ragusano cheese, ombrine ceviche, spelt pie with Ligurian pesto, sliced beef and rosemary potatoes. To close, dry biscuits, cannolo di Piana and chocolate praline. Not only wine: the selection of craft beers is remarkable. Competence and courtesy in the dining room.

VINOVERITAS

v.le Boris Giuliano, 22
tel 091342117
Close: domenica aperto solo la sera
Covers: 40
€ 50 wines excluded
Credit cards: AE,MCard,Visa,POS
WINE BAR
In Palermo residential wine, cuisine & mixology in one container. This is the synthesis of the offer of Vinoveritas, modern and informal environment and tables between the shelves where more than two thousand bottles are exposed, divided by regions and wine areas. In the dehors, instead, high tables and stools. Giuseppe Lisciandrello, patron (and producer with his own cellar) is a reliable guarantor of targeted choices and quality service. Among the edible proposals, milk croquettes, veal meatballs on Grana cheese fondue, smoked salmon sashimi, bucatini with cheese and pepper, paccheri with cod mantecato, seared tuna with sweet and sour onions. To close chocolate or dessert of the day. The cuisine is also valid in the "sister" wine bar in street Sammartino.

(Restaurants of the Italian Academy of Cuisine)

CASCINARI
Address:Street D'Ossuna 43/45 Phone: 091 6519804 Mobile: 388 18112368 Type of establishment: Tractory Closing: Mondays and Tuesdays Holidays: never Management: Piero e Vito Riccobono Cost: € - up to 35 euros Credit cards: CartaSì/Visa/MasterCard Covered: 90 Parking: Uncomfortable News of particular interest: The restaurant was born as a tavern in 1949, in the neighborhood Cortile Cascino, from which the trattoria takes its name. The Riccobono brothers, Piero and Vito, sons of the founder and current managers, transformed the tavern making it a restaurant where you can enjoy the authentic, traditional cuisine of Palermo. The restaurant, beyond the open kitchen, is divided into several small rooms furnished in a rustic way, but with a serene atmosphere made even more pleasant by the courtesy of the owners. The menu varies daily, with a good choice of first courses, fish, meat and vegetables. Typical dishes: Fettuccine con frittella (in spring) Pasta and potatoes Sarde allinguate Eggplant meatballs with tomato and basil Baccalà a sfincione Artichokes attuppati Unmissable dish: FalseMagro

OSTERIA LO BIANCO
Address: Street Emerico Amari, 104 Phone: 091/2514906 Type of establishment: Tractory Closing date: none Holidays: never Cost: € - up to 35 euros Credit cards: None Seating: 76 Parking: Convenient News of particular interest: Local for about 90 years in the center of Palermo, a hundred meters from the Politeama theater, in the main square Typical cuisine and Sicilian wines in bulk and in the bottle Typical dishes: Spaghettoni with a glaze of meat from boiled meat and stewed potato crumbled Boiled beef with rounds Sliced breaded meat "alla palermitana" Pasta with sardines (in season) Dish not to be missed: Pasta with "anciova".

OSTERIA MERCEDE
Address: street Sammartino 1 Phone: 091332243 Type of establishment: Tractory News of particular interest: Dogs are welcome Menu for celiacs Closing: Monday Holidays: second half of August and February Kitchen: Helios Gnoffo Cost: €€ - from 36 to 45 euro Credit cards: All Covered: 45 Parking: Uncomfortable News of particular interest: Restaurant a few steps from the Politeama theater, which in a few years since its opening has become known and appreciated by people from Palermo and beyond. In a cosy Mediterranean environment Helios, a young chef from Palermo, awarded the title of best regional chef in a popular television show, cooks with love and passion dishes of excellent fish caught locally. The menu varies depending on the availability of the catch, the season and the creativity of the chef. Typical dishes: Raw fish dishes, tartare and mixed carpaccio. Seafood salad. Chitarra with cod, botargo and lemon. Pasta with tenerumi and clams. Dishes not to be missed: Fish in potato crust.

SESTO CANTO
Address: Street S. Oliva, 26 Phone: 091 324543 Type of establishment: Tractory Useful information: Menu for celiacs Closing: unchtime. Closed on Sundays Holidays: Never Open: Only for dinner Management: Riccardo Panarello Kitchen: Riccardo Panarello Cost: €€ - da 36 a 45 euro Credit cards: all Covered: 40 Parking: Convenient News of particular interest: Small restaurant, modernly furnished and intimate atmosphere. The chef uses Sicilian products, experiments with particular combinations of food, proposes traditional recipes in a modern key, with particular attention to the presentation of the dishes and the seasonality of the products. All dishes can be prepared without gluten. Typical dishes: Fagottino di ombrina al cartoccio with vegetables and herbs; Crudo di pesce del giorno with marinated pumpkin with three peppers; Chitarre trafilate al bronzo with squid ink and fresh ricotta cheese with chilli pepper; Sformato di ricotta cheese with pistachio and chocolate sauce. Dishes not to be missed: Filetto di maialino with dark chocolate from Modica and its beans.