From chaotic street food offerings at Mercato di Ballaro to the pre-dinner aperitivo with friends, from scoffing arancine as you wander to elegant candlelit dinners. This is my take on the greatest places to eat in Palermo, Sicily.
At the heart of the Mediterranean, Sicily’s capital city is considered one of the most conquered cities in the world. The island’s importance throughout history has seen many different cultures come and go but thankfully each have left their mark on Sicilian cuisine. It’s diverse, it’s unique and absolutely divine.
There is no doubt that life in Palermo revolves around food. From dawn to midnight, food is central to everything that the city is about. From chaotic street food offerings at Mercato di Ballaro to the pre-dinner apertivo to elegant candlelit dinners, Palermo is a foodie heaven.
Whilst it would be impossible to have sampled all of Palermo’s fantastic places to eat, this is purely my guide to my favourites that I experienced across those five nights. Others will no doubt have their hidden gems and local hotspots so, of course, add those to your list too.
Now that you’re here, let me take you on a virtual culinary tour of the best places to eat in Palermo and help plan your next trip to Sicily.
Disclaimer: I visited Palermo on a press trip courtesy of the Visit Sicily Tourist Board and spent three nights in the city. I spent an additional two nights solo exploring as much of the city as possible. All views expressed within this article are, as always, entirely my own!
THE BEST PLACES TO EAT IN PALERMO
Mercato di Ballaro
The largest and oldest of Palermo’s three markets, Mercato di Ballaro is an assault on all of the senses in all of the right ways. This market comes to life early doors, snaking its way across several city blocks reminding many of Arabic Souks. The vendors are loud, it’s crowded with both locals and tourists alike and there’s plenty of Sicilian street food to feast on. Every visitor to Palermo should eat like the locals do here at Mercato di Ballaro.
There are, as probably expected, plenty of tourist traps to avoid; those ones you will see with pre-cooked seafood sat under battery powered fans with not a price list in sight. I visited early on a Sunday morning to find scores of locals queued at certain stalls; the ones serving up Pani ca Muesa (Sicily’s infamous spleen sandwich), arancine (often hotter than the sun) and sfincione (a type of Sicilian pizza). You’ll find that these non-descript stalls at Mercato di Ballaro are without doubt some of the best places to eat in Palermo.
Mercato del Capo
As part of our group bike tour across Palermo, we stopped at the Mercato del Capo for lunch in conditions reminiscent of monsoon season in South East Asia. I’d already wandered through briefly so it was great to sit down in one of the restaurants specialising in Sicilian street food.
The market itself is much smaller than Mercato di Ballaro with just one tight street full of stalls. You’ll find lots of fruit and vegetables as well as herbs and spices though there’s seemingly more of a focus on fresh seafood here so, if you can, head down early with your bellies empty.
We ate at a small yet popular restaurant and sampled a variety of street food staples including, unfortunately for me, Pani ca Muesa. I explained above that there are often queues of people at stalls waiting patiently for this dish but I just couldn’t get away with it. Whilst the bread is lovely and soft, topped with sesame seeds, inside you’ll find veal spleen (and maybe even lung) that’s been boiled and then fried in lard. That’s the one dish I won’t be trying again. Top of my list were the caponata (aubergine-based stew) and arancine.
Q-Tuppo
Q-Tuppo was recommended to me by the owner of the B&B I stayed at for my first night in Palermo for both the granita and the brioche which is made following a historic recipe. You’ll find Q-Tuppo just through the Porto Nuova; a historic gateway to the city. For those that aren’t aware, granita is another Sicilian speciality, similar to sorbet, it’s a semi-frozen dessert. I went with the pistachio flavour, cream on top, and enjoyed scooping it up with the lightest and fluffiest brioche I’ve ever tasted.
Cappadonia Gelati
Gelato is synonymous with Italy so you would be hard pressed to come to Sicily and not end up devouring this delicious sweet treat, even inadvertently so.
Cappadonia Gelati is well-renowned for scooping up the best gelato in the whole of Palermo and honestly it’s not hard to see why. I went with the salted caramel flavour; two mountains of which were served up inside a brioche bun. Heaven. I didn’t know this was a thing until coming to Palermo but I’m not sure I could ever go back eating ice cream or gelato from a measly cone let alone a depressing cardboard cup. Brioche con gelato is the way forward.
Capocollo
Quite possibly the best aperitivo you will find in Palermo is right here at Capocollo. This was the perfect place to be introduced to Sicilian nightlife with an Aperol Spritz and a sharing board so big it needed four members of staff to carry it across. The board was filled to the brim with a wide selection of cheeses, cured meats, olives, sliders, arancine, cous cous and sundried tomatoes. I’d recommend visiting this restaurant to anyone as both the food and atmosphere were exceptionally good!
Cannoli
Cannoli are yet another of Sicily’s iconic culinary delights. These crispy pastry shells are filled with smooth sweetened ricotta cream and, if you wish, dusted with pistachios. Cannoli (singular is Cannolo) are good to eat pretty much any time of the day so head to the namesake shop ‘Cannoli’ where freshly fried shells are filled to order. These are absolutely delicious and absolutely huge. Not bad for €3.50!
Giardini del Massimo
The Teatro Massimo, Europe’s third largest opera house, is certainly one of the most beautiful buildings in Palermo. The Giardini del Massimo restaurant occupies the ground floor and combines all of the opulence and grandeur of the opera house with expertly cooked Sicilian cuisine.
We were treated to various platters showcasing the best of the food on offer at Giardini del Massimo; including sushi, caponata and veggie parmigiana!
Pizzeria Biondo
It would have been pretty remiss of me to not include a pizzeria as one of the best places to eat in Palermo. This is Sicily and Italy after all! Our last night in Palermo, and in Sicily, was spent at Pizzeria Biondo; a little out of the way and full of locals which is always a good sign.
With such a range of toppings and styles of pizza, it was tough to make a choice but I did eventually settle on the Diavola with fior di latte, salame piccante, salisccia and peperoncino – yes it was spicy but oh so good. The pizzas went down very well with those from Sicily and even those from Napoli.
Arancinando
My favourite place to grab an arancina from in Palermo was Arancinando on Via Vittorio Emanuele. A quick note on the spelling before we go on; arancina is singular and arancine is plural. I learnt that Palermitani are very particular about this so please don’t make a mistake – arancine is feminine.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, at Arancinando, you can order fresh deep fried rice balls, coated in breadcrumbs, with your choice of filling. The traditional filling is ragu but you can also go off-piste with flavours such as chicken curry, spicy salami and emmenthal or even chocolate!
Your arancina will most likely be hotter than the sun so feel free to explore more of Palermo whilst cautiously taking bites as and when humanely possible.
Trattoria Bersagliere
This place was recommended to me again by one of the lovely B&B owners. Trattoria Bersagliere is not too far from Mercato di Ballaro and is said to be where all of the stallholders go for their lunch. The restaurant is entirely unpretentious; think plastic seats, affordable prices and good honest Sicilian food. It can get busy and, as with many restaurants these days, quality can be hit and miss but if you’re after a real glimpse of everyday life in Palermo, this is where you’ll find it.
I Cuochini
I Cuochini is a tiny bakery where you’ll find typical Sicilian snacks such as little meat pastries and panelle (fried chickpea flour) sandwiches. Everything here is homemade and is described as an institution and therefore a must-try when visiting Palermo.
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