Palermo has been named European Street Food Capital thanks to specialities such as arancine and stigghiole, but the city boasts a wide range of local products and typical recipes that also includes truly tempting first courses, main courses and desserts. Today we offer a complete overview of the tastiest dishes, including street food specialities , desserts and classic recipes. If you are planning to visit Palermo, here is what you must eat!
Street Food Tour: if you want to taste all the specialities and at the same time discover the mysteries, secrets and historical curiosities in the centre of Palermo, we absolutely recommend you join the guided walking tour of street food and history.
1 - Panelle bread and crocché
Let's start with Palermo's most renowned gastronomic bastion: 'pane e panelle e crocchè'. There are many fried food shops scattered around the city offering this dish, and some of the kiosks or premises are historic and have been providing excellent street food for many years. What are 'bread and panelle and crocchè'? These are thin pan cakes made from chickpea flour, or fried potato balls, which are stuffed with three different types of bread: the Mafalda (named for Mafalda of Savoy), the Scaletta (shaped like a snake) and the Focaccia, or vastidda, a round loaf enriched with sesame seeds. Some of the best places to eat this speciality are theAntica Friggitoria (Via Palmeri, 4) and Nnì Franco ù Vastiddaru (Piazza Marina).
Recommended: always
Average cost: €1.80
Main ingredients: chickpea flour, parsley, potatoes
2 - Arancine and rotisserie in general
Arancine (strictly in the feminine, for the people of Palermo) are the queens of Palermo street food and are famous not only throughout Italy, but also worldwide. They can have different fillings, the most traditional being with meat (ragù) and with butter (with butter, mozzarella and ham), but there are many variations (even the most creative and daring): with salmon or sausage, with mushrooms or spinach, and even chocolate. At bars, patisseries and rotisseries, you can also find a multitude of ready-made dishes, including 'spitini di carne' and fried calzoni. One of the most famous places for arancine is the historic Pasticceria Oscar, at 39 Via Mariano Migliaccio.
Recommended to: always
Average cost: €1.50 per piece
Main ingredients: in the classic meat version we find rice, mozzarella, ham, meat sauce, breadcrumbs
3 - Pizza Sfincione
Some say it is even better than pizza! Sfincione takes its name from the Latin word spongia, meaning sponge, or from the Arabic sfang, meaning pancake. The dough of this speciality is in fact porous, just like a sponge. It is made from a dough similar to both bread and pizza and can be topped with salted sardines, onion, cheese and oil. In the Palermo version, however, the basic ingredient in addition is tomato sauce. In the city, the real sfincione is said to be the one offered by the street vendors near Porta Sant'Agata, but you can also eat it inside bakeries such as theAntica Focacceria San Francesco (via Alessandro Paternostro 58) and the Panificio Graziano (via del Granatiere 11) or inside restaurants such as Da Diego (via Enrico Albanese 104/a)
Recommended: lunch, dinner, snack
Average cost: €0.80 per piece
Main ingredients: water, flour, brewer's yeast, tomato
4 - Scraping
The people of Palermo invented this food to avoid waste. It is in fact a dough obtained by mixing the various leftovers found in the frying pans at the end of the day. Rather than throwing them away, the cooks in Palermo would combine leftover potatoes for crocché, chickpeas for panelle, and create mixtures. You can buy it at any fried food shop, such as the aforementioned Nnì Franco ù Vastiddaru, located in Piazza Marina.
Recommended: always
Average cost: €1.80
Main ingredients: chickpea flour, parsley, potatoes
5 - Pani ca Mìevusa
Bread with spleen is one of the most famous street dishes in the world. The vastedda, a large, round bun covered with sesame seeds, holds a filling of boiled veal spleen, to which lung is often added, both fried just before the sandwich is delivered. It can be served 'schettu', the classic version, or 'maritatu' with the addition of salted ricotta and/or caciocavallo cheese. The two most famous and best-loved meusari in Palermo are probably Rocky Basile, a street hawker who is usually located in Piazza Caracciolo in the Vucciria area, and the scenic Nino U' Ballerino, whose shop is in Corso C. Finocchiaro Aprile.
Recommended for: snacks, lunch and dinner
Average cost: €1.50
Main ingredients: sandwich with sesame, spleen, lung
6 - Stigghiola
This is another dish belonging to the poor tradition of Palermo and is not really for everyone. The stigghiularu usually prepare this food at festivals or feasts, the stall can be recognised by the smoke of the embers rising from the early afternoon. Stigghiularu derives from a Greek dish - the Kokoretsi - and is of very ancient origin. Why is it not for everyone? Because, basically, it is a lamb or kid gut cooked over embers after being wrapped on a skewer with parsley. In some versions it is instead wrapped around a spring onion.
Popular places to taste stigghiola include A Rarigghia, in Piazza Olivella 23, and Lo stigghiolaro di via Altofonte, in Via Altofonte 120.
Recommended for: snacks, lunch and dinner
Average cost: €1.00 a piece or €8.00 a portion at the restaurant
Main ingredients: lamb guts, salt and lemon
7 - Mussu, Quarume and Frittola
Photo by Stephen Woolverton. These dishes are also designed to exploit every part of the animal as much as possible. Mussu and carcagnoli refers to the cartilages of the legs and snout of the cattle, which are boiled in salted water and diced. A bit like the Neapolitan version, they are eaten simply with salt and squeezed lemon, but, especially at butcher's shops, they can be found with the addition of the jaw and tongue, seasoned later also with celery, carrots, red onions and crushed green olives.
Quarume comprises beef or veal offal boiled or boiled in salted water to which the typical vegetables used to make broth are added. It should be eaten hot complete with the cooking broth.
Frying the 'ciccioli', (what is left over from processing the pork lard when making lard) results in ' frittola', which is usually stuffed into a sesame bun. Among the masters of this speciality are Zù Carmelo (at 343 via Oreto) and the Osteria Ballarò (at 25 via Calascibetta).
Recommended for: snack, lunch and dinner
Average cost: €1.00 a piece or €8.00 a portion at the restaurant
Main ingredients: pork lard, veal offal, beef cartilage
8 - Sicilian Cannolo
Let's move on to dessert, and start with the Cannolo, the king of Sicilian pastry tradition. Although it would be a typical dessert for the Carnival period, by now we can find it practically anywhere and at any time of the year. Do you know who invented it? It was cloistered nuns, who gave it the name of the river cane on which the dough was wrapped. Traditionally, the cannolo consists of a fried wafer that is filled with a ricotta cream, to which are added chopped pistachios, candied fruit and chocolate chips. Great for breakfast or as a snack, but perfect to round off a main meal. Among the best places to try it are Pasticceria Cappello, at 68 Via Colonna Rotta and Pasticceria Da Josè, at 267 Via Messina Marine.
Recommended to: always
Average cost: €1.00 per piece
Main ingredients: sheep ricotta cheese, crispy wafer, candied fruit and chocolate drops
9 - Sicilian Cassata
From a carnival sweet to a traditionally Easter one, the Sicilian cassata originated during the Arab domination of Sicily, when the Arabs themselves introduced sugar cane, lemon, bitter orange, mandarin, citron and almond to the island. During the Norman rule, however, the original shortcrust pastry dough was replaced by royal pastry, and the baked cassata thus became cold composed. The Spanish brought chocolate and sponge cake, and during the Baroque period candied fruit was added. Among the best places to eat cassata we recommend the aforementioned Pasticceria Cappello, at Via Colonna Rotta 68.
Recommended to: always
Average cost: €1.00 per piece
Main ingredients: sponge cake, marzipan, candied fruit, ricotta cheese
10 - Cotoletta alla Palermitana
Photo by iaroshenko. Having presented the streetfood specialities and desserts, it is time to move on to the more classic recipes. Schnitzel is a very popular dish in the Italian culinary tradition of which everyone knows the Milanese version, which is undoubtedly the most famous in Italy, but few know that there is also the Palermo version! The difference between the two recipes lies in the breadcrumbs and the cooking method, which make it tastier, tastier and lighter. The breadcrumbs of this cutlet are in fact enriched with pecorino cheese, garlic, chives and parsley, but starting with the basic element, breadcrumbs, which are coarsely grated at home. As for cooking, instead of being fried, it is prepared in the oven or on the grill. A recipe that calls for guilt-free encore!
Recommended for: lunch and dinner
Average cost: €6.00
Main ingredients: slices of veal, breadcrumbs, pecorino cheese
11 - Involtini alla Palermitana (Bruciuluni)
Roulades alla palermitana, known in the city as 'bruciuluni', are rolls of veal stuffed with sultanas, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, aromatic herbs, cold meats of your choice (mortadella, salami, prosciutto crudo, prosciutto cotto, provola dolce) and boiled eggs.
There are countless versions, but the best known is the one in which they are cooked in a tasty sauce enriched with pork rinds and veal scraps.
Recommended for: lunch and dinner
Average cost: €12.00
Main ingredients: sultanas, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, herbs, choice of cold cuts, boiled eggs, sauce, pork rind
12 - Pasta C'anciova e Muddica
First of all the meaning: pasta with anchovies and breadcrumbs! A first course that revisits the classic recipe for pasta with sardines, enriching it with'astrattu', tomato extract (note, not concentrate but extract, i.e. dry sauce) and breadcrumbs. The idea for this dish was born to offer a poor man's dish for which canned products are used, as well as basic ingredients that can be found anywhere.
In fact, it is said that this typical Sicilian dish dates back to the years of emigration to the north when people used to leave, taking their canned goods with them so as not to be deprived of the products of their land, so from a mix of these ingredients a new recipe was born. The pasta used is mainly reginette or caserecce!
Recommended for: lunch and dinner
Average cost: €7.00
Main ingredients: reginette or caserecce, anchovies, tomato extract, onion, garlic, pine nuts, sultanas, breadcrumbs
13 - Pasta with sardines
This pasta dish is very famous in Sicily. The two main ingredients are wild fennel and very fresh sardines.
The combination of these strong flavours together with saffron, the sweet taste of sultanas and pine nuts create a condiment with a unique flavour, usually associated with bucatini. Finally, a nice handful of muddica atturrata (i.e. toasted breadcrumbs) makes the dish truly unique!
Recommended for: lunch
Average cost: from €10.00
Main ingredients: sardines, wild fennel, saffron, sultanas, pine nuts, breadcrumbs
14 - Baked Anelletti
It is time to talk about Pasta a forno, another iconic dish of Palermo gastronomy, better known in the rest of Italy as 'timballo di pasta'. The origins of this dish date back to the time of Arab domination and still today, centuries later, it is the classic Sunday dish. Baked pasta is a typical Sicilian recipe and each province has its own variation. In Palermo, 'anelletti', tuma or primosale cheese and a sprinkling of grated caciocavallo cheese are used.
Recommended at: lunch
Average cost: from €10.00
Main ingredients: meat sauce, breadcrumbs, peas, mozzarella (alternatively tuma or primosale), grated cheese (usually caciocavallo)
15 - Sarde a beccafico
We complete the list of Palermo specialities with sarde a beccafico, very often served as an appetiser in typical restaurants and trattorias, or as a main course. Sarde a beccafico represent in every way the colours, flavours and aromas of Sicily. It is no coincidence that it is a recipe whose paternity is shared by many cities on the island, not only Palermo but also Catania and Messina. It was originally a poor man's recipe, the popular variant of 'Beccafico', the little birds that were served at the tables of the nobility. These are tasty rolls of sardines, stuffed with breadcrumbs, sultanas and pine nuts, decorated and flavoured with bay leaves and citrus peel.
Recommended for: lunch or dinner
Average cost: from €7.00
Main ingredients: sardines, bay leaves, breadcrumbs, sultanas, pine nuts
Where to eat in Palermo: best restaurants, typical places and street food
In a city like Palermo where many typical foods can be enjoyed quickly and are also offered on the street, the best places to sample such delicacies are undoubtedly the local markets. When talking about Palermo, one can only mention Vucciria, Ballarò and Capo, the three large, colourful and crowded markets with a great variety of foods for a mixture of aromas that leaves one speechless. These areas are also very popular with the Palermitans themselves! Osterias and trattorias rule the city, but there is no shortage of gourmet restaurants and other types of establishments such as pubs and breweries. Here are some places to eat in Palermo, to suit all tastes and budgets!
1 - Taverna Azzurra
Description: historic restaurant with Sicilian home cooking, street food, local wines and craft beers.
Speciality: sfincione
Average price: from €12.00 per person
Address: Maccherronai street, 15 - Get directions / tel: 091304107
2 - Trattoria da Totò
Description: 0 km Sicilian cuisine with generous portions, cheap prices and a wide choice of wines
Specialities: pasta c'anciova and muddica
Average price: from €15.00 per person
Address: via Coltellieri, 6 - Get directions / tel: 3333157558
3 - Friggitoria Minà
Description: Sicilian menu ranging from appetizers to desserts with a focus on street food proposals
Speciality: arancine
Average price: from €5.00 per person
Address: via Pannieri, 28 - Get directions / tel: 091585168
4 - Ballarak
Description: craft brewery and pub, offers home brewed beers and a menu with pizzas, sandwiches and meat dishes
Speciality: Palermo-style schnitzel
Average price: from €20.00 per person
Address: via Saladino, 7 - Get directions / tel: 3440108559
5 - Costa Patisserie
Description: refined and elagant pastry shop, near the centre of Palermo, specialising in Sicilian cannoli and cassata
Speciality: Sicilian cassata
Average price: from €30.00 per cake
Address: via Maqueda 174 - Get directions / tel: 091 9807927
6 - Buatta Cucina Popolana
Description: historic restaurant with modern furnishings, open kitchen and Palermo menu prepared with organic ingredients
Speciality: bucatini c'anciova
Average price: from €20.00 per person
Address: Vittorio Emanuele street, 176 - Get directions / tel: 091322378
7 - Osteria dei Vespri
Description: rustic place with wooden furniture, various fixed menus at good prices, creative and renewed according to the season
Speciality: pasta with sardines
Average price: from €30.00 per person
Address: Croce dei Vespri square, 6 - Get directions / tel: 0916171631
8 - Rocky Basile alla Vucciria
Description: not a place, simply a stall at the entrance to the Vucciria on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, which makes the best spleen bread in town
Speciality: Spleen sandwich
Average price: from €2.00 per person
Address: Via Vittorio Emanuele corner Via Pannieri - Get directions
9 Nino 'u Ballerino
Description: born as a small rotisserie, now the place offers the best of Palermo street food, also takeaway, but also gastronomy, pizzeria and hamburgeria.
Speciality: Spleen sandwich and street food
Average price: from €3.00 per person
Address: Corso Camillo Finocchiaro Aprile, 76/78 - Get directions / tel: 3396950106
10 - Antica Focacceria San Francesco
Description: historic eatery in a beautiful location, perfect for sampling street food as well as typical first and second courses
Speciality: pasta with sardines
Average price: from €15.00 per person
Address: piazza San Francesco D'Assisi corner Via Paternostro - Get directions / tel: 091320264
11 - Trattoria al Ferro di Cavallo
Description: traditional eatery right in the centre, frequented by locals especially at lunchtime. Traditional menu, homely and informal service, excellent cuisine
Specialities: pasta with anciova, sardine meatballs
Average price: from €20.00 per person
Address: via Venezia, 20 - Get directions / tel: 091331835
12 - Al Vecchio Club Rosanero
Description: trattoria right in the centre with typical Palermo cuisine, very popular with locals. Excellent first courses, very generous portions, they also offer half portions.
Specialities: pasta with icing, pasta with anciova, spaghetti marinara
Average price: from €20.00 per person
Address: Vicolo Caldomai, 18 - Get directions / tel: 0912511234
13 - Trattoria Altri Tempi
Description: traditional but very intimate eatery, with menu also in dialect, rustic decor. Excellent land and meat dishes.
Specialities: broad bean macco, pasta with sardines, fried fish.
Average price: from €25.00 per person
Address: via Sammartino, 65 - Get directions / tel: 091323480
14 - Osteria Lo Bianco
Description: Lively osteria offering traditional Palermo dishes
Speciality: pasta c'anciova
Average price: from €15.00 per person
Address: Via E. Amari, 104 - Get directions / tel: 091 251 4906
15 - Friggitoria da Davide
Description: traditional and revisited street food, vegan options and much, much more.
Specialities: panelle bread and crocchè
Average price: from €10.00 per person
Address: V.le della Croce Rossa, 199/201 - Get directions / tel: 091 746 2706
16 - Da Diego
Description: family-run restaurant offering traditional Palermo dishes with a few reinterpretations. Cute ambience with reproductions of Van Gogh and the world's smallest wood-fired oven.
Specialities: sfincione, fritti, pastas
Average price: from €20.00 per person
Address: Via Enrico Albanese, 104 a - Getdirections / tel: 091 331908
17 - Sfrigola
Description: classic and revisited arancine. There's something for all tastes and palates.
Speciality: arancine
Average price: from €3.00 per person
Address: C.so Calatafimi, 11 - Get directions / tel: 091 271 0460
18 - Fud Bottega Sicula
Description: young and modern place, offers burgers and traditional desserts revisited, with all-Sicilian products. Also ideal for children, very family-friendly service. The cheesecake is divine.
Speciality: Hamburgers with Sicilian meat
Average price: from €15.00 per person
Address: Piazza Olivella, 4 - Get directions / tel: 0916112184
