Page 140 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

lunch only.

Pizzeria Italia Via Orologio 54 091 589 885; map. Opposite Teatro Massimo and
attracting large queues, this is the best place in town for light, oven-blistered pizzas
(€4–10). Try the “Palermitana” with tomato, anchovies, onion, artichokes,
caciocavallo cheese and breadcrumbs. Dinner only; closed Mon.

Primavera Piazza Bologni 4 091 329 408; map. Not far from the cathedral – off Via

Vittorio Emanuele and across from the Palazzo Riso – with outdoor seating in a lovely
little piazza with a recently restored garden, this popular, reasonably priced trattoria
serves home-style cooking such as pasta con le sarde and bucatini con broccoli (both
€10). Bottles of good, inexpensive local wine as well. Tues–Sun lunch & dinner.

Trattoria Piccolo Napoli Piazzetta Mulino di Vento 4 091 320 431; map. Lively
trattoria off the Vecchio Borgo market, founded in 1951 and run by three generations

of the same family. They have two boats at Terrasini: fish is brought in daily, and
anything not eaten that day is sold on to the local market stalls. Try raw prawns
(€60/kg), pasta with neonati (newborn fish) when it’s in season (€12) or what may
prove to be the best caponata you will ever taste (€4). Mon–Sat lunch only.

Trattoria Torrenuzza Via Torrenuzza 17 091 252 5532; map. Bustling, no-frills
trattoria where fish is grilled on an outside brazier. Eat at streetside tables in summer,
inside in winter. Antipasti (mussel soup, seafood salad, etc) and primi (pasta with

broccoli, with mussels and clams, or with swordfish and aubergine) are all priced at
€5, except for a couple of special dishes such as spaghetti with ricci di mare (sea
urchin) which ring in at €10. Meat secondi (involtini, charcoal-grilled sausage and the
like) are also €5, while fish dishes (mixed fried or grilled fish, grilled prawns, grilled
sea bream or sea bass) cost from €7–10. Calamari and swordfish are frozen (but none
the worse for it), the rest of the fish is fresh. Wine is a dangerous €3 a litre, so lunch
here could well write off your afternoon. Daily lunch & dinner.

DRINKING AND NIGHTLIFE

After dark and over much of the city, Palermo’s frenetic lifestyle stops, pedestrians flit
quickly through the shadows, and the main roads are given over to speeding traffic and

screaming police sirens. The only place for a civilized, fume-free aperitivo al fresco
is the pedestrianized Via Principe di Belmonte, off the upper part of Via Roma,
which has a glitzy selection of bars and pasticcerie. For a livelier scene, head to the
clutch of bars in the streets behind the Museo Archeologico – Via Spinuzza, Via Bara
all’Olivella and Piazza Olivella – while things are grungier in the student-filled bars
along and around Via Candelai, not far from the Quattro Canti, off Via Maqueda.

There’s also a burgeoning bar scene down in La Kalsa, on and off Via Alloro.