Eating in Palermo
Eating in Palermo is easy and quite cheap.
The hardest part is probabily choosing among the different options, but rest assured: in town you will never remain without food.
You will find sweet or salty food even during the nigth, local people consider "a must" to have a pit stop in a bar after a dancing night!
Cooking and restaurants
Palermo is full of restaurants, tavern and wine bar: you can find both gourmet and cheaper places where you can try typical dishes, from "pasta al forno" (baked pasta, with its particular rings shape) to "pasta con la glassa". Other traditional dishes are "arrosto alla palermitana" (roasted meat) and "involtini" (rolls) of meat or swordfish. There are also many typical vegetarian dishes, such as: "pasta con l'anciova" (anchovy and tomato) or "pasta con le sarde" (with sardines) and of course "caponata", a traditional recipe with eggplants.
Some suggested restaurants, check for them on tripadvisor: Al Vecchio Club Rosanero, Ferro di Cavallo, Buatta, I Cascinari, Osteria Mangia e Bevi, Bisso Bistrot.
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Rosticceria (a kind of deli)
In Palermo people loves to eat every time, so there are many places open 24h for a quick-meal or a meal to-go. Here you can buy the so called "pezzi di rosticceria": the most famous one is "Arancina", but you can also try crostini (bechamel and ham), calzoni (ham and mozzarella), ravazzata (meat and peases).
Almost all bars are provided with, even late at night!
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Traditional desserts and cakes
Palermo offers not only savoury food! Traditional desserts and cakes are very interesting and famous. Many of them are with a cream cheese (ricotta) or almond paste. Local dessert are the result of historycal contamination from different domination. Here there are some "must have" for local dessert: Cassata cake, Cannolo, Setteveli cake (seven layer of chocolate), dito d'apostolo.
For breakfast you can try the "cornetto", a sort of croissant filled with different creams such as: lemon cream, pistacchio, chocolate. Don't forget about ice-creams and try the "bronte" flavor.
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Street food
Street food is a local specialty: from typical "panelle e crocchè" (fried fritters of chickpeas and potato croquettes), "panino cà meusa" (spleen sandwich), and "sfincione" (a kind of Sicilian pizza topped with onions, anchovies, tomatoes, herbs and strong cheese such as caciocavallo and tuma). You can find street food in "rosticcerie" (fry shops) or bars, but don't be wary of street vendors in little vans! In the historical center of the city you can find some barbecue with "stigghiole" (goat guts) and "mangia e bevi" (bacon around spring onions).
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