Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ingredients being put to use in dishes such as
casarecce al lido
(pasta with swordfish,
mint, tomatoes and eggplant).
Trattoria Basile
( 091 33 56 28; Via Bara all'Olivella 76; meals €9-14; noon-3.30pm Mon-Sat)
At this unpretentious,
cafeteria-style eatery, pay first, take a number at the window for your pasta (€2.50 to €4)
or main course (€3.50 to €7), then sidle over and choose three antipasti for €2 or six for
€4. While enjoying your appetisers, listen for your number - they'll bellow it out (in Itali-
an) when your order is ready.
Avoid the busy period between 1pm and 2pm when every workman in town is elbowing
in for his plate of pasta.
TRATTORIA
€
Antica Focacceria
San Francesco
STREET FOOD
€
( 091 32 02 64;
www.afsf.it
; Via Alessandro Paternostro 58; snacks €2-7; 10am-11pm)
This historic
fo-
cacceria
opposite Chiesa di San Francesco d'Assisi first opened its doors in 1834 and is
known for its
panino con la milza
(veal spleen boiled in lard, served on a roll with option-
al lemon and ricotta). Display cases brim with other Palermitan snacks, including
sfinciuni
(Palermo-style pizza), focaccia sandwiches and
cassatelle
(fried dough pouches filled
with sweet ricotta).
In bygone days, the
focacceria
hosted the first Sicilian parliament and was a favourite
haunt of notorious Mafia boss 'Lucky' Luciano. Under new management as of 2013, it
now also operates an upstairs restaurant serving a more substantial menu year-round, with
tables set out on the cobblestones in the pretty piazza out front in warm weather.
Francu U Vastiddaru
(Corso Vittorio Emanuele 102; sandwiches €1.50-3.50; 8am-late)
Palermitan street food doesn't get
any better or cheaper than the delicious panini hawked from this hole-in-the-wall sand-
wich stand just off Piazza Marina. Options range from the classic
panino triplo
, with
pan-
elle
(chickpea fritters),
crocchè
(potato croquettes) and eggplant to the owner's trademark
panino vastiddaru
(with roast pork, salami, emmental cheese and spicy mushrooms).
STREET FOOD
€
