Gluten-free Travel in Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Restaurant recommendations in Palermo, Sicily, Italy and all you need to know about eating gluten-free in Palermo
** If you didn’t read the welcome page yet, start there **
I remember worrying before traveling to Palermo because Italy is well known for its gluten-full dishes: pasta, pizza, cannoli… But surprisingly, I had a pretty good experience.
Don’t get me wrong — it will be tough for you to find gluten-free cannoli or brioche con gelato, but it is pretty easy to find gluten-free pizza and pasta. I will talk about the restaurants I went to, from the ones I liked best to the ones I didn’t like at all, and finish with important general tips.
Likes:
NonnAngé Bakery & Coffee Palermo (S.Agostino) — Such a sweet place with high gluten-free awareness. They have gluten-free bread, pancakes, and muffins.
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Pizzeria Frida — high gluten-free awareness and a very cool place. They have ‘weird’ pizzas so that's what I went for. One is ham and walnuts, and the other one is green veggies. There is no doubt that the star of the evening was the cheesecake with pistachio topping. I’m not sure if the bottom is gluten-free or not, so I just didn’t eat it — worked great for me.
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Pedro’s Coffee & Food — It’s a kind of Starbucks. It has weird sugary drinks and donuts (not gluten-free!!). They have a variety of foods, I’m sure you could find what to eat there, but I never went for that. Their iced cafe latte was my favorite.
Besides neutral dishes like chicken breast or acai bowl, they have gluten-free muffins and brownie.
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Sesto Canto -this was a very fancy restaurant, and they had fantastic gluten-free awareness. They even had this sticker that says they are gluten-free. They have very good reviews, so even gluten-eating people enjoy it ;)
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Bistrot Cuor di Caffè — They have high gluten-free awareness and a large range of variety. I was extremely pleased to discover they have gluten-free croissants! I will note that the place is small, not a lot of tables and that the service wasn’t great.
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CUMA Natural Bar & Fresh Market —When talking to the waiter, I am not sure they have high gluten-free awareness, but everything is so natural and basic (in a good way!) that it is very easy to get along. They also offer gluten-free cookies, So I assume they have some sort of awareness.
Awareness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Mastunicola — They have great gluten-free awareness, including gluten-free deserts. Their dough is delicious!
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FUD — They have gluten-free buns, and more than 3000 reviews with an average of 4.5 stars, so you know it’s a good restaurant!
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Sud Antica Forneria Siciliana — They have a gluten-free marking on the menu, which is fun, but they don’t have gluten-free substances, like gluten-free pasta. So if you’re into seafood — this is a good place for you!
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Brioscià — we went there several times (already a good sign) and there always was a queue there (wonderful sign). They do make brioche con gelato, which is ice-cream in a bun so the ice-cream might contain crumbs, but I’m ok with it.
Awareness: ⭐⭐⭐
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Cappadonia Gelati — They have amazing gluten-free awareness! They have gluten-free cones and they make your order behind with more sterile ice-cream containers.
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Cannoli — They don’t have a gluten-free tube-shaped shell but you can eat the cream by itself. I really enjoyed their cream (especially the pistachio!), so I do recommend going there. Note that I didn’t check if their cream is gluten-free, I just went with sense, but I ate there twice and didn’t have any bad reaction.
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Dislikes:
Dami Cafè srl — There are two reasons this place is on the dislike list: first of all, we ordered two identical simple salads and they arrived 10 min apart. Why do I need to stare while the other person is eating? Second, after seeing the salad arrives with bread pieces on the salad, I asked for no bread on mine, and when it arrived — it had bread crumbs all over.
Awareness: ⭐
Variety: ⭐
My experience: ⭐
Trattoria Typical Siciliana Da Peppe e Franco — They have gluten-free pasta but my gluten-free pasta arrived after the table that arrived after us received their food.
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General tips:
- Siesta — this is a time where it’s too hot to walk around (at least in August) so people close their shops. Not all shops are closed! But some are. The “siesta” time in Palermo is more or less between 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.
- Speaking of heat, the majority of the restaurants do not put air condition or it is too low or no fan outside. No solution for that, just be mentally prepared.
- After you sit at your table, you probably want to order. Most of the restaurants I’ve been in have an online menu that you reach with a QR scanner, so download an app for that.
- So you ordered your meal. Note that your order will take a lot of time to arrive. At least much more than I’m used to. It doesn’t matter what you ordered.
- It is very common to finish a meal with a dessert. When you go to an ice-cream shop, note that ice-creams are usually served with a cone/waffle on top, and most places also serve brioche con gelato. So, if you are strict with your gluten-free diet — beware.
- Speaking of ice-cream — it’s too hot to handle ice-cream in a cone. Your whole hand will be drawn in sweet melted ice-cream. Go for a cup.
- I don’t understand why, but some places serve milk. Just a cup of milk. So, if you want to order a latte — make sure to say “caffe latte”!
- As I mentioned before, some restaurants serve salads with bread, and not always on the side. Tell your waiter you need a gluten-free dish, even if it looks innocent on the menu.
- Electricity might fall. One day I had targeted a restaurant for dinner and I even had a backup one on the same street. But, when we arrived (extremely hungry, I must add) — both of them were out of service because the electricity fell on that side of the street. It took us a while to find another restaurant to go to.
That’s it!
I really hope you found this blog-post useful.
Have any recommendations to add? Found a mistake? Please send an email to glutenfreetravel1@gmail.com. This will be helpful for all of us!
Enjoy your vacation in Palermo :D
