What to eat in Catania: 10 tastes in order of the day

Eating in Catania is not solved with a restaurant: it is solved with a well-built day. You start with a granita, pass through the market, have something fried for lunch and finish with a pasta that here has an opera-house name. This guide puts the tastings in the order that makes sense, tells you when to order them, what they cost on average and what is better left alone.

1. Morning
   Granita with brioche

   Almond, pistachio, coffee or lemon, with Sicilian brioche. About €4.

2. Mid-morning
   Fish market and surroundings

   Watch the market and taste standing up.

3. Lunch
   Arancino and pasta alla Norma

   In Catania the fried one is masculine; Norma is the first course not to skip.

4. Afternoon
   Cannolo and sweets

   Sheep's ricotta and marzipan.

5. Evening
   Horse meat or fish

   One choice, not both.

1. Granita and brioche#

The Catanese breakfast is granita (water, sugar and fruit) with a Sicilian brioche, leavened with eggs and scented with vanilla or citrus. The flavours to start from are almond, pistachio, coffee and lemon. Travel365 recommends trying almond first; for coffee, the same source suggests having it with brioche and whipped cream. If you are short on time, pick just one flavour and do not argue with the menu. Indicative average cost: about €4.

2. Seltz with lemon and salt#

At the city's kiosks they drink a seltz made with lemon juice, sparkling water, salt and a pinch of bicarbonate. It sounds odd until it is hot. About €2: Do Eat Better Experience quotes €1.50-2 and says to drink it right away while it is still foaming, because waiting flattens the fizz.

3. The fish market and its street food#

The fish market, which locals call "a piscaria", is a few steps from Piazza Duomo, near the Fountain of the Seven Channels. You do not have to buy anything: just walking through it is a taste of the city. Around it you find kiosks and small places selling food to eat standing up. According to Do Eat Better Experience, the closest street food is the paper cone of fried fish at Scirocco Sicilian Fish Lab (€9, with a long queue around lunchtime); Travel365 gives an average of €7 per person for the same place. The two sources do not agree, so treat €7-9 as a range. For hours, practical tips and what to avoid, read the guide to the Catania fish market: hours and how to visit.

4. Arancino (masculine)#

In Catania it is arancino, and it has the cone shape that recalls Etna: rice with ragù, breaded and fried. It costs around €2 in bars and simple rosticcerie. If you want a serious comparison, taste the classic ragù one before trying variations. Travel365 mentions Pasticceria Savia on Via Umberto (with a queue) and Munnu Arancinu on Via Lavandaie (sweet versions too): we have not tried them or checked their hours.

5. Pasta alla Norma#

Pasta with tomato sauce, fried aubergine, salted ricotta and basil. The name recalls Bellini's Norma; he was born in Catania. It is the first course that best represents the city. In simple trattorie it costs around €8; in smarter places it goes up.

6. Spaghetti alla carrettiera#

Oil, raw garlic, pepper and grated pecorino, with some variants adding tomato. The name comes from the cart drivers, who travelled for long stretches and wanted a quick pasta made with ingredients that keep well. It is the right choice if you have already had the Norma and want a second pasta, drier. About €8 according to Travel365.

7. Horse meat#

It is a true Catanese speciality, not a curiosity for tourists: meatballs, sausages and steaks. The best-known street to try it is Via del Plebiscito. As a main course you spend from about €10. Travel365 also lists the Polpetteria on Via Santa Filomena (average €20 per person) and Trattoria da Mario on Via Crociferi (fixed menu around €20). If it is not for you, there is no obligation.

8. Swordfish#

Usually grilled with a drizzle of oil. It is the dish to order if you want fish in the evening, from about €15 as a main course. Always ask what is fresh that day. Travel365 notes that in June, in nearby Acitrezza, there is a festival dedicated to swordfish.

9. Cannolo#

A crisp shell with sheep's ricotta cream. The practical advice is to eat it filled to order: a cannolo that has been filled for hours loses its crunch, which is half the pleasure. About €2 in bars.

10. Sant'Agata sweets#

The minnuzze di Sant'Agata are small cassatine with sponge cake, ricotta, marzipan and a candied cherry, always with white icing. The olivette are almond-paste sweets shaped like olives and coloured green: Travel365 puts them at about €20 a kilo. According to the same source the patron saint is celebrated from 3 to 5 February and during those days the sweets are everywhere; outside January and February, ask before you walk across town looking for them.

Seasons: what to eat and when#

Not everything is there all year. Sicilian Red Orange PGI (Tarocco, Moro and Sanguinello) is hand-picked and, per the product specification reported by Qualigeo, is on the market from December to May: Tarocco from December to May, Moro between December and March, Sanguinello between February and April. If you visit Catania at the end of October, as we are right now, it is not yet its season. Bronte green pistachio PDO, on the other hand, is harvested by hand every two years, in the odd-numbered ones, says the protection consortium: 2026 is an even year, the next harvest is in 2027. For pistachio ice cream and granita the rule is the label: if the PDO matters to you, ask.

How much to spend on a day of tastings#

The figures are Travel365 average prices and the total is our own estimate. Granita with brioche €4, seltz €2, arancino €2, pasta alla Norma €8, cannolo €2: €18 in total. Add a horse meat main course (from €10) or a swordfish one (from €15) and you land between €28 and €33. For a restaurant dinner, Travel365 gives averages between €12 and €35 per person in the places it lists. Carry coins and small notes: Do Eat Better Experience warns that many market stalls will not change a €20 or €50 note for a purchase of a few euros.

How to order without awkwardness#

One rule works almost everywhere: do not touch displayed food with bare hands, point at what you want and let the person behind the counter handle it (Do Eat Better Experience gives this rule for the market, but it is good manners in a rosticceria too). If there is a queue, hold your place: in Catania the line is fluid and anyone who leaves a gap risks being overtaken. On meal times, Travel365 explains that people eat late: going out after 8 pm is normal, kitchens stay open until 10 pm and many restaurants close around 11:30 pm or midnight. Book if you have a specific place in mind.

Vegetarian and gluten-free#

By ingredients, pasta alla Norma contains no meat; the classic arancino does, because it is filled with ragù. Granita and cannolo are counter sweets, but the brioche and the shell contain gluten. Travel365 flags four addresses for specific needs: Easy Bistrot Glutenfree in Piazza Carlo Alberto (100% gluten-free, average €15), Occhio al Glutine on Viale Mario Rapisardi (gluten-free bakery, average €8), Cuore Fresco near Piazza Duomo (healthy cooking and vegan dishes, average €15) and PLANTE Lab on Via Sant'Anna (plant-based, average €18). We have not visited them: phone or write first, especially if you have coeliac disease.

What to avoid and what NOT to do#

• Do not have breakfast, lunch and dinner in the same place. Catania is eaten on the move.
• Do not order a coffee right after fried fish. Do Eat Better Experience recommends the seltz, which cleans the palate.
• Do not trust multilingual photo menus outside the main squares: the same source calls them tourist traps.
• Do not hunt for Sant'Agata sweets out of season as if they were always on sale.
• Do not buy raw fish to carry around if you have no fridge: in the heat it is a risk.

Getting there#

If you land in Catania, the AMTS Alibus line links the airport with the city: according to the airport website it leaves the terminal between 04:40 and 00:30, roughly every 25 minutes. The ticket costs €4 and is valid for 90 minutes on the other AMT urban lines too, whereas tickets for the other lines are not valid on the Alibus. From there the centre is walkable.

How to organise it#

If it rains, the bar and rosticceria stops work anyway: see the plan in what to do in Catania when it rains. The fish market, however, is largely open-air, so in the rain bring closed shoes and a plan B for lunch. If you have the evening free, plan where to have dinner first: the good places fill up fast. If you have another day in the area, see one day in Ortigia.

If the day changes#

UNNIVAI rewrites the route when weather, time or hunger change. If you need it, be among the first.

Verification note. Prices and hours are indicative averages from the sources listed (Travel365, the Bronte Green Pistachio PDO Consortium, Qualigeo, Do Eat Better Experience, Siviaggia, the airport website and AMTS) and change during the year: check before you go. Checked on 29 October 2026. We have not personally verified the individual venues mentioned.