What to eat in Catania
The arancino is a lunch you carry in your hand, granita with brioche is breakfast, the cannolo is the sweet, and pasta alla Norma is the dish you sit down for.
- Arancino
- €2.40–3.50
- Granita with brioche
- €2.50–6
- Cannolo
- €2.40
An arancino is a breaded ball of rice, and in Catania it runs €2.40–3.50 at the historic bakeries on Via Etnea, such as Pasticceria Savia. Alongside come granita with brioche and a cannolo, and for a sit-down meal, pasta alla Norma.
Lunch in the hand
A breaded, filled ball of rice, eaten standing up. At the historic bakeries on Via Etnea, among them Pasticceria Savia, it runs €2.40–3.50.
Breakfast
A frozen ice dessert with a soft brioche bun, eaten in the morning. The plain kind sits at the bottom of the range, while special flavours, like Bronte pistachio, or cream in the historic bars, push it up: €2.50–6.
The sweet
A crisp tube filled with ricotta cream. At Pasticceria Savia, on Via Etnea, it runs €2.40.
Pasta alla Norma and La Pescheria
Pasta alla Norma is pasta with tomato, fried aubergine and ricotta, and it is best eaten in a restaurant, sitting down. In the morning the Pescheria market behind the cathedral sells fish, and it is closed on Sundays.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What is an arancino?
A breaded, filled ball of rice; in Catania it runs €2.40–3.50.
When is La Pescheria open?
In the mornings, on weekdays; it is closed on Sundays and quietest on Mondays.
Ready for Catania?
Where to next
The best time to visit Catania
→Spring and early autumn keep a pleasant climate and thinner crowds, while summer is hot and crowded.
Taormina · 45 km
→An ancient theatre on a hill above the Ionian Sea, with Etna behind it
How well does Catania suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
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