Catania city is its own gourmet world. Here you'll find fresh, local grown food in all street corners and restaurants. Much is hand made in the old fashioned style because Sicilians value high quality and local production. Catania can be the area that offers the best food in the whole of Sicily. We describe below a selection of restaurants worth visiting, each with their own specialty.
Please note that in Sicily  you eat a long time and a lot. All business arrangements are always made over a meal. Start with a Sicilian appetizers, antipasto, which is usually a buffet of side dishes made of Sicilian vegetables, fish or meat depending on the restaurant. Then choose the first and main course. After the food went down, then dessert and a digestion helper as sorbetto or something alcoholic. They usually drink wine to food.
In Sicily they do not practiced the first and second seating, the table is yours all night. Kitchens for dinner usually opens at 20:30 and stays open until the last guest left, usually far after midnight. Some restaurants are open for lunch all year round and some in peak season. Sicilians eat pretty late, from 21:30 onwards. The best food you get if you let the owner choose, especially because of Sicilians hospitality they want to show the best they can offer to tourists.
Want to experience a gourmet period in your life, then you have come to the right place. If you want to eat like Sicilians you only need to learn one phrase: Vogliamo mangiare come i siciliani! = We want to eat like Sicilians!

Trattoria Tipica Siciliana
This little trattoria is right in Catania's vibrant pub life. Here you find the most delicious Caponata taste buds may face, with rich authentic flavors. The dishes have a homemade feeling and much comes from the owners' own produce.
Antipasti buffet is a must as it is typical Sicilian and vegetarian. Ask for zia Lucia and tell her to choose the food. House pannacotta is made by the owner. Ask for Marco to make a Sorbetto with vodka for digestion. Very good prices and good house wine. Open kitchen.
Open: vary with season, however all day 20:00 onwards.
Price: € 5 - € 18
Adress: Via Teatro Massimo 42 (by Piazza Bellini), Ph: 348 3217 297

Polpetteria
(Meatballs)
This cozy restaurant is specialized in Sicilian meatballs and buns in all its forms. You can order a serving or a plate for an entire company. The meatballs are available with different types of meat, fish and vegetarian, and you can mix the way you want. All ingredients are local products, purchased on daily market and is prepared by hand by the chef. For those who do not prefer the buns, it is also possible to eat Sicilian pizza. The buns are not the usual north european size, about four times larger. Comes with a matching sauce and a small salad on the plate.
Reserve a table at weekends. The restaurant has a well-organized outdoor dining.
Opening hours: 20:00 onwards
Price: 12 € - 25 €
Adress: Via Santa Filomena 48 (Via Umberto I / Via Etnea), Ph: 095-715 9433  www.polpetteria.it

Le Tre Bocche
(The three mouths)
This restaurant is Catania football team's favorite restaurant. A fancy little restaurant in baroque style that gives a feeling of home, where it is recommended to eat fish. The fish is daily fresh and comes from local fishermen. Ask the owner to recommend the evening meal, you will not be disappointed. Do not miss the fish antipasto. Recommended to book irrespective day because the restaurant is small and crowded.
Opening hours: 20:30 onwards
Price: 15 € - 50 €
Adress: Via M. Sangiorgi 7. Ph: 095-538738

Il Cantiniere
For the absolute wine lover, this restaurant is a must. The venue is a large wine library with over 1000 wines to choose from, a fitted kitchen and food hall. Recommended are the Sicilian plate with different kinds of local cheeses, meats, honey and ricotta. The small plate is more than enough for two people. While the pasta is recommended as an additional dish. Here you can choose between all Sicilian wines and wine-related drinks. You choose the bottle from the shelves or consult a sommelier.
Open: 9:00 to 2:00 (until the last guest gone)
Price: 10 € - 30 €
Adress: Viale Libertà 153, Ph: 095-532122 www.ilcantinierecatania.com

La Sicilia in Bocca
(Sicily in the mouth)
For the best oysters and stronger taste buds is recommended this restaurant. The restaurant has also many wines to choose from. The venue is typical Sicilian with stone and dark wood furnishings along with the food provides an excellent atmosphere of what Sicily offers. Here, the fish is served at the entrance where you can choose for yourself, but it is best is to ask the owner to pick out the night's tastes. If you are not familiar with Sicilian wines is recommended Nero d'Avola. Avoid Italian restaurant during peak season, mid-July to late August. The restaurant has a large outdoor area, however, recommend to sit indoors because the location is very central and street is busy.
Opening hours: 20:30 onwards
Price: 12 € - 40 €
Adress: Piazza Lupo 16/17/18. Ph: 095-7461361 www.siciliainboccacatania.com

Antica Sicilia
This restaurant is a great lunch restaurant and is located on a side street of Via Etnea, amidst the shopping streets. The kitchen specializes in fish, meat, ricotta and pistachio dishes. The interior has a typical Sicilian atmosphere with colorful vaulted ceilings and rustic decor. The restaurant also has a large outdoor seating. The wine supply is good with over 100 varieties of local production. An excellent pizza restaurant. Try also the Sicilian Zibibbo drink after eating.
Opening hours: 10:30 am onwards
Price Picture: 8 € - 25 €
Adress: Via Roccaforte 15/17, Ph: 095-7151075 www.ristoranteosteriaanticasicilia.it

Via Plebescito
Do you want to eat like the locals eat on a daily basis, then you have to go to Via del Plebescito (above Piazza Stesicoro on Via Etnea) where all  kitchens are on the street, just like Catanesi eat. Here you'll find grilled fish, meat and vegetables, and a several pizzerias. The street is easy to see for all grill smoke blended with traffic and eating out locals.
Open: 20:30 onwards
Price Picture: € 3 - € 10

Johanna is a guestwriter for Resfeber.se. You can find the origial article in swedish HERE

Sicily is a destination that is starting to get more attention, but still remains mysterious and with a name that leads many to think of the mafia, olive oils and an active volcano, Mount Etna, which is always predicted an eruption at any moment. 
This beautiful but closed island, where time has stood still despite the outside world globalization and escaped the worst of the crisis thanks to its local system. This beautiful Sicilia Bedda rich in agriculture, oil, gas, culture and history where you can ski on Mount Etna and look down to the long sandy beaches south of Catania. Sounds like a dream. Oh yes, a dream for many to live or to visit.

Sicilians are very hospitable. They have the typical Islander mentality. A little lighter, a little easier, a little more closed and has been able to preserve their own culture and tradition. In Sicily they speak Sicilian, a language different from Italian. It is added in dialects, but is better suited to be called a language. Sicilians understand and speak Italian, but a northern Italian do not understand Sicilian. The language is a mixture of Arabic, French, Spanish and Italian. This language also changes in the regions, where the language can be called dialects. A word in Palermo may mean something entirely different in Catania and also pronounced differently.

It's quiet on the island, as a tourist, you can feel both safe and welcome. As a visitor, you obviously have common sense and do not seek to vulnerable areas, but have never heard of assaults or other typical street crimes against tourists. As a woman, you often hear Hello, beautiful you! Can I get your number? But more than this will not be. Take it as a compliment than otherwise.

What to consider when you are traveling to Sicily:
• To show respect towards people avoid asking about the Mafia. Sicilians like to leave this topic to the history. There are a lot of information about the phenomenon if curiosity strikes; in bookstores, tourist information and especially the internet. However, it is perfectly ok to e.g. buy the white classic hat with black band, mugs with the Godfather, visit the places etc.
• When you look for information about bus, train, car, etc, ask always several persons so you get correct information. Most towns have a tourist information, by railway- and bus stations or Piazza Duomo. All towns and villages have a central location and it is the city's main church square, usually called Piazza Duomo.
• Sicily is a food rich island, search yourself off the tourist trail, it is usually enough with a couple of streets away from the main streets. If you ask for advice, the person usually recommend a restaurant that his friend owns. Avoid restaurants that look typical  and with red-checked tablecloths on. Dare to choose otherwise. A general tip is to avoid restaurants that offer Menu Turistico and look for restaurants that are labeled Trattoria Cucina Tipica. Please ask the waiter or the owner to choose the food for you. Ask about wine from a small local vinery, it gives you a better quality for the same prices. The main grape is Nero d'Avola, red wine and Chardonnay white wine. Basic rule is to eat fish at port cities and meat in mountain towns. In Sicily they eat by seasons. And thanks to its local produce it is easy to find vegetarian alternatives. Something that will never lack in Sicily is food.

• Always carry cash. Not much, but withdraw  regularly. In Sicily, they paymostly in cash. • The infrastructure is good in Sicily, it just requires a little more planning. • Make sure to get to your destination during the day if you do not have accommodation booked in advance. You then have the opportunity to seek alternatives because you do not have the stress that can lead to unnecessarily high prices. • Completely safe to buy groceries, fruit and vegetables, drinks etc. from street vendors. Those who sell from small vans or Ape, (a small car with a flat bed, for one person and may run up to 50km / h), are honest sellers. • Do not hold or touch the other things. Everyman's right does not apply here. • The police is friendly and will come when you call. Health care is very good. Do not get stressed by their excitable way to communicate. It is the island style. Stand your ground! Do not be afraid.

• Remember that Sicily is divided into regions and change accordingly. Catania is a lively city, open around the clock. While Palermo is a more closed town where city life dissapears after 22:00. Differences can be seen in architecture, landscape, order, food, open hours, traffic, etc..
• Sicily is actually a rich island no matter what is written, so do as the locals; dress discreetly, do not have your wallet in your pocket and leave the jewelry at home. Then nobody is looking at to you because of false motives. It is immediately visible which are the tourists, having their bag very cloce on the front of the body, walking on the sidewalk and apologize.
• Dare to haggle.
• The kitchens in restaurants open around 20:00 and closes when the last guest left. During the day you can find Tavola Calda (small pizzas, calzone, rice balls) in all coffee shops. In Catania and Palermo are many snack bars.
• Always be in time because schedule may be different depending on where you're looking, the safest is to look on the internet and phone.
• In Sicily exists the so-called Spanish siesta. Here the name is the only lunch break. The shops are closed, generally between 13:30 to 16:30. Most cities also practice closed on Sundays and closed on Monday morning.
• Most do not speak English, but do not worry. They want to understand you.

Johanna is a guestwriter for Resfeber.se. You can find the origial article in swedish HERE