We enjoyed a delicious meal at this non-touristy restaurant. Portion sizes are generous so bring…read moreyour appetite. The mussel "soup" was huge and loaded with fresh mussels in a sop up every last bit of tomato sauce. Not really soup but a mountain of mussels. Easily split by two. Pasta carbonara was terrific light despite the pile of thick spaghetti covered in what seemed like pork belly. YUM YUM. Fried mixed fish plate was unusual and tasty- rolled zucchini, breaded and stuffed with fish and cheese. Beautiful presentation. Homemade warm bread with a light olive oil to start. Service was excellent. Would definitely recommend!!

SPECIAL ORDER In the…read moresouth of Sicily they make a type of pastry sandwich that I have never seen anywhere else in the World. When I tell people in America about it they tell me that they have never heard of it. I was lucky because my Sicilian family in Chicago would make this dish. We make it for special occasions and it is the ultimate party food. The dish is called Scaccia and consists of bread dough with wonderful fresh ingredients inside consisting of vegetables, sauce & meat. This location makes these special treats but they also make a special one with seafood that needs to be ordered days before you pick it up. We had a dinner party and our family friend ordered these treats from his hometown of Pazzallo. I joked to everyone that this would be on a "secret menu" in America. The seafood consisted of octopus and a cuttlefish mixed with capers, parsley & potatoes. I will say that many of us had never had a seafood version of these treats. As a food critic I would say these were totally full of potatoes with a hint if seafood. The potatoes were really good but I just wish that there was more seafood inside. I totally understand that seafood is expensive and that's why there wasn't much inside. Many of the people at the party talked about the lack of seafood and that there was too much bread. Not being a local who grew up with these treats all the time I would have to agree with them. When my Dad makes these he rolls out the dough very thin but every chef has their own cooking techniques. We also had some of the original flavors that do not need to be special ordered. I had the fresh ricotta & sausage, the parsley & red sauce and the broccoli & sun dried tomato. The different fillings were really tasty. I loved how buttery the outside crust was on each one. The broccoli is always my favorite. These Scaccia were more tasty then fish version. I am a traditional person and love the original Scaccia flavors that I grew up with. I am glad that I tried the versions made of seafood but I would not go out of my way to order them again. Pazzallo is located on the sea so they cook with seafood and you can see this in their food. If you want to try this seafood version you are going to have to order it days in advance so they can catch the seafood needed to make them. The seafood was very fresh. I was told that it was even caught the night before they were prepared. That is one of the best things about being on an island because the seafood is really fresh. Would I drive over to Pazzallo from Marina di Modica to eat here? Probably not. Many restaurants make the typical versions of Scaccia and they are wonderful. I didn't find these special enough to want to drive over here and buy more.

IT'S SCACCIA TIME…read more Our friend, Frank from Brooklyn, who is originally from Pozzallo introduced us to Squitty. Upon our arrival to visit the family in Sicily, Frank ordered scaccia here for our welcoming party. Now you are probably wondering what is a scaccia. It is something my family has been making for years but you can only find this special food in the region of Ragusa and Modica in Sicily. The only way to try and describe it would be to call it a type of calzone but it's different. Scaccia come with different fillings and it is a type of farm food which is very easy to eat as street food too. You'll find several local places selling these around the towns when visiting near Ragusa and Modica. We had three different kinds of scaccia at the party. There was the typical onion, tomato and grated parmesan cheese, as well as the ricotta and sausage. I really loved the ricotta and sausage. My wife thought it was a little too dry, which was great because she gave me her piece. The third scaccia was unique. It was made with squid and potato. This is very special and according to Frank you can only find this version in Pozzallo. This makes sense because Pozzallo is located on the sea while Modica and Ragusa are Land locked. In fact, four years ago Frank brought this special scaccia over from another restaurant and everyone was a little let down because the ratio of squid to potatoes was really one sided. Let's just say people went fishing and kept getting potatoes. This year he ordered from Squitty and they did not let the party down. This was only my second time eating this unique scaccia and Frank supplied both experiences. I will say the second time was much better. I was so happy to find a lot of squid inside. The ratio of squid to potatoes was perfect. I would definitely eats these again. Street food is delicious in Sicily and if you find yourself in Pozzallo, then I recommend you stop in here. I don't think they will have the squid and potato to go at the counter but I could be wrong. I believe you have to special order that but they do have other traditional scaccia to grab and go. These make a great snack and are also great to bring to a party. Enjoy!

We were the only ones there due to being February on the coast on Sicily and shortly after their…read moredevastating storm...and it was amazing. SO fresh and the food was extremely intentional which made for the freshest flavors and perfectly plated. I was completely surprised and I can't wait to try other items. I had the swordfish with lemon foam potates (?) and that was delicious. Who would have thought?! Wow. So good. All of it.

PANINI ON THE BEACH…read more This bar/restaurant is located at the far west end of Marina de Modica. It is the last place to hangout and eat at before the boardwalk ends. During the month of August the beach is packed and at night everyone goes for a walk & grabs something to eat or drink. The prices here are not bad. The five food trucks you pass on the way here have cheaper prices but this place offers a great place to sit and enjoy your time. I also want to give you an important tip...make sure you bring euros because this place doesn't take any plastic credit cards. We arrived here after a giant rain storm. The restaurant was empty. The staff was busy drying off tables and trying to get the location ready in case customers decide to leave the safety of their homes. About 90% of the restaurant is open air and not protected by a roof but that wasn't going to stop us from having a good night. We actually enjoyed watching the lightning storm as it passed over the Mediterranean Sea. We were seated at our table and ordered a large Birra alla spina moretti which means a big ass cold Italian made beer. Italy typically sells two choices: a small or large beer. I highly recommend going with the large beer and sharing it. You get more beer and it's much cheaper unless you don't like sharing with others. The food menu was very limited and this is because they are cooking in a shack on the beach. I'm sure the kitchen was the size of a closet. My little one was hungry and we were excited to see a kids menu which really doesn't exist around here. Italian kids will typically get a cheese pizza or French fries. Actually they get the French fries on the pizza. I tried it once and I'm not a fan. We ordered her the Cotoletta & patate al forno which means chicken fingers and kick ass potatoes. Wow the potatoes were out of this world. I was having envy of my daughters side dish. The potatoes were very tasty and had a perfect mix of fresh rosemary & olive oil. My little foodie was in heaven. She even loved her chicken. I believe the chef squeezed fresh lemon on the chicken like a German Schnitzel. Again my little foodie loves sour and liked the addition of the lemon flavor on her chicken breading. This kids meal could have been a complete disaster but my little girl gobbled it up. She is also giving this place 5 stars. Kids love Yelp too. My wife ordered the Rucalo, stracciatella di bufala, capuliato & funghi panini which translates into a Veggie Panini. I ordered the Prosciutto Crudo, mozzarella di bufala, patate al forno & capuliato which translates into the best Italian sandwich ever. I hope you enjoy the Italian descriptions of the dishes. I thought they looked beautiful and wanted to share them. It certainly is more beautiful in Italian then English. My sandwich was really good and the best part is I had the same amazing potatoes my daughter had directly on my sandwich. That was a huge score for me. The bread was perfectly toasted. It wasn't too hard or crispy which can make biting into a sandwich unenjoyable. I hate when a bread is over-toasted and I feel like I'm going to lose a tooth. The prosciutto was very good, in fact I could not find a bad piece in Italy anywhere and trust me I kept trying. The fresh mozzarella was also fantastic and it better be because I'm sure it was made at a farm up the road. The ingredients here were top notch which delivered a crazy good sandwich. I wish I could order a sandwich this delish in America. My wife loved her veggie panini too. I did not get a taste of it but she expressed the same love of the sandwich that I did for mine. We had truly found panini nirvana while sitting on the Mediterranean Sea. This place also gets crowded in the evening. They have a DJ booth built right on the rocks of the beach. The DJ was starting to play music as we were finishing dinner. The people of Modica left the safety of their homes and started checking out the beach for their nightly walk. It is amazing how this has never changed over the years. Everyone from babies to teenagers to parents and grandparents come out to socialize along the beach. It is things like this that never change and it makes me feel good. If you find yourself at the southernmost point of Italy then you are here. This great little beach town is a great place to rest and relax. There are several places on the beach for food and drink but I highly recommend this place. The location is perfect. The prices are great in fact for our family of 3 we had drinks and dinner for 22 euro. Now that's a deal. So bookmark this place and have a panini by the sea and those amazing patate al forno. Trust me on this one.