After a wonderful dinner, we returned to Da Bacco for lunch and dinner the next day to see if our…read morefirst night had been unusual. Things went from very good to great. Stefano not only continued sharing his knowledge of Sicilian wines but recommended Enoteca Picone to further our experience which was perfect advice. Lunch for me was fried octopus, which was 4 legs, each 6" (150 mm.) long and crispy on the outside and tender but slightly chewy on the inside like great fried chicken. I had seen a plate the night before and actually dreamed of them. They did not disappoint. She chose another iteration of cozze from the specials menu. These mussels were steamed in beer with fresh ginger and were comparably good to the sautéed but slightly more subtle. It turns out that dishes on the specials menu can work their way onto the standard menu if the patrons insist and the chef came out to ask for a comparison. We repeated the contorni plate of chef's choice vegetables that repeated the potato slices but added grill zucchini and oven dried onion that was sweet with all of the bitter components gone and the consistency of a very thin potato chip. We tried to rein in for dinner with pasta only. I had the Sicilian classic Pasta a la Norma with strong fresh tomato, soft eggplant, and sweet onion. It demanded scarpetta even with a white linen table cloth. She had pasta with prawns that was subtle and delicate with a lighter tomato sauce with herbs. We repeated the wines from the night before. We left feeling sad to think we probably wouldn't be back on this trip but smiling from the stomach up.

At Da Bacco located near the historic center was this beautifully charming whole in the wall where…read moreI called into going to grab a bite to eat. I decided to have a bucket of clams, awesome! Then in addition, the prosciutto with melon, also the carbonara which had thicker noodles. I dont know that I necessarily care for that, but it was yummy, and so flavorful. I loved it. The service was very direct slightly pretentious in a feel good way. So fun and such a good way to end your night in Italy.

Ambiance and views: 5 Food: 4…read moreService: 3 My family and I were staying at the Marina Holiday Hotel and Spa in Balestrate, Sicily and while searching for places to eat, we saw that Da Clà was highly rated and located right under our noses, in fact! Da Clà is actually located on the covered patio of Marina Holiday Hotel and Spa so just a quick skip down from our hotel room for our family of 7 dinner. We must have been the first ones because no one was there but we were immediately greeted and sat down by Claudio Palazzolo, the owner. I would like to add that later on, there was a wedding held a few steps away so it was a bit lively when we left but kind of weird this "restaurant" was more like a reserved space on the hotel patio. I immediately embraced the mismatched table settings giving a touch of home and laidback to tone down the pretention of something it's not (reserved space on a hotel patio). Think Shabby chic! If anything the stunning views of the Sicilian sunset on the Gulf of Castellamare is just lovely and bound to take your breath away. Our waiter comes over and we order a few bottles of water and Nero d'Avola wine to enjoy all that Sicily has to offer. Da Cla claims to use only high quality ingredients presented in a haute cuisine fashion. Their menu is made up of dishes that displaying the flavors of Sicily in a rather modern way while honoring tradition. We wanted to try a bunch of things and discussed eating "Family style" to which the waiter overheard and could not comprehend the concept until Claudio suggested a "tasting" menu where we would pick a few dishes so everyone could taste. Not seeing anything on the menu about a fixed or traditional tasting menu, per se, we said yes, hoping he would lead us in the right direction. Either there was a language barrier or mismatched interpretation, the execution was not quite what we had in mind but we go along with it nonetheless because we are on holiday and for that I think back that they had taken advantage of that. We ordered multiple dishes of the following: Tonno Rosso di Castellammare.....fresh caught red tuna served a top a tower of avocado and baby cress with Caviar Calvisius. Delicious! Homemade Black Tagliolino pasta with summer truffle and cloak of sea bass...Now while I advise against ordering pasta in the states due to it being overpriced and underrated, I give it a go while in Italy because duh. This dish, wow. Now while the pasta was a bit overcooked and on the softer side, the truffle sauce was AH-MAZING. No lie, we seriously ordered like four of these dishes and it was my favorite of everything we ordered. Spaghettone with clams and bottarga. Pretty delish, pasta bit more al dente so consistency of cooked pasta a bit lost but clams were fresh and quite tasty. Ravioli di Bufala Campana DOP raw shrimp and salmon caviar. Mozzarella di Bufala was amazing in this and quite an interesting interpretation of ravioli. Fish of the day- skate that was caught that day. Black Angus Argentino reduction Triskelè with cherry and potato gratin. Small cut of black angus beef severely overcooked (we requested rare and it came out well done, no pink) so I would suggest sticking to fish and pasta dishes if you dined here unless you love well done meat. This was my least liked dish. For dessert, multiple dishes: Ball of chocolate mousse with almond toffee sauce. Quite good but I much preferred the Creamy pistachio tiles with passion fruit in comparison. I really loved the sweetness and tart of the passion fruit balance the creaminess and nutty flavor of the pistachio. Family of 7 going straight out HAM at Da Clà prompted Sergio to carted out some apertifs to choose from, we chose grappa and amaretto for toast to a delicious meal! While I left a fan, my family was not the most gung ho on the place and that broke my heart for even suggesting to come here. They felt we were taken advantage of for money. While the staff suggested a tasting, we would have been better off just ordering several dishes ON THEIR OWN, asking for plates to share and eat. For some reason, this was a strange and hard concept to comprehend in Italy. Not only would it have been cheaper, but we wouldn't have left hungry because while food is on the expensive side, the portions are small. What bothered them most were the ambiguous "Da Clà charge"(s) on our check which was a bit shady to say the least. Also my father had requested cold water rather than the water sitting out in the 90something degree heat and brought out measly glass of ice while he watched other diners receive buckets of ice for their water while we received none. I wish my father would have spoke up for whatever reason he didn't but he spent quite a bit of money on dinner plus tipped generously for Italian standards and didn't want to make a thing of it I guess. For the amount of money he dished out, he should have at least gotten a damn bucket of ice at the bare minimum but don't expect no favors.

Great atmosphere. I Took my family there on vacation from the states. It's pricy but the extras…read morelike a glass of prosecco and appetizer are included. These make for a classy meal. The only thing wanting was a big personality chef coming out of the kitchen occasionally for a little banter. Jazz played in the background often drowned out by a saxophonist from a live band at a joint further up the coast.

The location is not on the main street. And we ate outside of restaurant and felt so good. The…read morefood what we order are pizza and spaghetti. It doesn't impress us at the beginning. But we feel more tasty when we eat more. I think their material is more natural and healthy. I do enjoy whole dining experience. I bet dinner will be even better. Of course service is very good. Highly recommend!

Food was cold and not good. It lacked flavor and the lasagna was old and mushy. They had the tv…read moreon a game show and the lights were very bright. The waitress stared at her phone the entire time we were there and wasn't into her job at all. Horrible experience

My family and I (party of 7) walked in, asked to be seated and with a look of confusion two women…read more(one of them the owner's wife) waiting tables sat us down and paid no attention to us for a good 15 minutes. We were really starting to get annoyed and was about to leave when the older woman (owner's wife) saw us get up and rushed over to send the younger woman to our table to take our order. We ordered several bottles of water, beer, and wine and wouldn't receive those until after our food started to come out so yea big breech of server steps to great customer service, especially when it's a hot Sicilian summer day and there is no air conditioning. #WaterPlease To start, we ordered a meat and cheese plate which was one of the most measely platters we've seen in Italy. Fried fish consisting of Sicilian caught fish- squid, shrimp, sardines. Dish was oily, batter falling off fish that was not even peeled or cleaned- shrimp had shells- really unpleasant dish to eat. For entrees, we ordered the Pasta Carbonara- egg was thick and curdled not creamy sauce as it's supposed to be), spaghetti with mixed seafood- decent with assorted seafood such as shrimp, clams, mussels but ratio a bit off with a huge portion of pasta (enough to feed 2-4 people depending on how hungry or what else you order) and like 4 shrimp. Spaghetti with clam was probably the best dish we ordered and even that was a tad on the oily side. It was too hot to stay for dessert so we asked for the check and that's when the owner's wife's charm came on and she transformed into a friendly and talkative woman. Either she's bipolar or she's looking for a heavy tip from the American tourist. Restaurant is run by husband and wife who's life is to run the restaurant 24/7. Husband fishes and whatever he catches is showcased on the menu so fish is guaranteed freshly caught although that's to assume you like warm water fish. Not only does he fish but he cooks too- him and 1-2 kitchen staff. They also have a farm where they make oil and use fresh veggies and ingredients. Wife needs either some more FOH training or more assistance because she cannot handle all those tables by herself and the lack of service and attention severely hurts their establishment by taking away from the experience I'm sure they want for their customers. Service is abysmal, food is decent at best and our experience left much, much, much more to be desired. I would not recommend or come back again.

This place deserves more than a five star. The chef and staff were very nice and the food was just…read moreamazing. It was fresh and definitely recommended it. Authentic food, kind staff and chef, nice and clean place, affordable, and delicious.

I was thrilled to eat here. Momma cooks and she's damn good. We enjoyed the smoked fish and…read moreeggplant appetizers, a poor man's salad, swordfish with a tomato/capers/olive sauce that was the best dish I've had in the past week and busciata pasta with fish. The local white wine was excellent and the cannolo was one of the best in Sicily with ricotta so fresh that it brought tears to my eyes. I would eat here more than once. Must try the couscous next.

ious Trapani Food - Can't Miss!…read more I walked past this restaurant a few times, but Trip Advisor reviews brought me to the doorstep for dinner. The food was absolutely delicious - simple, fresh - I wish I'd eaten here sooner as I was tired of busy and touristy restaurants. An English menu is available and I chose a recommendation from host/owner: homemade busiate (pasta) with tomato, garlic and eggplant. (If you don't like eggplant, this is the place to try it - it was an eggplant 'puff' that melts in your mouth.) House white wine, fresh bread with olive oil for dipping, and a pistachio-ricotta dessert made for a very happy evening! The casual atmosphere is great for families, solo travelers, or folks who want the feel of a local environment. Although kind of hidden yet centrally located, I agree with fellow reviewers that this spot is worth your time. Excellent service, food, and value

Ordered the sardine meatballs ans the caponata with swordfish. Both were amazing. The restaurant…read morelooks like a tourist trap given its location but actually the food is very good. Staff freshly as well.

Awesome restaurant located in a typical historical Italian Square. Wonderful Italian and Sicilian…read morefood. Really fresh fish ( branzino, tuna tartare, octopus) and deliciuos pasta. Grest prices and friendly staff. Absolutely to recommend.

Definitely go for grilled fish! Delicious, perfectly spiced and cooked! Great place to just quiet…read moredown and enjoy a laid back evening. We spent our last evening here--away from all the fun and excitement of shops and aperitivo menus--and really appreciated the more local/less touristy vibe. Excellent prices as well.

I don't understand the bad reviews about how it's on the street, you can see that the tables are on…read morethe sidewalk before you choose to sit down, so you know you're not at a fancy 5 star restaurant where you would be paying triple the amount this restaurant is serving. As for traffic, we got to see some carriages go by! The service was great, you can eat and literally watch everyday local life right in front of you. there's a small grocery store next door which has amazing fruits and veggies for cheap. The seafood was fresh and grilled right in front of you, the chef is glad to answer any questions you have. Great way to have good food for cheap and soak in sicilian culture, loved it, will be back!!!

Tonight we went to Mak Mixology with my aunt. We had an amazing time. The service was fantastic. We…read morehad a great server Anahi who was spectacular. She made sure we had everything we needed and provided better service than any place I have been to in the US. It was a great time talking and listening to live music from the band "il mucciante". Leonardo played the guitar and Raphael the accedian. The place is dimly lit with a feel of the golden age and has that nice lounge feel. The decore consists of items from the 1930s to 1940s and the building is spectacular. It has large doors and extremely high ceiling with a mesh-like roof giving you an outdoor feel. The staff was all great but our server Anahi made our night. The room has some sort of birdcage with seats and I'm not sure what it is and think it's a VIP area but If you know please post. There is a cool lite up mak sign with Kiss me on it and in the bar room you can watch the bartenders work their craft. The drink menu is in a book and they have lots of amazing house drinks as well as anything else you may want. They have a limited beer menu and an appetizer menu with a few amazing items. The spot is great for a date or anniversary if you want to hear live music and sip on drinks. #ilmucciante #makmixology #makmixologypalermo #palmero #italy #italytravel #scisily #vacation #mixology

Stopped in for classic drinks, Max Mixology's menu showcasing dozens from throughout the 20th…read morecentury. Met by staff at the entry to seat us, we were seated in an atrium area (previously glass enclosed but now open air courtyard area) to hear a live-band play tunes from early and mid 20th century jazz bands. We enjoyed the experience, with the jazz and drinks. Didn't expect this as part of our journey across Sicily, but a pleasant surprise.