Solid 4.5 stars for this place! Located right across the street from Hotel Plaza Operá where we…read morestayed during our visit to Sicily, this place seems to be somewhat of a hidden gem of sorts. Practically every day it was a bit quiet, but come evening time, & I'm talking late night around 9-10p, this place would light up with activity. We could see this place from our 3rd floor room & some nights we could hear the crowds, even with the windows closed. Figured that was a good sign, so for our last dinner we opted to give them a try, especially with the decent reviews on TripAdvisor.
Our waiter, Michael, was super friendly & did his best to explain the menu. I was hoping to get Shep whom reviewers on the other site said was super helpful, but those were from Sept/Oct, so maybe he's moved on? Anyways, We explained we were there for the pizza & was going to share one. He asked about any starter & recommended a fried ravioli. Yum, that sounded perfect! Unfortunately, he must've got confused from our ordering, as that never came out. Instead we received a dish that was similar to a caprese salad but with burrata cheese, which we were NOT mad at! It was delicious!! I was also in the mood to try a nice Sicilian red wine, so he was kind enough to suggest at first a Syrah, but knowing I'm not a real fan I asked for something else & his follow up suggestion was very good! Had to take a pic so I could remember it later. We also asked if we could do a CYO pizza, & opted for one with mozzarella, salame (he called pepperoni) & bacon. He said they were happy to oblige.
The drinks came out with complimentary warm toasted bread w/sesame seeds & brought out 2 EVOOs & a balsamic vinegar spray-that was a little weird but still good. Michael saw me mixing them on my plate & came over to 'help' by adding some pink Himalayan salt & Pepper freshly grounded. That did add a nice flavor. When the pizza came out, it looked & smelled amazing! And we definitely were happy with our meal! I wished there was a little more salame on it, but it had a nice spiciness to it, while the bacon pieces were a good size & plentiful.
After dinner, we decided to have dessert & since they didn't have the ricotta for the cannoli we had hoped for (Hubs loves him some cannolis), we went with the chocolate lava cake with some lemoncello. It was sooo good & they even gave the lemoncello "on-the-house"! It was reeeeally good too!!
So while Michael was very friendly & attentive (a little TOO attentive if you ask us), the service & food was great! With it conveniently located, it was definitely a win-win. FYI-They got a lovely covered patio area where every night we saw/heard patrons enjoying themselves, I would definitely say this is a great place to try if you're in the area. And with the late hours, open till 11p or sometimes midnight, you can enjoy the night away!!!
