Caffè Sicilia

A 1892 café on the Corso

Caffè Sicilia is at Corso Vittorio Emanuele 125, Noto's main street, a few steps from the cathedral. It opened in 1892 and is still a café, a bar where you have breakfast standing or sitting, but its workshop is one of the best known in Sicily. It works with local almonds, citrus, Verde di Bronte DOP pistachio, honey and olive oil, and its menu changes with the season. The house itself puts it this way: it is a place where you drink coffee, which tells the story of the territory through what it makes.

What to order

In the morning, granita. It has almond, coffee and lemon granitas and a seasonal one, such as fig with chilli; the "cappuccino ghiacciato" combines the almond one with the coffee one. A half granita costs €4 and a full one €7, and the brioche is ordered separately for €2.50. They do not serve mixed granitas apart from that pairing.

In the cold display case are the cannoli with ricotta, cream or chocolate (€3.80), the cassatina (€5), the almond biancomangiare and the Marsala savarin. In the hot one, filled brioches and cornetti, the almond and orange plait or the Pan d'Iblei, an almond sponge with wild herbs and oil. Tarts are sold by the slice or by the kilo: the ricotta crostata is a house classic.

There is ice cream in a cone or as a "pezzo duro", the single-piece portion of ice cream as Sicilian families used to serve it, and a pistachio biscotto gelato. For something savoury, ask for "pane, olio e tutto il resto": their bread with oil, salted almond butter, tomato, vegetables and ricotta, to share. An espresso costs €1.50.

The menu states a 19% surcharge for table service: at the counter you pay the listed price.

When to go

It is closed now: the house announces a closure from 9 November to 18 December. The website does not publish daily hours, so if you are going first thing or last thing, call +39 0931 835013 beforehand. In summer and mid-morning it fills up: go early.

Getting there

On foot from anywhere in the centre of Noto: it is on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the main street. Park outside the old town and walk up.