Le Delizie di Cagliostro

We ate here on two successive nights. The service was attentive; the spaghetti with anchovies and raisins was to die for (just as good on the second night), and they went out of their way to prepare dishes that my son would enjoy.

This place has a local reputation lasting over 30 years. The ambience is very comforting and quiet, the staff is very professional, and the menu choices provide very good Sicilian as well as general Italian specilities. The fixed price menu is a nice alternative to having to pick your way through a five course menu. Situated on the main thoroughfare through the historic district of Palermo, it is an easy walk from many destinations in that district. Despite all these positive notes, we experienced such rudeness that my wife refused to return. We had arrived at 3:00 and were welcomed to a table, but since we were new in Palermo we didn’t know that they wanted to close at 3:30 for their riposto. As the kitchen crew began to leave, the owner and his son became more and more surly until one said they were getting ready to close. We hurriedly finished, paid our bill, and left. Given that the son had worked in London for three years (he related this during his earlier friendly moments), he was perfectly capable of sharing their situation in understandable English. If Palermo restaurants want the tourist trade (and they obviously do), they need to learn to be customer friendly by sharing local customs at the outset.