Where to eat in Ragusa: best restaurants, trattorias and Hyblean cuisine guide

Ragusa, where the baroque is eaten

Ragusa is one of Sicily's most beautiful cities and its cuisine matches its baroque palazzi. Hyblean cuisine is a tradition unto itself within Sicily's already extraordinary gastronomy: more rural, more tied to the land, less influenced by the sea than the coast. Here cheeses, meats, garden vegetables and a chocolate with no equal in Italy reign supreme.

Ragusa is divided in two: the upper city (Ragusa Superiore) and the baroque jewel of Ragusa Ibla, linked by the staircase of Santa Maria delle Scale. Both hide gastronomic treasures, but it is in Ibla where the magic is most intense.

Must-try specialities

Scacce ragusane are the identity dish: sheets of very thin dough folded multiple times over layers of tomato and cheese, ricotta and sausage, or onion and olives. They are crunchy outside, soft inside and found in every bakery. Cavati (Ragusa-style cavatelli) with pork ragu are the Sunday pasta.

Ragusano DOP is the signature cheese: a stretched-curd caciocavallo aged and eaten fresh, semi-aged or grated. Ragusa provola smoked with almond wood has an unmistakable aroma. Falsomagro, a meat roll stuffed with eggs, ham and cheese, is the special-occasion dish.

Modica chocolate (15 km from Ragusa) is cold-worked using an Aztec technique brought by the Spanish: the texture is grainy and crunchy, the flavour intense and pure. For desserts, 'mpanatigghi, small pastries filled with meat and chocolate, are a surprising speciality.

Best neighbourhoods for eating

Ragusa Ibla

The baroque old town is the city's gastronomic heart. Trattorias hide in the alleys around Piazza Duomo and the Giardino Ibleo. Locanda Don Serafino offers refined Hyblean cuisine in a natural cave setting. Trattoria La Bettola on Largo Camerina is the most authentic spot for scacce and cavati.

Ragusa Superiore

The upper city, less touristy, hosts trattorias frequented by Ragusans working in the centre's offices. Prices are lower and the atmosphere more everyday. Via Roma and surrounding streets hide historic bakeries where scacce come out of the oven warm every morning.

Hyblean countryside

The masserie and agriturismos of the Ragusa countryside are a world apart: here you eat dishes you will not find in any restaurant, prepared with garden and farm ingredients. The Chiaramonte district and areas around Donnafugata host some of the Val di Noto's finest food experiences.

Trattorias and restaurants to try

Locanda Don Serafino on Via XI Febbraio in Ibla is a top-tier restaurant in a fascinating underground setting, with an extraordinary wine list. Trattoria La Bettola is its opposite: informal, affordable, with traditional dishes prepared as at home. Ristorante Duomo by Ciccio Sultano in Ibla offers an internationally acclaimed dining experience with deeply Ragusa roots.

For a quick lunch, Ragusa Superiore's bakeries prepare scacce, arancine and hot dishes for just a few euros. Panificio Di Pasquale on Corso Italia is a benchmark.

Street food and markets

Scacce are Ragusa's street food: buy them at the bakery, eat them walking and pay 2 to 3 euros each. Ragusa arancine are smaller than Palermitan ones and filled with pork ragu. Cartocciate, fried pastry sheets filled with ham and cheese, are an irresistible guilty pleasure.

The market in Ragusa Superiore at Piazza San Giovanni hosts stalls of Ragusa cheeses, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and preserves. The surrounding countryside sells directly to the public: carob, almonds, thyme honey and extra-virgin olive oil.

Budget tips

Ragusa is affordable even by Sicilian standards. A bakery lunch of scacce and beer costs 5 to 6 euros. Ibla trattorias serve complete menus for 15 to 20 euros, wine included. The countryside is even cheaper: an agriturismo lunch with antipasti, first course, main course, dessert and wine costs 20 to 25 euros.

Modica chocolate is better bought in the town's artisan shops than in tourist stores: Antica Dolceria Bonajuto (since 1880) has the best prices for the quality offered.

Unique food experiences

Visit a Ragusa dairy and watch the making of Ragusano DOP: the hand-stretching of the curd is a spectacle. A lunch at a masseria in the Hyblean countryside, with garden produce, freshly made ricotta and bread baked in a wood-fired oven, is an experience that takes you back in time.

In the evening, dinner in Ibla with illuminated baroque palazzi as your backdrop and a glass of Cerasuolo di Vittoria (Sicily's only DOCG) is an experience that justifies the entire trip.

Discover more

• Where to stay in Ragusa
• What to see in Ragusa in 2 days
• How to get to Ragusa