Top 10 Romantic Restaurants in Taormina
Taormina is the ideal place to celebrate a special moment of your life with your loved one. If you are going to travel to Taormina you’ll discover that every corner is poetic and magical. Every year thousands and thousands of travellers from all over the world choose to enjoy its charm and its beauty. Perched on a hill with a breathtaking view on the Ionian sea, Giardini Naxos and Mount Etna overlooking the majestic landscape, Taormina has always attracted poets, writers and artists. A fan of my FB page chose Taormina to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary and asked me for some advice on the best romantic restaurants to make his moment even more magical. Taormina is not cheap, but those who visit it already know. It is a very touristic place and extremely exclusive. You will have unforgettable moments in such a beautiful heaven on earth.
1. AL SARACENO. Via Madonna della Rocca, 16/18. Website.
This restaurant on the promontory is located under the Saracen castle. You can enjoy one of the most stunning views of Taormina. Food is unique. Book a table on the terrace (if possible ask for a place in the front row) and try to get on time to enjoy the sunset. Your eyes will thank you. I’ve ever tasted meat here. As appetizers I tried Mixed Fish starter Saraceno style with anchovies, shrimps, octopus, dried cod, oil, lemon, parsley, vinegar or mixed fried seafood. Couscous, Spaghetti with tuna roe and lemon and Spaghetti “Aeolian style” with toasted soft part of bread was the best first course. Mixed grilled fish is very good. Otherwise you can choose a pizza. There is the Madonna della Rocca sanctuary near Al Saraceno restaurant. This sanctuary is carved into the rock and you can see Corso Umberto, the Greek theater and Isola Bella from here!
2. LA CAPINERA. Via Nazionale Spisone 177. Website.
This is one of my favorite restaurants for a fine dining in Taormina. The Sicilian flavors are enhanced in a sublime way thanks to the skills of the chef Pietro D’Agostino. It is a Michelin-starred restaurant. Fish is fresh and the crudités are excellent. I tried 6 courses degustation menu and I paid about 100€. You can also choose to have dinner à la carte. Courses start from €20. I love paccheri (which is a kind of pasta) with shrimps, clams and baked tomatoes, the Grand Mixture of fish and shellfish with salt and grouper chops. You will pay approximately no less than €100 per person.
3. RISTORANTE I 5 ARCHI. Via S. Giovanni Bosco, 15.
It is a very elegant restaurant right on Piazza IX Aprile overlooking the sea. The specialty is fish, so I recommend to try mixed fried fish, tagliatelle with lobster, risotto with shrimp, asparagus and saffron, and bream with almonds. Sublime.
4. BELMOND GRAND HOTEL TIMEO. Via Teatro Greco, 59. Website.
I decided to put the Timeo Restaurant, which belongs to Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo, on my list not for its food (which I have ever tasted), but for the stunning view you can enjoy from its terrace. I visited Timeo to have a cocktail after work. The price was approximately €25 and it is hard to describe the amazing view with words. You could consider to have a cocktail too. If you want to have dinner a dear friend of mine told me the food is good, but he paid more than €180 per person for 2 appetizers and 2 pastas. It is certainly not a cheap restaurant.
5. ST. GEORGE RESTAURANT. Via San Pancrazio 46. Website.
This is a magical place overlooking the Ionian Sea (book a table on the terrace) and the food is yummy. The view is amazing and it really makes your moment super romantic! The restaurant belongs to Hotel Ashbee. I tasted swordfish cooked on olive wood and Mokkaccino coconut with Modica chocolate and cookies.
6. VILLA ANTONIO. Via Luigi Pirandello, 88. Website.
Villa Antonio is a restaurant in a beautiful patrician villa with an incredible view. Mediterranean food with flavors at their best! There are a few tables all around an old well. Everything is chic here. I paid about €150 for the dinner, because I chose a rich fish dinner. A good bottle of wine was €60. Swordfish ravioli and cous cous are amazing. Prices are upon what you choose, of course, just like every restaurant. A desserts is about €15 but I didn’t try it.
7. VINERIA MODÍ TAORMINA. Via Calapitrulli, 13. Website.
Vineria Modí Taormina is a lovely restaurant in a small street in the center of Taormina. The atmosphere is nice and warm. Food is excellent as well as the quality / price ratio. I tasted linguine with shrimps, pasta with prawns and basil pesto, and tuna crusted with pistachio. I paid approximately €70.
8. IL BARCAIOLO. Via Castelluccio, 43. Website.
What could be more romantic than a dinner in a bay right by the sea, on the beach of Mazzarò? Il Barcaiolo has an incredible view of the beach and fresh food! Try spaghetti with clams, linguine with seafood or pasta with swordfish, cherry tomatoes and capers as first course. I love the mixture of grilled fish. To get there you have to go down the steps. The dishes are plentiful, not minimal.
9. A’ ZAMMÀRA. Via F.lli Bandiera, 15. CLOSED.
A’ Zammàra restaurant is in the heart of Taormina. It does not have a sea view but dining in the garden with orange trees is priceless. There are lanterns hanging from the trees and candles that makes the atmosphere truly magical You can also enjoy a soft background music. Very romantic! I tasted linguine with shrimps and pistachios, delicious baked crepes with lobster, sauce and fresh tomato. Swordfish rolls are so yummy.
10. TRATTORIA DA NINO. Via Luigi Pirandello, 37. Website.
Trattoria da Nino is a very rustic restaurant, but often I choose it to celebrate events like birthdays. I like salad of seafood, linguine with shrimps and pistachio, pappardelle with truffles and shrimps and bream in a crust of bread. Book a table on the terrace overlooking the sea. The dishes are plentiful. I think it is not intimate like the other restaurants because the tables are very close and, for this reason, it would be better you to choose to have dinner in the terrace.
NOTE: Book a table in advance!
This is my list of the best romantic restaurant in Taormina to celebrate a special day, not to have dinner every night (except for Trattoria da Nino).
Which one would you like to try? 🙂
Thanks Maria,
My wife and i have recently returned from a fabulous trip to Taormina… where, following your most romantic restaurant recommendations… we visited Al Saraceno, A’Zammara and Trattoria da nino….plus, Grand hotel Timeo… all with their own individual qualities and atmosphere.
We loved them all, and without filling your column with too much detail, readers can visit the websites to decide…. marvellous food, wine, views and adventure !… loved it.. thank you xxxxx
Awww thank you soo much for your feedback Adrian! It means a lot to me and you really made my day 🙂
So glad you appreciated the beauty of Taormina and my tips, of course. I agree, each of those places gives you something different.
Then Taormina is one of the most romantic places in the world. I hope you will come back to visit other hidden gems of my charming Sicily and who knows? Maybe we can meet this time!
Best wishes
Maria xxx
hello Maria
Im going to Taormina in the end of august. and I need a place to celebrate my b-day. with view and music also 🙂 your advice will be very helpful.
Nina 🙂
Hi Nina!
One of my favourite places is Caparena Beach Club with live music and amazing atmosphere! You can also dance and taste cool cocktails 🙂
Have a wonderful birthday and let me know if you enjoyed this place!
Maria xxx
Hi again Maria,
I have taken your expert advice and reserved a table on the terrace at Al Saraceno for my fiancee’s birthday in August. Having checked out the website, I feel sure that we will not be disappointed.
Ciao,
Barry x
You will love that place Barry! Let me know if you enjoyed it! 😉
I most certainly will Maria. It’s so good to have such in-depth information about Sicily. You clearly have an innate and heartfelt affinity with your homeland.
😉
You are so kind Barry! I love my Sicily and its hidden gems 🙂 I have so many things to tell about it!
Hi again Maria,
Thanks for recommending Al Saraceno restaurant to us. It was the perfect setting for celebration and the food was exquisite.
All of the staff were so very attentive and friendly.
Our evening there will be so memorable to us.
Hi Barry,
I’m sooo happy to read about your positive experience at “Al Saraceno”. It is one of my favourite restaurants in Taormina. As a good Sicilian food is very important to me lol 😉
My husband and I will be coming and staying in Taormina for 5 nights in October 2015 for our Wedding Anniversary. I am looking for the best restaurants in Taormina for local flavor in both fine and casual dining?
Also, the primary “must see” sights in Sicily for such little time?
Thank you very much.
Hi Tami!
If you are going to spend 5 romantic nights in Sicily choose as your base Catania, here is my travel itinerary: http://www.travellector.com/3-days-in-catania/
Catania is a lively city. You can have dinner at Al Vicolo Pizza&Vino, near Piazza Stesicoro, which is the best place to taste pizza to me (you have to book in advance) or walking through one of the most lovely alleys to have dinner, Via Santa Filomena. From Catania you can get to Mount Etna, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: http://www.travellector.com/mount-etna-best-things-to-do/
Then don’t miss Taormina (only 30 minutes from Catania, you can visit it in half a day and you can also get to Castelmola, a lovely medieval village. I also wrote about the best restaurants to eat in Taormina without spending a fortune: http://www.travellector.com/7-traditional-taormina-restaurants-sicilian-cuisine/
From Catania you can easily get to Syracuse and visit Ortygia: http://www.travellector.com/ortigia-island-syracuse-sicily/
You will also love the European Capital of Baroque Noto (you can visit the best in half a day), here is what I wrote about it: http://www.travellector.com/things-to-do-in-noto-sicily/
You can visit these place during your 5 night stay in Sicily (only choose the best attractions for you) and they are really lovely to celebrate your wedding anniversary. Check out my articles about Sicily: http://www.travellector.com/tag/sicily
Let me know if you need other advice 🙂
Hi Maria and thank you! I feel this was written especially for me. As I told you I will be going to Taormina next month for my 25th anniversary and you have given me wonderfully detailed information on the most romantic restaurants. Interestingly, 10 years ago we had an amazing meal at Timeo! The view from our table was breathtaking and that night is etched in our memories. I also would like to recommend to your readers Casa Gioli (not necessarily for romance). We ate there twice last summer and it is fantastic. It is family owned and I think the family has their own farm and serves their own fresh, local products. They also had an olive oil that I was told I could not buy anywhere that was the best I had ever tasted. Their website is http://www.casagioli.it and they are located right on Via Giordano Bruno, 2.
Thanks again…I will continue reading!
Thank you for your advice Peter! I haven’t ever tried Casa Gioli, but I’m curious to visit it. I only chose the best restaurants I tried to have a romantic dinner, writing this article just for you, but there are other restaurants you can try for informal events or only to enjoy a lovely night. You can buy olive oil everywhere. It is expensive in Taormina. My relatives have a countryside with olive trees and every year produce fab olive oil. This is where I usually buy it 😉
Maria:
Thank you…actually Casa Gioli was only open for a few months when I visited it in the summer. It has inside outside seating as well and some tables can be romantic. I am curious about your suggestions for other can’t miss restaurants as I won’t be able to break the bank every night while I am there 🙂
I do know that I will be going to Catania for pizza 🙂
Hope I am not asking you for too much!
Best regards,
Peter
Peter! I will save you from becoming poor in Taormina, don’t worry! lol I will write another article about good restaurants you can try in Taormina without spending a fortune (maybe in some weeks, just before you leave), but you won’t find super cheap restaurants unless you buy an arancina for lunch 😉 I’ll also write an article about the best places to eat pizza in Catania! Stay tuned!
P.S I’m always happy to help my readers plan their trip, so you’re not asking me for too much 🙂
Reading your post Maria, I would say you love shrimps. 😀
Great selection of places, I don’t know which one is more beautiful. However, I think I would go for A’ ZAMMÀRA. I usually love the view places, but look at this lights and “jungle” behind invites me to go there and feel like in a movie!
Happy Easter! 🙂
Haha yes Katinha! I love shellfishes and here in Sicily are so yummy! If you want to feel like “Jane” the jungle of A’ ZAMMÀRA is a really nice place, especially if you are with your Tarzan 😉