Food Highlights
🏆 Favorite Bite
THE world-famous cannolo
🌟 Most Unique Dish
Mangia e bevi - thin-sliced pork wrapped around green onions
What to Expect
🟠 Start with a Giant Arancina
Begin with a freshly made — and generously sized — arancina while learning why Palermo proudly uses the feminine name and celebrates this Sicilian favorite with a day of its own.
🥘 Eat Through Ballarò Market
Experience the sights, sounds, and wonderfully lively atmosphere of Ballarò Market while stopping to sample some of Palermo's street-food traditions.
🍕 Palermo Street Food
Try local specialties including fluffy sfincione, freshly grilled sausage, mangia e bevi, and other small tastes while exploring the market.
🍝 Sit Down for a Sicilian Meal
Take a break from the streets for panelle, crocché, a hearty serving of pasta alla Norma, and wine — because apparently we weren't full enough yet.
☕ Coffee Straight from the Roastery
Visit a local coffee roastery, see the roasting equipment, and finish with a freshly prepared espresso before somehow finding room for dessert.
🤌 THE Cannolo
Finish with Palermo's legendary convent cannolo, followed by a behind-the-scenes look at the bakery and the process used to create these incredible Sicilian pastries.
Our Experience - Secret Food Tours Palermo
We've taken food tours in cities around the world, but our Secret Food Tour in Palermo absolutely blew us away. There was an incredible amount of food — and we mean that in the best possible way — but what made the experience special was how each stop revealed another piece of Palermo's culinary history and culture.
Our guide Emma was fantastic. She took the time to talk with everyone in the group while explaining the history, traditions, and sometimes very important terminology behind what we were eating. Our morning began with an enormous freshly made arancina — yes, arancina in Palermo — along with the discovery that the city loves them enough to have an annual day dedicated to them. We'll just be over here checking flights back to Palermo.
From there, we headed into Ballarò Market, which can perhaps best be described as...lively. The energy of the market was part of the experience as we made our way through the crowds and vendors for several tastings. We tried sfincione, Palermo's fluffy focaccia-like pizza; freshly grilled sausage and mangia e bevi for a taste of the city's street-food culture; and another small tasting stop with a combination of local flavors.
Eventually we sat down for what could have easily been a meal on its own. We started with panelle and crocché before receiving very hearty portions of pasta alla Norma accompanied by wine. At this point, any reasonable food tour might have concluded that everyone had eaten enough. This food tour was not interested in being reasonable.
Next came a local coffee roastery, where we were able to see the roaster before enjoying freshly prepared espresso. And then, somehow, it was time for the stop we'd been waiting for most.
For nearly two years, one particular Palermo food experience had been sitting near the top of our travel wish list: the famous cannoli made at the monastery bakery inside the Santa Caterina complex. This wasn't simply another cannolo. For us, this was THE cannolo.
And Emma made the experience even better. Rather than having the entire group wait in the famously long line, she headed inside while we relaxed in the courtyard. A short time later, she returned carrying what can only be described as the tray dreams are made of — enormous, beautiful cannoli ready for the group. Afterward, we were even able to skip the line again to enter the bakery and watch the cannoli being filled while seeing where these legendary pastries are made.
This tour was everything we hope for from a food experience. We ate an almost comical amount of incredible food, explored one of Palermo's most famous markets, learned about the traditions behind what we were tasting, visited local businesses, and experienced a piece of the city's culinary culture that we'd wanted to see for years. Emma brought it all together with knowledge, warmth, and a genuine enthusiasm for sharing Palermo with the group.
If you're a foodie visiting Palermo, this one is an easy recommendation from us. Come hungry — seriously — because Secret Food Tours Palermo was a 100/10 experience and one of the highlights of our time in Sicily.
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