These are the best bars in Sicily for a tasty tipple

To find the best bars in Sicily, the first thing to know is that Sicily doesn’t really do bars in the traditional sense. Where Brits swarm around pubs for a pint at the 5.30 dong, and smooth Americans hot foot it to shiny watering holes (often more-than-comfortably on their tod), Sicilians nurse cocktails or local wine outside a shape-shifting café as the sun dips, or on roof terraces tipping over Baroque mazes of tired palazzos and honeyed churches. No, the bar here is more an extension of various leisurely food and drink stops mapping out the day: sweet breakfasts roll into late morning coffee and, perhaps, a Messina beer, aperitivo hour brings at least a small spread of snacks, and there’s a lot of sitting, a lot of smoking, and the sort of impassioned opinions and well-oiled banter confined to old friends (beyond the Aperol and White Lotus hordes).

But changes are afoot, particularly in cool Catania, whose dishevelled, sooty streets now lay claim to the island’s coolest drinking dens and young music scene. The elegant, jazz-singer sort are best sniffed out in Sicily’s swanky hotels, on candle-lit terraces overlooking inky bays (Taormina), or vaulted, sea-facing rooms festooned with snaps of Hollywood stars grinning over a cocktail, jazz-singer sort shortly to be named after them (Palermo).

From these Old World terraces serving cocktails to energetic drinking holes in Palermo with live jazz, here are the best bars in Sicily.

Italy, Sicily, Noto, people dining and socialising outside at dusk in busy streetGetty Images

Alloro, Acireale

According to revered Sicilian sommelier Piero Giurdanella, beautifully crafted cocktails are an elusive breed in Sicily. They’re there; you just need to know where to find them. You essentially need an industry insider, like Piero, to offer up his little black book. While the island’s main cities deliver a well-curated mix of watering holes, it’s Piero’s hometown, Acireale, 5km north of Catania, that hosts what he believes to be one of Sicily’s best bars. The town itself is heart-thumpingly beautiful, with opulent architecture carved from lava stone and windows looking out across the Ionian Sea. Acireale’s historic old town is where Alloro can be found, on a corner of the main square. Its crumbling baroque exterior belies the sleek, contemporary design inside – think statement marble floors, low-slung, Milanese-style sofas and monochrome Nordic furniture. You’ll find little about it online, making its superb food and cocktails all the more exciting. Expect spanking fresh seafood antipasti, unctuous cacio e pepe and imaginative spins on traditional mains such as cod with Messina sauce and seared pears – all of which are cooked to high standards with an artistic presentation from chef Valeria Raciti. If you’re here for the sole purpose of drinking (go for the Sicilian wine labels or the Porn Star Martini), you’re missing a trick.

Address: Via Lancaster, 28, 95024 Acireale CT, Italy
Website: instagram.com

Sartoria Cocktail Bar, Palermo

Sartoria is a cocktail bar worth knowing, a beacon of modern mixology, where innovative concoctions are balanced out with doing the basics very well. The very act of whipping up a cocktail is elevated to an art form at this lively haunt in the city’s historic centre, combined with a refreshing lack of stiff service or dress codes. Punters lean over tables in a balmy courtyard, while inside, orange and pink ceilings soar higher than the grand arches, their shelves heaving with every spirit imaginable, from the classics to the trendy new gin to know about. First-timers would be wise to ease in with a gin-based Freddy with The Queen Cordial and fermented pineapple, or The Hand of God, a vodka cocktail with pea flower and Baba cordial. If you’ve skipped pudding at whatever Palermo restaurant you’ve sauntered over from, order The Who, a sweet-talking mix of Bulleit Bourbon, peanut butter and Fusetti Banana Edition. And while cocktails take centre stage here, the tartare and delectable cold meat and cheese boards are a welcome touch for mopping up the 4th round.