Caffe San Giuliano — Restaurant in Erice

We visited Erice in February, off-season, and my mom and I ended up in this small restaurant by chance, simply because we were very hungry after a long walk. The atmosphere was interesting, charming, albeit a bit chaotic, and the owner seemed friendly – but unfortunately, that’s where the positives end.

I have never eaten such bad pasta – and this was Italy! We weren’t informed that some items on the menu were unavailable due to a lack of ingredients (which would’ve been perfectly understandable off-season), but instead we were served completely different dishes without any explanation. My dish was overcooked (the pasta was nowhere near al dente), tasteless, and greasy. My mom’s was even worse – clumpy, burnt, and made with some awful meat. Absolutely dreadful.

To make matters worse, both of us had stomach problems afterward and terrible heartburn – clearly caused by the poor quality and preparation of the food.

The only good things were the tea and the beer.

To top it all off, the final bill didn’t match the prices listed on the menu. The owner wrote the amount on a scrap of paper and pointed to what we had to pay, adding some mysterious charges. If it had just been a standard coperto, that would’ve been fine – that’s normal in Italy – but this felt more like a scam.

I do not...

DO NOT SPEND ANY TIME OR MONEY HERE!

The staff were lovely when we walked in to sit down for lunch. Ordered a sandwich and a soup. The sandwich was nice, but soup basically was hot water with some vegetables in it served with burnt croutons. This was €15 for both. My husband and I shared the soup, so they brought this out in 2 small bowls instead of the large pot others had. When we went to pay, they told us the amount was €26 (€11 more than expected from the menu) the soup was €15 Iintead of €10 because they had to put it into 2 bowls (we did not ask for this) and charged us €2 per person to sit at the table for lunch!! Total scam!

I refused to pay the extra and handed over the €15 for what we had ordered. The man threw the money back at me, then snatched it back, and both him and him wife then started yelling at me while shooing me out of the shop.

Totally crazy. Anyway, do not go here unless you get some enjoyment out of people treating you like a...

this place is absolutely gorgeous.

best soups i had in a long while. biiiig pots which are a full meal. the best café de pistacchio i remember with actual pistacchio crumbs.

visit: if you like italianità if you like homecooked specialities de la nonna if you like handpicked specialities by foodies like their wines and oils if you like original italian owners and their charme if you search for an intimate, typical, original place if you like value & quality for money food

don't visit if 4 euro for a gorgeous pistacchio coffee are too much for you (the regular one is as cheap as everywhere in italy) if you don't like personal attention & recommendations by the owners if you have covid hysteria - it's a small...