Cagliostro — Restaurant in Palermo

This place invited us in with its sharp appearance, cordial wait staff. Then the fun and fantastic dining began! Marcello, Federico and Catty were professional, friendly and attentive. Gracious help for a bunch of silly Americans led to outstanding menu recommendations, starting with buffalo cheese and smoked salmon crostini, a mixto of superbly seasoned fried potatoes and chickpeas, and heese, pistacio and auberge laden breads. Two wines, a red and a white, met our desires perfectly, and special desert for our 5 year old granddaughter, served up with a personal touch by Catty. Highlights---beef fillet with smoked fondue, fresh pasta w' delicate, flavor-rich Mediterranean red shrimp and pistachio pesto, and a meat sauced ravioli that zinged. Marcello managed the meal and the setting in the busy street dining environment, and posed pictures for us. Best meal in Palermo, maybe Italy....

Pizza was great however the service is absolutely terrible!! The owner greated us and seemed annoyed that we didn't speak italian, no smile nothing. After being seated we waited 15mins for someone to come see us and they arrived ready to take the order without us having the menu or water. the pizza and wine came fast but we were missing something. it took another 10mins before we were able to catch the waiter's eye. then when we were done and finishing our wine, all 3 waiters kept coming over to ask if we wanted anything else, clearly it was to get us out. funny seeing not one showed up during the meal to make sure everything was alright. At the end we had to get up to go pay our bill. no thank you or anything. Worst restaurant ambiance ever! I don't...

We had dinner with 2 persons for just over 60 euros. The caponata for starter was nice, but i doubt it was freshly made. The caprese was just a barely sliced ball of mozzarella with dried herbs (would've at least expected some fresh basil) and some halved cherry tomatoes. I didn't really like the spaghetti nero, but i'd never had it before so i can't really judge it. The main fish dish was supposed to be a specialty, but I'm sure (both by how it looked and tasted) that it was deepfried swordfish instead of a fresh piece of food.

The red housewine wasn't bad, but out of the 2 glasses we had, one was at room temperature, while the other was around 5°C, leaving much of the taste to the imanigation.

All in all NOT reccommended! Bad food for...