dal Barone — Restaurant in Palermo

This is not somewhere you go to drink wine. This is somewhere you go to experience wine. And not only wine, but amazing food, and warm, sincere Sicilian hospitality at its very best.

We stumbled upon this enoteca on our first night in Palermo, as it was close to our apartment. As we are very interested in natural and biological wines we thought we would start the night here and sample one bottle before moving on to other places. Three bottles and a few rounds of canapé style sharing plates later the night had flown by and we had no interest to leave.

We returned for a second and third night, each time sampling the different colours and varieties of grapes on offer, whilst getting to know Fabrizio & his wife Giulietta, as well as the rest of their incredible team, Jan, Ilenia, Salvo and Elena! Not forgetting meeting many of the locals who had nothing but nice things to say about this hidden gem and the team that run it... plus as time passed and they learned more about our palettes and preferences, the wines we were introduced to got better and better.

For three nights we felt like real Sicilians living their best life in Palermo, all thanks to this magical place.

We did try many other places in the city but nothing could compare to the atmosphere, quality and the warmth we felt here.

We would return to Palermo from the UK just to spend one more night here... we hope to be back soon!

You must check this place out, regardless of whether you're interested in natural wines or not, let the experts guide you and they will match your favourite flavour profile perfectly.

(My favourite 2 wines in the pictures, you'll never drink prosecco again...

A real find in a beautiful narrow old street. Just like its noble name this little bar is stylish, classy and also environmentally responsible to boot.

The owner Fabrizio has created an all-natural house Spritz topped off with a tiny rose bud. I love my Spritzes (if that is the correct use of the plural?) and I'd say it is arguably the best I've ever had in Sicily, or anywhere else for that matter. Aperol, eat your heart out!

They do a really interesting series of organic Sicilian wines, also with lesser know grape varieties, and if you fall particularly in love with one (in my case, a particularly seductive Nerello Mascalese) you can buy a bottle to take home, and not at stupid prices either.

It's very stylishly decorated in a subtle and sophisticated way by Giulietta, Fabrizio's wife and co-owner. They are very lovely, welcoming people and nothing is too much trouble. Delicious apperativo plates and fabulous wines make this place a real one off for Palermo.

With concertina glass doors that open fully onto the street you can enjoy those warm Palermo nights (and should you be reading this at the start of the second decade of the century, therefore makes it also very Covid-friendly) and soak up the atmosphere as you sip your delicious vino.

At only 5 minutes distance from Quatro Canti, my advice would be to get there before it gets fully put on the map! I for one will...

Such a shame for a venue that had been a staple of my last 5 years coming to Sicily. It’s the only place I can say that I’ve visited every single time I’ve had the opportunity. But this evening was a vastly different experience. Until now it’s always been a very welcoming local wine bar but tonight we were shocked by the rude and entirely inhospitable behaviour of the owner of the venue. After spending most of the evening relaxing on the gutter of the opposite side if the street we noticed that a table out the front had become vacant. After observing multiple groups simply take these opportunities we decided to do the same. We were met by the owner who with no understanding nor tact rudely told us that the table was booked. Funnily enough the night before we had also been there and were told they didn’t take bookings. I don’t normally make reviews like this as I also own my own venue and feel that the venue must always be given the chance to respond directly before a review is made but when we tried to raise this with him he feigned that he didn’t speak English. Funny again that last year I spent 30mins with you chatting about occhipinti in fluent English. I’m afraid to say this place has joined the long list of tourist sell outs, and friendly service has been the first casualty....