Trattoria Kalliope — Restaurant in Syracuse

Open every day.

Lunch on Tuesday 9 May 2023 A bit empty on a cloudy afternoon in May but the food, the wine (and the cats) were still excellent. I had Insalata Burrata (a big salad with tomatoes, rocket, sweet corn and Mozzarella Burrata) at €14 and my wife had Pasta alle Sarde (pasta with sardines and other items too numerous to mention) at €15. We ordered a bottljje of the house red (a variety called Syrah) at €16, a large bottle of water and two coffees. Everything was totally up to their usual high standards. The total bill was €55.

Lunch on Sunday 8 April 2018 This is the first place we eat at every spring because the food is good and, after a cold winter in the north of England, we just want to sit in the sunshine of a sheltered little Piazza and eat authentic local food. We only eat here once every year because there are so many good restaurants in Ortigia but this has become our traditional first stop. One bottle of water, one bottle of Trattoria Kalliope Nero d'Avola (€12.00), one Caponata Siciliana (a mixture of vegetables including aubergines, olives and onions), one Insalata Siracusana (a traditional Sicilian salad including oranges, capers and raw onions), one Maccheroni alla Trapanese (pasta with fried courgettes), one Spaghetti Vongole (spaghetti with clams) and two coffees cost €54.00.

Lunch on Sunday 7 May 2017 Very busy today so the service was a little slow. But the dishes, especially the main courses, were amazing. Two bottles of water, one bottle of Trattoria Kalliope Nero d'Avola (€12.00), two times Caponata Siciliana, one Maccheroni alla Trapanese, one Pasta con Sarde and two coffees cost €58.00.

May 2016 This is the where we eat lunch when we fly in from Manchester on a Sunday in late April or early May every year. Situated in a sunny piazza surrounded by palm trees you can sit outside and just bask in the heat and sunshine we don't get in the North of England. Great food and attentive service in whatever language you choose. The salads and seafood are excellent but then again pretty much every item on the menu is wonderful and we have eaten most of the dishes...

What a disappointment! We sat there because the location of the place and also the terrace was cozy and ended up having a miserable experience because of the manager/owner of the place. First interaction we had with him was when we arrived and asked him if we could be in the sun. The terrace was at its 30% capacity, rest was empty, either way, his answer to us was: if you sit on the sun, then don’t ask me to change for shade. This poor predisposition to accommodate the customer was surprising, as I work as a restaurant manager for 10 years and that is not the definition of a warm welcome, how it should be. Nevertheless, that didn’t set our mood for the experience and continued having a good vacation time. That was until my friend, who has an allergy to kiwi, ordered octopus. Which we realised, when the food arrived, that kiwi was the garnish of that dish. She, in a nice friendly way asked if she could get a new one, as it wasn’t mentioned kiwi on the menu, and as usually, a tropical fruit is unexpected in an octopus dish. They made a new one without kiwi without a problem and it was all good. The problem was, when this man came to the table with a very arrogant attitude to tell my friend that she needs to always share her allergies. I understand that was a misunderstanding and that these type of situations can happen in a restaurant. What I don’t understand is what is the need to go an argue with the customer and tell them off in that rude way. This is just my experience, of course, but if you do a little scroll through the reviews, you’ll have examples of what I am referring to. His answers to the reviews are rude, not professional and arrogant. I feel sorry for the people who work there and I will suggest this person to do a course to improve his null skills about customer service and experience. As the food and the rest of the staff...

My two small children, husband, and I were seated and when it came time to order the waiter asked me for the food order first and I told him a margarita pizza and he said no, we weren’t ordering enough food and had to leave. I was going to order more food, but he said no. I was going to order drinks and he said no. He automatically didn’t like us. My husband stood up and said no problem. I was crying and the owner was yelling at me. I am a young woman with two young children and cannot understand why a man would yell at me like that in front of all his other customers. I didn’t even get to respond. It was a horrible experience. It may have been because I am American even though I greeted him kindly in Italian. My kids wanted pizza and we chose his place. We took out cards to entertain them while we waited. He made us wait for a really long time before he came to the table to greet us. Do not go to this place. It’s poorly rated for a reason. We have traveled to Europe many times and all over Sicily and this is by far the worst and only time we have ever been treated this way. He was a horrible man. No man should ever yell at a...