Osteria Santa Domenica Taormina — Restaurant in Taormina

Osteria Santa Domenica is truly a special place! If you're planning a trip to Taormina, the cooking class with Gianluca and a meal at the restaurant is a must!

On our first day in Taormina, we took a cooking class with Gianluca. This cooking class is unlike any other cooking class, it's a truly immersive experience! Before the cooking class, Gianluca takes you on a tour through town. We stopped at favorite local spots and landmarks, while Gianluca shared interesting cultural and historical stories about Taormina! It was truly the best way to start our time in Taormina and made for a very unique and special experience.

Once we were back at the restaurant, Gianluca walked us through how to make several traditional Sicilian dishes. It was fun and informative, we can't wait to try to recreate the recipes at home!

We had such an incredible time at the cooking class, we had to book a dinner reservation for the next evening. At dinner we ordered all of the specials on the menu that evening. We shared the tuna tartar, grilled octopus, pasta with muscles and pistachio, and sea bass crusted with almonds! Everything was so delicious and fresh, it was truly one of the very best meals we had during our 2 week stay in Italy!

Not only was the food wonderful, Gianluca and the Osteria Santa Domenica staff are all incredible! There is such a warm and welcoming vibe as soon as you arrive, really taking the overall experience to the next level.

I highly recommend doing both the cooking class and having a meal at the restaurant, both exceptional experiences that really made Taormina a special place on our trip! We cannot wait for our next visit to Osteria...

All I can say is WOW and THANK YOU! I wish I could give this more than 5 stars!

We started out with taking the cooking class which is easily bookable through the restaurant website. This is FAR beyond just a cooking class; it's a full blown experience and tour of Taormina. Gianluca took us to some of the favorite local spots, took us to important historical and cultural locations, and introduced us to many of the local shop owners. This really made us feel welcomed and special in the town they call home.

As far as the class itself, Gianluca did a phenomenal job breaking down the "why" around which ingredients are used and how to put together some of his favorite Sicilian recipes. To find our more, you may just have to take the class!

We had such a great experience that we immediately had to book a reservation for the next evening to have the professionals show us how it's done. We ordered the specials on the menu that night which blew our expectations away. We had tuna tartar, grilled octopus, pasta with pistachio and muscles, and finished with a beautifully almond crusted sea bass. In short, it was one of best meals we've had during our 2-week trip here in Italy.

From the food, the staff, the atmosphere, and especially the man himself Gianluca, you can tell Osteria Santa Domenica is a special place and recommend everyone to at the very least have a bite there. Gianluca and staff had us laughing and smiling ear to ear the entire time. It was awesome.

Thank you again Gianluca and all the staff at Osteria Santa Domenica for making our experience feel so unique and special. We cannot wait to see you all again soon!

Grazie...

Osteria Santa Domenica was recommend by my hotel but unfortunately, I did not have a good dinner there. I was pleasantly surprised when the owner came to make dinner recommendations in person. However he was quite pushy for me to order several courses although I mentioned I had a small appetite due to a prior aperitivo. nonetheless, he took my menu away and pushed for me to have starter and a main stating there were very small portion. I wanted a glass of red wine and he and suggested a glass. He made me taste the wine and it was quite enjoyable. However, when the food arrived it was unfortunately underwhelming, the starter he recommended was fried zucchini flowers which came with an avocado puree. The flowers were rather greasy and the avocado puree did not bring a lot of taste to the table. My starter was barely touched, and when the owner came to ask feedback and I said I did not like it he rushed to another table as if he had not heard. Later on when the waiter came to pick up my still full plate and I gave the same feedback, nothing was done. The main arrived (pistachio crusted seabass) and was better than the starter but still pretty basic. When my bill came, all items were included, including the untouched starter. That is also when I realised all the items recommended were some of the most expensive on the menu. The zucchini flowers stater was 18€, the fish dish 26€ and the wine glass 23€. These are prices that are significantly higher than in other great restaurants in the area for significantly better food and experience. Overall I was quite disappointed with my experience there and would not recommend...