Location: Giardini Naxos
Top Restaurants in Giardini Naxos
Top Things to do in Giardini Naxos
Countries
Where to Eat in Giardini Naxos: The Best Restaurants and Bars
Giardini Naxos (Sicilian: Giaddini) is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Messina on the island of Sicily in southern Italy. It is situated on the coast of the Ionian Sea on a bay which lies between Cape Taormina and Cape Schisò. Since the 1970s it has become a seaside-resort.
Things to do in Giardini Naxos
1. O'Neil Bar Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 596 reviews
Reviewed By Jeremy L
We stayed at the Hilton across the street and had tried two other restaurants before O’Neils. Don’t let the Irish Pub name fool you this is quite an amazing Italian restaurant with excellent food. We wish we would have never tired the two other places because this is where we will be coming back tomorrow night. The service was top rated and the lasagna was delicious.
2. Spizzicannu Ristorante Pizzeria
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 419 reviews
Reviewed By martingreaves - Stratford upon Avon
What a lovely restaurant, very welcoming for lunch, a little bit off the beaten track but worth the hike up the hill from the sea. Lovely house wine, really cheap.
3. Le Desir Piquant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 560 reviews
Reviewed By bucketlistman2014 - United Kingdom
Let's start this inevitably long review with some positives:
1) My beef in gorgonzola sauce was perfect. Perfectly cooked ("red") and although not very large and rather thin, entirely acceptable.
2) My wife's swordfish (grilled) although very thin was lovely.
A long list of negatives that mean although on holiday in Giardini Naxos for many more days we will never use this restaurant again:
A) Service was near non-existent with us having to constantly catch the eyes of all the inattentive disinterested waiters and waitresses to little effect. In fact their body language was disdain for us at least. They wandered past repeatedly without the slightest look in our direction. There seemed to he a customer hierarchy with customers seated across the road under the canopy by the beach getting first chance at any hint of service. Even getting the bill was difficult. Even though I tried a tactic of smiling at our original waitress she seemed reluctant to acknowledge either of us. It was so bad we only survived the hour there by seeing the funny side of this unbelievable attitude of staff.
B) My meal: steak as mentioned OK. It was shown on menu as coming with salad and boiled potatoes. It in fact came with this:
ONE TINY TOMATO with a tiny parsley leaf emerging out of it + ONE POTATO CUT IN TWO! Utterly ridiculous and as we would say in Britain: "taking the micky". NOTE MY WIFE ONLY GOT HALF A POTATO on hers along with the lettuce and swordfish.
This is a popular restaurant as the numbers were good but why is totally beyond me!
Apologies for this long and mainly negative review but this aloof casual and smug restaurant deserves it totally.
Advice to people willing to give them a go:
Bring a phone, maybe to play games, maybe a book as if under 100 pages you'll finish it. In addition bring either a personal picnic or a note of where to have a second meal elsewhere!
Bad bad bad!
Before I forget... We anticipated having a dessert, maybe more wine but we of course never had any waiter in the least bit interested so in terms of a keen business attitude... That was ineffective too.
4. 'A Putia
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 925 reviews
Reviewed By Dec60_13 - Ennis, Ireland
Dined twice here 2 weeks ago. Welcome was very professional and friendly. Menu was really well explained . Food itself was excellent , really well prepared and presentation was from the top drawer ! Service was excellent also and all the little details concerning the restaurant were so well thought out.So good that we returned for a second night. Great value for money---think about booking in advance as this gem of a resturant is regularly booked out. Not surprising !!!! Enjoy the experience. We certainly did.
5. Cafe Sikelia
Overall Ratings
4 based on 381 reviews
The Sikelia, one of the oldest cafe' in Recanati, where the tradition leave together with quality......
Reviewed By plasmid - Goshen, New York
We dined here our first night in Giardini Naxos. We were staying at the Hilton and the restaurant is across the street from the hotel making it very convenient. We found the food to be tasty and well presented. The house wines were very good and the service was excellent. Prices are reasonable.
6. La Vela
Overall Ratings
4 based on 1 reviews
Reviewed By LK1500 - London, United Kingdom
I have made better home made pizzas myself. In England. With a standard oven. That's pretty damning for an Italian restaurant in Sicily. On the converse the gnocchi were out of the top drawer. A bit hit and miss all told. On balance I felt it was all a bit Kavos style Greek strip restaurant rather than authentic Sicilian local. Must try harder. Particularly when you could easily choose instead to go to Il Porticcioli about 400 yards away and eat a grade A pizza for 7 Euro.
7. Lido La Romantica
Overall Ratings
4 based on 438 reviews
Reviewed By Seanie_13 - Cork, Ireland
Chosen by my wife and located on the beach this is really a lovely restaurant , service was only fair but the food was lovely. We had Ravioli, Scampi and Piazza a nice bottle of white wine Deserts, coffees and complimentary bread . The setting is also lovely and the ambience was nice . Bill for three came to € 86 which included the very annoying cover charge of €2 each.Try this you won't be disappointed
8. L'Acquario Degustazione
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 301 reviews
Reviewed By achristine13 - Wilton, Connecticut
We ran late at our reservation and they held our reservation.....Customer service excellent....My first course was amazing raw shrimp, tuna tartar, oysters and shredded calamari all with fresh lemon..amazing..The other three had special pasta of the house...We all had different fish Tuna, Branzino,Swordfish all amazing all prepared as the chef selected... Wine amazingly light All the restaurants seem to give away a starter /appertiff and an shot of almond wine end of meal.....The service was exceptional and the food fresh and well prepared... THE SERVICE WAS OUTSTANDING ONLY TO BE EQAUL TO THE FOOD
9. Garden da Nino
Overall Ratings
4 based on 523 reviews
Reviewed By plasmid - Goshen, New York
I ate here with my wife and daughter on the last night of our trip to Sicily. We originally wanted to go to A' Putia but they were fully booked. So, we just walked around looking for a place to eat. The restaurant looks very nice and it was around 7:30 and most restaurants are empty at that time but do fill up later on as this one did. My wife and I ordered salads and a veal dishes which were brought out at the same time. My daughters zucchini dish didn't arrive for another ten minutes. I had to ask the waiter when was my daughters dish was coming out. He said, "In a couple of minutes". We did not enjoy the veal nor did my daughter enjoy her zucchini dish. The wines were OK but nothing to write home about. At this point, we decided not to have dessert. Just cut our losses and leave. Not a memorable experience. This was the only bad meal on our two week holiday in Sicily.
10. Al Vicolo dei Capricci
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 415 reviews
Very sicilian street food
Reviewed By DvanDantzig - The Hague, The Netherlands
Our first evening of our holiday to Sicily, we ended up here based on TripAdvisor reviews and were not disappointed. The pizza was worth ordering extra of, the arancini was the best we've had during our entire trip and the calzones were also delicious - although the one with Frankfurter and fries would also be a worthy postmodern commentary on the concept of international fast food. However, it was also very tasty. While we were there, a lot of people came to eat or pick up orders - it's clearly not just popular with tourists, and with good reason.
Service was very speedy, professional and friendly. Even though it's a small street place, the wine was a nice accompaniment with the food. We had a grand old time and will definitely come back here on our next visit.
