Gluten-Free Palermo: bakeries, pizza and shops for coeliacs

The places on this page are spread across the city, so it helps to know where they sit. In the old town, two mixed pizzerias with a gluten-free line are on Via Maqueda, the long street through the historic centre: Timilia by the Quattro Canti and Procopio a few minutes north, with Bistrot 107, a small mixed restaurant, on Via Cavour near the Teatro Massimo. On the western edge of the old town, by the law courts and the Capo market, are the two entirely gluten-free addresses closest to the sights: Panificio Delizie Senza Glutine, a bakery on Via Goethe, and Celiachia Porta Guccia, a shop on Corso Alberto Amedeo, about 5 minutes apart on foot by our estimate. Recupero 0 Glutine, Sano e Sicano and the two Celiachia Home shops are spread through the newer districts to the north, easiest by bus or taxi; Les Caprices is further out, on the ring road, Viale Regione Siciliana; and Celiachia Point is in Bagheria, east of the city, not in Palermo itself. The old town is walkable: the Cathedral, the Palazzo dei Normanni, the Quattro Canti, the markets and the Teatro Massimo are all within about 20 minutes of each other on foot, by our estimate. Monreale and Mondello are out of the centre.

A day that works: breakfast at Panificio Delizie Senza Glutine on Via Goethe, an entirely gluten-free bakery, with whatever rosticceria is on the counter that day (take some for lunch too); message or call first to confirm the hours, as its card says. Celiachia Porta Guccia, an entirely gluten-free shop, is about 5 minutes away on foot, by our estimate, for supplies for a day trip, and the Capo market is just beyond it. From there it is about 10 minutes on foot to the Cathedral, and about 10 more to the Palazzo dei Normanni and the Cappella Palatina (the Royal Apartments are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays); San Giovanni degli Eremiti is a few minutes further. Walk on to the Quattro Canti, about 15 minutes, for the Fontana Pretoria and La Martorana, then about 10 minutes on foot to the Teatro Massimo for a guided tour. Dinner is at a mixed kitchen in the historic centre: Bistrot 107 on Via Cavour, or a gluten-free pizza on Via Maqueda at Procopio or at Timilia, whose gluten-free line, TERA, uses doughs made only from gluten-free flours. In a mixed kitchen, say the sentence and ask how the gluten-free food is kept apart. Or walk back to Panificio Delizie, about 10 minutes on foot from the Teatro Massimo, for its evening pizza.

Across Italy, many places belong to the Italian coeliac association’s eating-out programme, Alimentazione Fuori Casa (AFC). AIC calls them «informati», informed: staff trained on coeliac disease, AIC’s rules for preparing gluten-free food, a signed agreement, and an in-depth visit from AIC at least once a year. It is not a certificate, and joining is voluntary: plenty of kitchens serve gluten-free food outside it. AIC Sicilia, the association’s Sicilian branch, says it works for 15,000 diagnosed coeliacs on the island and reports 214 member places across Sicily, from B&Bs, bars and gelaterie to restaurants and hotels; its regional office is in Villafranca Tirrena, not in Palermo. On this page, Sano e Sicano, Procopio and Bistrot 107 state an AIC link in their own words; all three are mixed kitchens, and there an AIC link is a strong signal, not a guarantee. AIC advises booking ahead so the kitchen can get ready. When you book, say you have coeliac disease.

Palermo eats on the move: arancine, panelle and sfincione, pastries at the bar counter, the street food at the Capo market. Street food is where to ask most carefully. To eat the rosticceria classics gluten-free, go to Panificio Delizie Senza Glutine, whose card calls it the place for them; for breakfast at the counter, Recupero 0 Glutine, an entirely gluten-free bar-pasticceria in the newer city; and for Sicilian pastry, Les Caprices, the Albicocco brand’s dedicated gluten-free workshop on the ring road (the brand’s other shops bake with wheat, so check the address). Say the sentence before ordering, every time, dedicated kitchen or not: «Sono celiaco/a», I have coeliac disease. At a pizzeria, ask «Come preparate la pizza senza glutine? Impasto, banco e forno sono separati?» (are the dough, the work surface and the oven kept separate?), and for anything fried, «Per il fritto, c’è una friggitrice dedicata al senza glutine?» (is there a dedicated gluten-free fryer?). For a day trip to Monreale or Mondello, stock up first at Celiachia Porta Guccia or Celiachia Home.