Best Restaurants in Modica

Three one-star kitchens sit within a 1.5-kilometre walk of one another along the Corso Umberto, the kind of density you expect from a capital and not a Sicilian hill town of 53,000. Modica earned it the slow way. A baroque rebuild followed the 1693 earthquake, the Spanish left behind a raw-cocoa chocolate trade that the town never modernised, and a run of chefs led by Accursio Craparo and Peppe Barone stayed put instead of decamping to Milan. The town divides into two halves, Modica Bassa on the valley floor and Modica Alta up the staircase, and the best tables are split between them.

How Modica Eats

Dinner runs late by northern-European habit. Kitchens open around 20:00 and fill by 21:00, and most Sicilians will not sit before then. Lunch is the value play: Accursio serves a 60-euro lunch tasting against roughly 130 euros at dinner, so the midday booking is the clever one if the bill matters.

The bill itself carries a coperto (cover charge) of two to four euros per person, which is bread-and-linen, not a tip. Service is included, so tipping is not expected; rounding up or leaving five to ten percent for a standout meal reads as generous rather than required. Cards are taken everywhere, though small pasticcerie like Bonajuto still move briskly on cash.

Reservations are easier than in Palermo or Taormina, but the rooms are tiny. Accursio holds 30 covers and Sapori Perduti 42, so a week ahead is enough in spring or autumn, while July and August and the December Chocomodica festival want three to four weeks. Phone or email beats waiting on an app, because not every kitchen lists on OpenTable. Many close Monday or Tuesday and take a winter riposo through parts of January. Dress is smart-casual throughout; no Modica room, star or not, asks for a jacket, and the upper-town terraces run cool after dark even in summer.

Best Neighbourhoods for Dinner

Corso Umberto I (Modica Bassa). The valley spine and the obvious first walk. Antica Dolceria Bonajuto sits at number 159 and Osteria dei Sapori Perduti at number 228, a few minutes apart, so you can take chocolate at one and dinner at the other.

Via Grimaldi and the lower lanes. Just off the Corso in Modica Bassa, this is where Accursio occupies a converted palazzo at number 41. It is the address that put the town on the Michelin map.

Modica Alta, around the Duomo di San Giorgio. Up the long staircase, the upper town holds La Locanda del Colonnello inside Hotel Palazzo Failla on Via Blandini, whose terrace looks straight down the canyon.

Vico Napolitano and the upper alleys. A short walk from San Giorgio, Fattoria delle Torri sits in the most architecturally distinctive setting in Modica Alta, with the Iblei farms supplying its kitchen.

The Modica Top Five

1. 1. Accursio · Modica Bassa · Modern Sicilian · €60 lunch / €130 dinner
   Sicily's most decorated chef cooking at home; the crispella alla Craparo dessert alone earns the star. Book the 60-euro lunch.
2. 2. La Locanda del Colonnello · Modica Alta · Modern Sicilian · €70 / €95–145
   The canyon-view terrace at Palazzo Failla is the best seat in the upper town. Reserve the sunset slot.
3. 3. Fattoria delle Torri · Modica Alta · Modern Sicilian farm-to-table · €88 tasting
   Peppe Barone's daughters now run the kitchen off the Iblei farms; the wood-fired dentice is the dish to order.
4. 4. Antica Dolceria Bonajuto · Modica Bassa · Pasticceria and chocolate · €4–18
   Italy's oldest chocolate house, fifth generation, making cold-process cioccolato di Modica since 1880. A pilgrimage, not a meal.
5. 5. Osteria dei Sapori Perduti · Modica Bassa · Classic Modican Sicilian · €15–32
   The trattoria locals send you to first; scaccia modicana and ravioli alla modicana, done without ceremony or markup.

Where to Eat by Occasion

First date

A first date in Modica wants a view or a low pulse, not a four-hour tasting. Take the terrace at La Locanda del Colonnello for the canyon at sunset, an afternoon over chocolate and Marsala at Bonajuto, or an unhurried dinner on the Corso at Sapori Perduti.

Proposal

For the question itself you want a room that feels like an occasion before the dessert arrives. The Palazzo Failla terrace at La Locanda del Colonnello is the obvious stage; Accursio and Fattoria delle Torri give you a starred kitchen and a quiet corner to do it.

Birthday

Birthdays here range from the splurge to the family table, and Modica covers both. Mark a big one at Accursio or Fattoria delle Torri; for a relaxed group dinner that still tastes of the town, Sapori Perduti is the room locals book.

Modica Dining FAQ

Nearby Cities

South-eastern Sicily is dense with good tables within an hour's drive. See our guides to restaurants in Noto, dining in Siracusa, restaurants in Taormina and where to eat in Palermo, or browse the best Italian restaurants worldwide.

Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team from Michelin Guide listings and firsthand restaurant detail reviews. How we score. This guide contains affiliate reservation links; bookings made through them may earn RFK a commission at no cost to you.