Porta Carbone - Cala

Fast food restaurant · Palermo

Porta Carbone - Cala

Fast food restaurant · Palermo

V. Cala, 62, 90133 Palermo PA, Italy

Highlights

Iconic spleen sandwiches & panelle, counter-service, port views

V. Cala, 62, 90133 Palermo PA, Italy Get directions

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@portacarbone

€1–10

@afar

Where Rome-Based Food Writer Katie Parla Is Traveling Next - AFAR

"A no-frills Palermo eatery on Via Cala known for local street-food specialties; the author plans to eat panelle here as sustenance while tracing her great-grandfather Niccolò Cipollina’s roots in the nearby horseshoe-shaped harbor of La Cala, making it a practical food stop during a personal, genealogical reconnection trip." - Kaitlin Menza

https://www.afar.com/magazine/where-rome-based-food-writer-katie-parla-is-traveling-next

View Postcard for Porta Carbone - Cala

@afar

"Some of Palermo's most beloved snacks are hearty street foods, and none is more iconic than pani cà meusa , a sandwich layered with thin slices of fried cow spleen and topped with lemon and grated Caciocavallo cheese. The hole-in-the-wall Pani Cà Meusa Porta Carbone, overlooking the port on Via Cala, specializes in this Sicilian comfort food."

The Essential Guide to Palermo

View Postcard for Pani câ Meusa – Porta Carbone

@katieparla

Sliced sesame seed rolls are filled with slices of spleen cooked in lard. Even if you are squeamish, please give this sandwich a chance. Pane ca’ meusa is served all over town but the place that does it best is aptly names Pani ca’ Meusa di Porta Carbone. It is located on Via Cala and you can grab a sandwich and a beer and sit at the tables on the sidewalk that look across the street to the port and beyond to Monte Pellegrino.

Palermo

View Postcard for Pani câ Meusa – Porta Carbone

Angela Park

Google

If you are familiar with food made with cow spleen or lungs, you will definitely like the burger. If you are unfamiliar, you might smell some unique smell of meat. Tastes better with bunch of limes. Its intersting to see local men finishing up their burgers, while standing, but definitely enjoying them. The male servers can be more kind.

Mark H

Google

Delicious food, friendly staff and great prices! We tried to order from their kiosk but it did not have the full menu. We typed our order on our phone and showed the staff. The guy brought over a coworker who spoke English. She explained that they were out of one item but it was fine since we had ordered plenty anyway. The restaurant is fairly small and it was full at the time. Another staff helped us find a table. The menu was very affordable and the food was delicious. We especially loved the Caponata. Highly recommended!

Roy Ouwerkerk

Google

The spleen sandwich was very nice (for me - my girlfriend runs away in horror every time I mention it)! The fries sandwich, sadly, was just a sandwich with fries, and nothing special. The fries were fairly good though. And the portion size is good. All the snacks were quite bland and disappointing - coming from the Netherlands, I expect my deep fried snacks to be very flavourful and very different from each other. So this is a hard place to review; if I would have only ordered the spleen sandwich, four stars, but all the other things were sadly disappointing. The waiting time / line to order was huge (30+ minutes).

Bambi Lam (Duy)

Google

A must-try in Palermo. We had the Pane Ca Meusa Scheto/Maritato - the sandwiches with spleen + lungs and was impressed! Simple but so delicious. The staffs are kind and nice. Having a good time enjoying the meal with cold beer on the terrace!

Jessa Jane

Google

I've come to the place few times already and always at around dinner time to find it very packed everytime. There is no table service and to order you have to line up to pay first and then get your orders. Now, there are plenty of tables but they get occupied easily, but you can always order to go and have a seat across the street in front of the port. The milza (spleen) is very good. The staff is very friendly and simpatici. Shoutout to Sergio e Fabio! And the pannelle and crocchette are just a must-try to eat along with the milza. It's great value for the price. Highly recommended ☺️

Mitch Cunningham

Google

Had to try the pane ca meusa schetto (sandwich with spleen and lungs). I was afraid, but it was good! Especially with lemon. We also had panelle and cazzilli, which are fried and delicious. We stopped here on a Streaty food tour, so our guide had the options already picked out for us.

Korivn Wan

Google

get your item ordered and paid at the machine - great for tourist with no Italian skill - convenient and lots of combo options also I am tired at explaining to Italian how terrible they are at making panino bun so I start only talking about how good they are at making beef offal which makes me forget about the panino bun. - get extra cheese and extra meat for your panino:) thank me after

La Mc

Google

Amazing service and the pani ca meusa (spleen sandwich) is incredible. I notice they scoop out the top of the bun to add more meat. Frequented by locals. There’s no English here. Just point at the beautiful pastries. View of the port and nice patio area, although facing a busy street. Let’s just say I ate there at 10 am after I had breakfast at 8. It’s that good. Inexpensive at $3.5 con formaggio

Francesca C.

Yelp

Their only 2 dishes are Pane e Panelle and Pane ca' meusa (accompanied by their version of tater tots/hash brown balls), but this place really doesn't need more than that! It is a Sicilian specialty and in my 34 years of existence I have tried these 2 foods in many places and Porta Carbone is in my top 3 of the list. It's home food, served by the owners and his kids... how much better and authentic can this get? It's been open for generations now and according to my mom, they have stayed loyal to their flavors. I personally loved it and would go back. I ordered twice and couldn't get enough of it. The owners explained how the meusa (spleen) is cooked and were really funny and courteous. They love tourists and are very grateful to have loyal customers. @FrancescaMusica