Ristorante " Il Barcaiolo "

This place is sort of hard to find, but well worth the effort. We had the fish of the day prepared half Sicilian style and half grilled we complemented that with some beautiful Sicilian wine. We started it all off with a primi, a lobster pasta dish, which was well rounded in flavor and delicious (plate licking temptation)! We sat on the patio with a beautiful view of the Ionian sea. Another thing that I really enjoyed is a sign that said if you don’t like cats., it’s OK if you dine elsewhere. We did see a couple cats, but none of them were begging (they all looked very well fed & cared for) :-) also good to know, they are (well behaved) dog friendly on the patio.

We walked down a zillion steps from our hotel to this restaurant. And it was worth it! A lovely view. Friendly staff. Good wine. Amazing seafood. Delicious grilled octopus. My husband and I shared an entire sea bass! This was one of the best meals of our Italy trip.

100% service and quality of food is exceptional the fish of the day grilled is excellent with the vegetables or if you just want pizza or pasta 🍕 it’s wonderful. If you love your wine choose a local Etna wine we had two different whites and they were lovely. We ate here 3 times while staying in the Atlantis Bay Hotel ❤️❤️

Better restaurants nearby offering better food, service and value. We arrived just after opening with out a reservation and was shown a table with no view just of the paths but I asked if we could sit on the terraced area where there were many empty tables, but was told no as the tables were reserved. Ok no probs but the next two couples who arrived without reservations they were shown the tables on the terrace that I had been told was reserved even though there were tables where we sat. The main waitress was rude and we should have left but stayed to try the food. At best over priced and average not what I would have expected we had the gnocchi and mixed grilled fish. The gnocchi was quite nice but the grilled fish wasnt the best for €35. It consisted of tuna steak which was ok as was the fillets of sea bass the calamari was chewy and tasteless but worst was 2 of the 3 prawns was mushy and not cooked properly. There was also a green mush around one as though they had tried to clean the back vein which made me dubious to go near it. Did we say anything no, as I felt it wasn’t the place where it would be accepted without a argument. We were offered a grappa or lemonchello which at other restaurants has been free at end of meal so we accepted to find out later we were charged €5 each for a thimble full. My mistake for not asking but it is given in a way it’s free. When our bill came we had been overcharged for our wine and they had added €8 service charge which was a joke. This was our most expensive meal in Taormina, not a cheap place but would expect the food and service to meet with the price which I feel it did not. We obviously wasnt approved by the cat....

This is a beautiful little family run sea food restaurant right at the far end of the beach. Well worth passing all the others for! We had a lunch time visit. We didn't go for the catch of the day, but the fish were presented on a large plate and brought to the table for you to inspect. One was still twitching! You couldn't get much fresher than that! The staff, service and food was excellent, topped off by a stunning location and unpretentious experience.

Perfection - daily catch of fish cooked as you like. Everything was fresh, delicious and felt family run. Beautiful view. Highly recommended.

So tonight we decided to go to a local Trattoria in Taormina by the Ionian Sea. Based on the food alone I’d have given it 5 stars but not knowing there were close to 100 steps that had to be navigated to getting to the restaurant was a negative. We started with an appetizer of anchovy with jalapeño peppers along with a fresh seafood salad. Both were excellent and there was no issue with being over “oiled.” For the entrees we had large prawns and a grilled whole sea bass with a vegetable goulash. The wine list was very diverse with a lot of local Sicilian wines both red and white. In addition there were many other regions of Italy that were represented. All in all a very nice dining experience and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending or going back. Just factor in the steps.

Excellent food. Another big surprise particularly as we were quite worried/ concerned when we got there. Two things you must know, there a lot of steps down from street level (don't even think about taking strollers/bags), and two, don't be the first ones there, the mosquitoes will eat you alive, even with tons of repellent. In the end, we enjoyed it very much. One of the few places with raw gamberi rossi. And third, reservations are a must. Update: July 2023. Food was still good, with perhaps the spada skewers being the exception - they were dry. And less mosquitoes this time. The downer was the issue of the 3rd antipasti that they brought us, but we didn't order. Obviously there was something lost in translation. This was one of the first time we've been pressured to accept that it was our mistake. So that's why I've downgraded the rating.