Restaurants

For picnics, you can buy prepared food at La Scaletta and take-away pizza at La Lampara (Via Chiusa 35; tel. 347/0873742), or just stop in at one of the alimentari (deli/groceries) for simple panini, fruit, and bottled water.

La Cambusa at Via Garibaldi 5/b (tel. 0923/923441) is a good one-stop shop for those and Sicilian specialty items.

Visit Pescheria La Torre (Via Municipio 2; tel. 0923/923200) for fresh fish to cook in your apartment.

The best coffee is at Caffè Tramontana (Via Campi, on the old port on the north side of town; tel. 389/9612272).

Bar Baia del Sole (Piazza Umberto 5, tel. 0923/923014) is the spot for pre-dinner drinks.

La Scaletta has the best gelato and granite.

RESTAURANTS

La Scaletta
To the untrained eye, La Scaletta comes across as a bar, ice-cream purveyor and cake shop. But around meal times, tables are laid and those in the know sit down to a four-course meal, the menu dictated by what the local fishermen have found in their nets earlier in the day.
It’s all superbly fresh, and the desserts are excellent (Via Telegrafo 2; 923 923233; ristorantelascaletta.it).
Open all day, every day; € 40 per person without wine.

Il Veliero
With tables hard up against the sea wall and an old-sea-dog air to its décor, Il Veliero is every inch the island restaurant. Its pasta con le sarde (a Sicilian pasta, wild fennel and sardine speciality) is legendary, as is the lobster.
Service can be a little brusque at busy times but the freshness of what’s on your plate will make up for this.
Book ahead if you want a sea-facing seat (Corso Umberto 22, 923 923274; open daily from June to September; around €40 per person without wine, more if you’re splashing out on lobster).

Hiera 
Located right by the town’s main piazza, Hiera is Marettimo’s longest-running restaurant, and prides itself on being a little classier than the rest, though it’s all relative and in fact the atmosphere here – both inside and in the pretty garden area – is definitely local.
Regulars return for the lobster soup, but the pasta dishes are equally delicious and if you can’t face more seafood, the pizzas are passable too (Via G Maiorana 8; 923 923017; hiera.it). Noon-3pm, 7.30pm-10.30pm daily in season; around €35 per person without wine.