Solari Vini Liquoir - SIRACUSA

We had the best of times at solari meeting and interacting with locals. They know their wines here friendly staff (busy so be prepared to wait a bit). The food platters they serve are not small! Would love to come back some day.

Great atmosphere and helpful staff with a good choice of wine. We also had a lovely plate of sardines to go with it not a great selection of food but make a nice change from the usual restaurant web site [hidden link] email [hidden email]

This guy was a punk! My mom and I stopped in so she could have a glass of wine before dinner (waiting for our restaurant to open). We also ordered an antipasto plate. The food was great, the wine was okay, but the service... really? The owner seemed to understand English, and we said we wanted to wait for an outdoor table. He ignored our request and sat us down and served us inside. Okay, could live with that... but when I did not order a wine, but ordered a water, he threw a fit! He could not stop throwing his arms around and speaking tersely at me in Sicilian. My mom ordered wine... I don't drink, so excuse the hell out of me. It was so rude! And then when we paid, we didn't have coins, only paper money, and again with the arms and yelling at us rudely in Sicilian. We were absolutely appalled by this man. His son was okay, but he was beyond rude. Cannot believe his place survives, except for the excellent olives and cheeses. Her wine tasted like moldy barrel. So there.

This was the second of two fantastic wine bars we visited in Syracuse. Again, the choice and value of wines could not be faulted. For anyone interested in Sicilian wine, this place is a must. I nearly cried with joy when I was told of the uniform “mark up” policy on bottles. So the more prestigious wines are not rendered “out of reach”, by multiplying the cost of the bottle by two, (or in London even three), times the cost of purchase. We chose a superb Cerasuolo di Vittoria from Cos, which was excellent value and superb quality. In the UK, this wine retails somewhere around the £15 to £20 mark. In this terrific wine bar, it was €18.40. So the wine, a plate of superb bread, cheese, salami, olives, sun dried tomatoes and grilled aubergine, (together with an extra glass of Nero D’Avola for me and a glass of dry Moscato for my wife), as well as a litre of sparkling mineral water…£38. What a bargain! If the excellent wine and comestibles weren’t enough, what came wafting out of the speakers? Only a compilation of Miles Davis’ jazz classics, (plus a few of his 80’s numbers) perfect. If you’re in the mood for a glass of wine and nibbles, you simply cannot miss this place.

We enjoyed a couple or three glasses of good wine here together with a generous cheese and meats platter before deciding on a bottle to or two to buy. Will definitely seek this charming place out next time we are in Syracuse.