A pair of middle of the road experiences in Palermo (2 of 2)…read more
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This place, Antica Focacceria San Francesco, has a long history in Palermo. It comes up on lists where you can get some authentic cheap eats. It's more of a place to get a quick lunch and keep moving rather than visit at night. It's very close to Palermo Centrale.
It's actually smaller than I thought it would be ... and more vertical. It would make a great townhome in some trendy neighborhood. That's because there is seating downstairs and upstairs.
I ordered a focaccia with ham and cheese in it. I also ordered a square of lasagna (or similar pasta). To that, I added a bottle of water to deal with Palermo being warm and dehydrating you.
The food at Antica Focacceria San Antonio was decent - good, but nothing memorable. The price seemed about right. The only thing that was memorable, other than its having two levels, was the service. Another customer had just left. Behind the case, where the food was displayed, were only 2 squares of lasagna remaining in the pan. I told the employee which one I preferred. To this, the employee, who sort of reminded me of the fictional Al Bundy in "Married With Children," had to quip in an Italian with a Sicilian cadence: 'and, of course, you had to ask for the larger piece.' Did he know who the next customer would be and that he might want to favor that person? Or was he going to be putting it aside for him to eat on his lunch break? This is classically and hilariously Sicilian - where the service goes above and beyond ... or the person, like this guy, is a rude d-bag. It's what northern and central Italians imply when they say that Italy's south does not have a "via di mezzo," a balanced and more palatable middle of the road approach in interpersonal communication and transacting.
Antica Focacceria San Francesco gets good reviews. Other people have had good experiences. I'd say my experience takes it down from a high 3 to a low 3.
There are some things to know. First, except for Mondello (yes, like Larry) and Monreale on its hill overlooking the city, most of the key sights in Palermo lie in a narrow but long rectangular area going from the station to the Politeama Theater and can be managed on foot or using buses 101 and 102. This eatery is close to that rectangle. Then, the French have their own names for major Sicilian cities, such as Palerme, Catane, and Messine, and which I learned via in-flight monitors. (I guess they're entitled to do that since Normandy ruled the island from Ruggiero's (Roger's) court in Palermo from about 1100 to 1300.) However, what takes the cake here is seeing that Antica Focacceria San Francesco has a store inside Catania's airport on the other side of the island, along with many others. Many other popular eateries have done this, making these enterprises seem tacky and paving the way with which quality control could go a little south. Think Voodoo Donuts. When they go the airport route and charge too much - which they do at CTA, I'll be crossing the eatery off my list.
