Restaurant in Ragusa, Italy
Sultano's cooking, without the Duomo ceremony.
I Banchi brings Ciccio Sultano's two-Michelin-star sensibility to a more accessible format: eclectic Sicilian cooking in a palazzo that was a synagogue before the 1693 earthquake, at €€ pricing with a 2025 Michelin Plate. If you want serious Sicilian food without Duomo's outlay, this is the correct choice in Ragusa.
If you want to understand Ciccio Sultano's cooking without committing to the full ceremony of Duomo, I Banchi is the right call. At €€ pricing, this is where Sultano's two-Michelin-star sensibility meets a more relaxed format: eclectic, Sicilian-focused cooking in a palazzo with genuine historical weight, without the €€€€ outlay of his flagship next door. The 4.2 Google rating across 823 reviews, combined with a 2025 Michelin Plate recognition, confirms this is a kitchen firing consistently, not coasting on borrowed prestige.
Walk into I Banchi on a warm Sicilian evening and the atmosphere does the talking before the menu does. The room carries a quiet, layered energy — the kind that comes from stone walls that have held centuries of different lives. The building predates the 1693 earthquake that levelled much of eastern Sicily, and before it became a restaurant it was a synagogue. The ritual bath survives in the room of mirrors, which creates a reflective, almost meditative quality to that corner of the space. This is not a dining room designed to impress through spectacle; it impresses through accumulation of detail. The noise level sits at a level that makes conversation comfortable, which is rare in a space that draws both locals and visitors in meaningful numbers.
The cooking is Sultano's vision filtered through a more accessible register. The cuisine is described as eclectic yet Sicilian in focus — meaning you can expect the island's core pantry (capers, almonds, citrus, seafood from the nearby Mediterranean coast) to anchor the menu, but the approach will not be locked into strict tradition. For the food-focused traveller, this is a good entry point into what Sicilian cuisine looks like when it is treated as serious culinary material rather than simple home cooking. If you have already eaten your way through the trattorias of Ragusa Ibla, I Banchi gives you the next register up, without the full tasting-menu commitment of Duomo.
The wine list is taken seriously here, and the addition of a considered cocktail selection is worth noting for groups with mixed preferences. In a city where most wine lists are perfunctory, a list that is complemented by well-chosen cocktails gives this venue more flexibility than most at this price tier. If you are visiting Sicily for wine as much as food, Ragusa sits within reach of the Nero d'Avola heartland, and a restaurant at this level will generally have access to producers that a trattoria would not stock.
Seasonal rotation is a real consideration at I Banchi. The Sicilian kitchen is deeply tied to the agricultural calendar: spring brings wild fennel and broad beans, summer moves into tomatoes and aubergines at their peak, autumn shifts toward the grape harvest and the arrival of mushrooms from the Iblean plateau, and winter delivers citrus in force alongside the more preserved and cured pantry staples. Because the cooking here is genuinely Sicilian in its sourcing orientation, what you eat in July will differ meaningfully from what you eat in November. For explorers planning a specific trip, this means the visit is worth timing: summer gives you Sicily's vegetable abundance, while autumn and winter lean into richer, more concentrated flavours from the island's interior. Neither season is wrong, but knowing the difference lets you shape your expectations correctly.
I Banchi is at Via Orfanotrofio, 39, in Ragusa , in the upper part of the city, which is a different experience from eating in Ragusa Ibla, the baroque lower town. The address puts you in the historic centro, and the setting rewards arriving on foot if you are staying nearby. For a broader picture of what the city offers, see our full Ragusa restaurants guide, or explore hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in the area.
For context on where I Banchi sits in the wider Italian fine-dining picture: Sultano's orbit connects this city to chefs operating at the highest level nationally. Restaurants like Osteria Francescana in Modena, Uliassi in Senigallia, and Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence represent the national ceiling. I Banchi is not competing at that altitude, but it is the product of a kitchen culture that takes that standard seriously. On Sicily specifically, compare it against I Pupi in Bagheria and Mec Restaurant in Palermo if you are building an island itinerary. Further afield, Reale in Castel di Sangro, Dal Pescatore in Runate, Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone, Piazza Duomo in Alba, and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico show the range of serious regional Italian cooking worth building a trip around.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which means you do not need weeks of lead time in the way Sultano's flagship demands. That said, Ragusa draws a concentrated burst of visitors in summer and during the Val di Noto festivals, so booking a few days ahead in July and August is sensible. The €€ price tier places this comfortably within reach for most travellers , plan for a mid-range dinner spend rather than a special-occasion outlay. No phone or website is listed in our current data, so check availability through your hotel concierge or a reservation platform if you cannot locate contact details directly on arrival in the city. Dress expectations at a Michelin Plate-recognised restaurant in southern Italy typically fall in the smart-casual range: not formal, but not beachwear either.
At €€, yes , this is where the value argument is strong. You get a kitchen shaped by two-Michelin-star thinking at a fraction of what Duomo costs. The 2025 Michelin Plate and 4.2 Google rating across 823 reviews confirm the quality is real, not residual. For explorers who want serious Sicilian cooking without a tasting-menu budget, this is the right choice in Ragusa.
We do not have confirmed menu format data for I Banchi. If a tasting menu is available, the cooking pedigree here (Sultano's influence, Michelin Plate recognition) suggests it would be worthwhile. That said, if a full tasting-menu commitment is the goal, Duomo at €€€€ is the purpose-built version of that experience. I Banchi's value case is strongest when the format is more flexible.
Yes, with a caveat on expectations. The building alone , a former synagogue with a surviving ritual bath , gives the evening a backdrop that most restaurants cannot match. The Michelin Plate standard and Sultano connection make it credible as a special-occasion choice at the €€ tier. If the occasion calls for a more formal, multi-course production, escalate to Duomo or Locanda Don Serafino instead.
Smart casual is the right call. Ragusa is not a city that enforces strict dress codes in the way that Milan or Rome's leading restaurants sometimes do, but a Michelin Plate venue connected to Sultano's name warrants more care than a beach town trattoria. No shorts or beachwear; a neat dress or collared shirt and trousers reads correctly.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so this is not a Duomo-level chase. Outside of peak summer weeks (July to mid-August) and local festival periods, a few days' notice should be sufficient. In peak season, book before you arrive in Ragusa. No phone number is currently listed in our data , use your hotel concierge or check for an online reservation link when planning.
We do not have confirmed seat count or private dining data for I Banchi. The palazzo setting suggests the space has more flexibility than a small counter-seat restaurant, but contact the venue directly to confirm group suitability and any private room options. For larger group dinners in Ragusa, Locanda Don Serafino is worth checking as an alternative.
The atmosphere and price tier make solo dining here comfortable. At €€, a solo dinner is not a major financial commitment, and the room's quiet energy , described as conversational rather than loud , suits a diner eating alone without the awkward acoustic pressure of a busy bar-style space. Sicily's food is worth exploring solo, and I Banchi gives you a kitchen with genuine depth to work through at your own pace.
The two main alternatives are Duomo (€€€€, Contemporary, Sultano's flagship with two Michelin stars , the choice if budget is not a constraint) and Locanda Don Serafino (€€€€, Italian Creative , a different aesthetic in a carved-rock setting). For something entirely different, Caffè Sicilia covers the pastry end of the spectrum. See our full Ragusa restaurants guide for the complete picture.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Banchi | €€ | Easy | — |
| Duomo | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Locanda Don Serafino | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Caffè Sicilia | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Ragusa for this tier.
The palazzo setting suggests some capacity for groups, and booking difficulty is rated Easy, which works in your favour for coordinating multiple diners. That said, confirm directly with the restaurant for larger parties of six or more, as the historic room layout may limit configuration options. For a group that wants a more straightforward private-dining format, Locanda Don Serafino is worth considering alongside I Banchi.
Yes, and it earns that without the formality of a full tasting-menu flagship. The building itself — a former synagogue with a retained ritual bath and a room of mirrors — gives any meal a sense of occasion before the food arrives. At €€ pricing, it delivers a genuinely distinctive setting backed by a Michelin Plate kitchen and the influence of two-star chef Ciccio Sultano. For a milestone dinner where ceremony matters more than cost, the nearby Duomo is the step up.
Duomo is the obvious escalation: same culinary lineage as I Banchi, but two Michelin stars and a significantly higher price point — book it when you want the full tasting-menu experience. Locanda Don Serafino offers a competing upscale option in Ragusa Ibla with a wine-forward approach. Caffè Sicilia in Noto (a short drive south) is a different category entirely — pastry and tradition rather than a full sit-down dinner — but worth the detour if you're covering the southeast of Sicily.
The venue data doesn't specify a dress code, but the combination of a historic palazzo setting and Ciccio Sultano's influence points toward smart casual at minimum. Ragusa is not a beach-casual town in the evenings, and showing up in shorts would read as underdressed. Treat it like a mid-to-upper range restaurant in any European city: neat, pulled-together, but not black-tie.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so you don't need the three-to-four week lead time that Sultano's Duomo requires. A few days' notice should be sufficient outside peak summer months. In July and August, when Ragusa draws concentrated tourist traffic, book at least a week ahead to be safe.
Specific menu formats are not confirmed in the venue record, so it's not possible to say definitively whether I Banchi runs a tasting menu. What is clear is that the kitchen operates at Michelin Plate level with Ciccio Sultano's two-star influence, and at €€ pricing the value case is already strong for à la carte. If a tasting menu is a priority, Duomo is the confirmed route for that format.
At €€, yes. You're getting a Michelin Plate restaurant with direct creative links to one of Sicily's most decorated chefs, inside a building with genuine historical depth, at pricing that doesn't require a special-occasion justification. The value proposition is straightforward: this is Sultano's cooking made accessible, not a budget compromise.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
