After long hikes and walks on the beautiful trails in the lovely Madonie Mountains, the Rifugio Francesco Crispi near Castelbuono is a simple but great place to go for lunch.

As the name says, it is a refuge, simple and spartan, but the service and the food are far beyond being simple and spartan. Forget about any diet, or go for a long walk after lunch, or horse-riding, which is offered by the refuge.

The food is simply great, typical hearty dishes of the area prepared with exclusively local produces, focussed on meaty delights made of the black Nebrodi pigs.

There are 200 seats at outdoor tables, so groups are very welcome.  The prices? They do not count, because of the atmosphere, but we still try to understand how they manage to keep them so low!