C & T Licata & Son

Throw out your spaghetti hoops and dive into Licata for some seafood chunks in oil. I know you want them because I want them too (right now). No need to book that expensive holiday to Milan when you can come in here to blow your hard-​earned cheese on some soft cheese. Known to some as Picton Street’s «Italia» (Italian for Italy), once you are through the door you will be lost in a maze of pasta, pesto and other things that begin with P. I digress.
I once blew 164 pounds on peppers alone. Now that’s what I call living.

This shop is not particularly well presented, which is a shame because the stock is fabulous and it’s obviously a shop built on passion and expertise. It’s all a bit sprawling, with shelves here and there, a meat counter sort of stuck at the back, and a booze section that’s quite easily missable. All of that aside, it’s a great shop, selling wonderful Italian pastas, breads, olives, meats, cheeses, sauces, oils, yummy savoury and sweet crackers and biscuits, and it’s worth a trip here if you have an inclination towards authentic Italian food.
I worked in an Italian deli for a little while, in London, and it was a much smaller shop, with all the stock piled up and stuffed on shelves and hanging from the ceiling. In a way, I wish C & T Licata & Son was a smaller, more compressed shop, as it would help create a bit of atmosphere.

A beautiful shop with oodles of old world charm, Licata makes for a cool and quiet retreat from the calamity of Picton Street and Stokes Croft. An old established family business, Licata feels as though its been here forever. Stocking quality products with plenty of selection, this has to be one of the best places in Bristol to stock up on all things Italian.
Deceptively small from the outside, this is a large sprawling shop that stocks a lot of dry goods as well as offering a good refrigerated section.

When I lived up the road from the Licata deli, I was in here almost every day. A far cry from Clifton’s pretentious and overpriced versions, Licata offers cheap, good quality food and an excellent range of authentic Italian produce without the pretensions.
It’s a family run business and it does nothing but add to the charm to hear the staff mutter away to eachother in Italian. The sundried tomatoes, olives and marinated artichokes are some of my personal favourites. These are unaffordable luxuries in most shops, but at Licata they come as a standard ingredient.
There’s also an excellent meat and cheese counter, and the staff are generally willing to let you try a bit if you’re undecided. Italian wines and a range of other tinned goods are also worth looking into. Licata is certainly my favourite place to buy food, and possibly one of the best in Bristol.

I cannot believe I’ve only just stumbled upon this place. I blame the fact that at the moment it is encased in scaffolding. Anyway I am now a devotee. This is like a little slice of Italy right in the heart of Montpelier. And they are not charging you Clifton deli prices for produce that is of far better quality.
The shop has been a fixture for more than 50 years and is run by a friendly family hailing from Sicily. And they have achieved the nigh on impossible– a really authentic Italian deli, bakery, grocery and winery, which also sells the basics for the average Bristolian. There’s an amazing charcuterie where you can have salami sliced for you and the bakery counter does incredible ciabatta and focaccias, of the olive and the sundried tomato variety. The booze selection is also incredible, with British favourites sitting comfortably alongside limoncello and grappa. There’s also a little counter where you can help yourself to antipasti favourites like gigantic olives, sundried tomatoes, sardines, artichokes and peppers. And there’s about 50 different types of pasta. For any Italian suffering from serious homesickness it’s a must-​visit as they have all the basics to make beautiful authentic home-​cooked Italian meals and the recognisable Italian brands. I hope this shop continues for fifty more years and fifty after that. It is perfection.

Tucked away on Picton Street this charming Italian deli/​mini market is a hidden gem of Bristol and a dream for dinner party hosts; if I ever entered Come Dine With Me this would be the first place I would look for Italian inspiration.
Originally hailing from Sicily, Carmelo and Teresa Licata came to Bristol in the late 1950s and soon set up shop on Picton Street. Very much a family business, the staff varies from rather old and mumbling in Italian to the younger Bristol born and bred accents of their teenage helpers. This family feel adds to the authenticity of the deli and always makes for an interesting shopping experience.
Little bags of herbs and spices sit on one shelf while quite possibly 50 or so varieties of pasta line the shelves at the back of the store. To the left of the store there are tables of fresh fruit and veg as well as a fridge and counter stocked with olives and antipasti. Cooked meats and delicious smelling cheeses sit side by side and the deli also has plenty of cupboard staples, alcohol and sweets in stock too.
Some of the prices are a little steep for the more common, mass-​market products but for specialty Italian produce Licata has far more choice and better value than larger supermarket chains.

When I was much younger my family and I would often visit my grandmother in Finland. I don’t know what it is but there is something in Licata’s that smells identical to her house.
Maybe it’s the fresh herbs or fruit and veg. Perhaps it’s the selection of different breads and biscuits toward the back of the shop, the smells drifting toward the door past the huge selection of spices and dried fruit. It may be the olive bar or the fridge full of different cheeses and yoghurt. It may simply be the air of exciting delicious food unlike anything else served in Bristol.
Licata is exciting. It’s a local shop that’s not local to Bristol. The only real way to describe it is like that incredible smell, to experience it firsthand.