A restaurant that has been part of Sorrento’s history for over a century and a half, passing from the hands of Antonino Ercolano to the Manniello family and becoming an iconic symbol of Campania’s hospitality. It seems that cannelloni were invented right here, but there’s more: between its dining rooms and outdoor areas, O’Parrucchiano seats nearly 1,000 guests and continues to attract visitors from around the world.
In Sorrento, the story of O’ Parrucchiano begins with a name that came about almost as a joke, before becoming one of the best-known brands in Campania. In 1868, Antonino Ercolano opened a small trattoria—La Favorita, ed.—after abandoning his path to the seminary; his friends began calling him “O Parrucchiano,” the parish priest, and that nickname outlived its creator. Generations have passed since then, the clientele has changed, and Sorrento has become one of the most famous destinations in the Mediterranean, but under the restaurant’s lemon arbors, history continues to be served in the dining room, along with the cannelloni that originated right here.
At O’ Parrucchiano, time has a way all its own of taking a seat at the table. It flows through a recipe that still bears the restaurant’s name today, drifts through the scent of citrus fruits from the Giardino degli Innamorati, is reflected in the gestures of a family that has been in the hospitality business for four generations, and extends all the way to winter Sundays, when traditional timballi and sartù return to tell the story of a cuisine deeply rooted in Sorrento’s collective memory. Since 1868, the restaurant has evolved alongside the city, yet its identity has remained anchored to a specific idea: to welcome also means to preserve what has been passed down.
From Antonino Ercolano’s trattoria to the Manniello family
We haven’t told you the whole story yet, because another pivotal moment occurred in the 1940s. Ercolano, who had no children, entrusted the trattoria to his nephew Giuseppe Manniello, who had lost his father when he was just seven years old and was raised by Ercolano as his own son. Giuseppe learned to cook in the very home that had taken him in and began to transform that small business into something bigger, while keeping the family-oriented and generous spirit of the kitchen intact. It was he who expanded the restaurant and made its name known beyond the borders of Sorrento.
O’ Parrucchiano’s reputation, therefore, is inextricably linked to the Manniello family’s “dynasty of hospitality.” And this is precisely where one of the most interesting aspects of the establishment lies: the family has not only built a restaurant, but a true culture of hospitality that, generation after generation, has expanded into hotel management. In the early 1960s, Giuseppe Manniello decided to apply his expertise to the hotel industry as well and, together with his three sons—who were still in their early twenties—opened other high-quality hotels in Sorrento. Today, the branch of the family associated with O’ Parrucchiano manages the Grand Hotel La Favorita and the Grand Hotel Europa Palace, in addition to being a partner in other hotels in the city.
This is an important milestone, because it speaks to something that goes beyond mere business continuity. For the Manniello family, hospitality has taken on an almost domestic character over time: welcoming someone means allowing them to step into a story, to discover a place, to sit down at the table as if that table already had memories to share. O’ Parrucchiano embodies this culinary heritage, while the Grand Hotel La Favorita carries on and builds upon the family’s hospitality tradition. Giuseppe Manniello Junior and Mario Manniello now represent the fourth generation of this family, which has tied its identity to Sorrento’s culture of hospitality.
The Garden of Lovers, the Legacy of Enzo Manniello
Then there’s the setting. And in the case of O’ Parrucchiano, it would be impossible to describe the restaurant without describing the garden, because here the landscape isn’t merely a backdrop to the dining experience—it becomes an integral part of it. Once you cross the threshold, the path leads through the greenery toward the restaurant’s dining areas, among citrus trees, plants, and flowers. The scent of lemons accompanies guests and creates an atmosphere that has played a decisive role in shaping the restaurant’s identity.
What makes this space even more meaningful is the story of Enzo Manniello, Giuseppe’s son. Together with his wife Tina, Enzo helped solidify O’ Parrucchiano’s reputation and take it to an increasingly international level without losing touch with Sorrento and his family roots. It was he who conceived one of the restaurant’s most recognizable features, the Giardino degli Innamorati: lemon tree pergolas, plants, and flowers that create a path immersed in greenery, dotted with Mediterranean vistas and ambiance. Today, the garden bears his name and preserves the legacy of his vision.
Enzo’s passing in 2025 left a profound void in the family and in the Sorrento community, but his vision of hospitality continues to live on through this very space. The garden, in fact, preserves that philosophy of warmth, simplicity, and attention to guests that has defined the family’s history. Today, Giuseppe Manniello Junior and Mario Manniello, together with their mother Tina, carry on this legacy. Mario, in particular, personally welcomes guests and accompanies them down the staircase surrounded by greenery that leads from the original rooms to the garden.
“My father, Enzo Manniello, deeply loved this setting and, over the years, helped make it what it is today,” says Mario Manniello, owner of the Grand Hotel La Favorita and O’ Parrucchiano. “We’ve tried to maintain and highlight all the beautiful things he created, preserving that balance between nature, tradition, and hospitality that makes O’ Parrucchiano such a special place.” This statement helps explain why the garden plays such a significant role in the restaurant experience. The lemon trees surrounding the tables at O’ Parrucchiano are also found in the gardens of the Grand Hotel La Favorita, creating a tangible connection between the family’s two establishments.
Cannelloni were invented here
Of course, at O’ Parrucchiano, history also finds its way onto the plate. And it takes on a specific shape—rolled up and stuffed—that of cannelloni. The restaurant is famous for having created this dish, which originated here over a century ago under the name “strascinati.” A classic that has since become part of Italy’s culinary heritage and is still prepared today just as it was back then. Cannelloni is the most obvious symbol of a cuisine that remains true to its roots: Neapolitan ragù, Genovese sauce, gnocchi alla sorrentina, and seafood dishes featuring Mediterranean catches make up a distinct culinary tradition, built around instantly recognizable ingredients and flavors.
“O’ Parrucchiano is, first and foremost, the cuisine of Sorrento and Campania, made up of authentic flavors and recipes that are part of our history and that we have chosen to preserve over time,” explains Mario Manniello. “The signature dish is, of course, cannelloni, invented right here and still prepared today according to our historic recipe. Our menu remains deeply rooted in the rich flavors of the regional tradition.” A tradition that also includes seafood cuisine, a natural consequence of Sorrento’s geography and its connection to the Mediterranean.
Alongside the most famous dishes, there are also those that highlight the catch and ingredients that change with the seasons. The apparent simplicity of the recipes requires, in this case, even greater attention to the selection of ingredients and their purity. For O’ Parrucchiano, the point is precisely to preserve those flavors that visitors to the Amalfi Coast seek out in order to rediscover a part of Campania’s culinary heritage. The cuisine thus becomes a way of telling the region’s story, but above all, a family tradition that the restaurant continues to uphold every day.
Neapolitan Sundays Return to the Table
Continuity with the past, however, does not mean leaving the cuisine stagnant. Throughout the year, Chef Francesco De Simone periodically offers special menus, crafted according to the seasonality and availability of the finest local ingredients. These offerings allow the great classics to be complemented by a selection of new dishes, giving the chef the freedom to work with whatever the region has to offer at that precise moment. The most intriguing project, however, centers on winter Sundays, when O’ Parrucchiano aims to revive some of the dishes that once marked festive family lunches in Campania. Thus, recipes such as rice sartù and Neapolitan-style pasta timbale return to the table, prepared according to the restaurant’s time-honored family recipes.
As Mario Manniello explains, “the idea is to allow younger generations to rediscover a part of our culture while, at the same time, giving those who experienced these flavours as children the emotion of discovering them again as adults.” It is a tangible way of understanding culinary heritage: a recipe truly survives when someone continues to prepare it, when a young person tastes it for the first time, or when an adult recognises in an aroma something that belonged to their childhood. “For us, food also has this value: it is not just about taste, but about memory, family, and the ability to bring a moment from one’s own history back to life through a dish,” Manniello adds.
From Antonino Ercolano to Giuseppe Manniello, from Giuseppe to Enzo, and finally to Mario and Giuseppe Manniello Junior: the story of O’ Parrucchiano has unfolded across generations, growing in scale without ever losing its distinctive character. In the meantime, Sorrento has become an international destination, and the small establishment founded in 1868 has welcomed guests from all over the world, drawn by its unique combination of cuisine and garden.
Above all, it remains a family story, and perhaps this is precisely what allows O’ Parrucchiano to retain such a distinctive identity after more than a century and a half. The cannelloni are still prepared according to the house recipe, the garden continues to grow beneath the lemon trees, Sunday recipes are slowly finding their way back to the table, and a new generation of the Manniello family continues to look after the guests. Here, history is not something that is simply told: it is still passed from hand to hand, from the kitchen to the dining room, from the family to the table.
O’ Parrucchiano
Corso Italia, 71, 80067 Sorrento, NA
Telephone: 081 878 1321
