Il Pirata St Julian’s: Back From the Dead, Back on the Streets
Five years is long enough for a restaurant closure to stop feeling temporary and start feeling like folklore.
Il Pirata St Julian’s has been closed since April 2021, which in Malta restaurant years is somewhere between “brief pause” and “archaeological event”. Now, the Paceville location is reopening. July, if all goes to plan.
The brand itself never disappeared. Il Pirata — run by brothers Claudio and Alfredo Spiteri Debarro, two siblings who were essentially raised in the trade — currently has three open restaurants in Valletta, Senglea and Mellieħa, but St Julian’s is the one people kept asking about. Apparently, some restaurants don’t leave quietly. They just sit in the group chat until someone finally replies.
The menu will be the one they’re known for. Mediterranean with an Italian backbone, pasta that takes itself seriously, fish, meat, the works. The Tagliata di Manzo remains. Vegan and gluten-free options are well represented, should that be relevant to you.
The refreshed space will be spread over two floors. The lower level will be adults-only, with cocktails and a lounge setup. From the images shared, it’s the moodier half of the operation: burnt-orange arched ceilings, terrazzo flooring, low lighting and curved lines doing quite a lot of work. Paceville, but with a comb through its hair.
It’s a reopening, not a reinvention. Which, depending on why you missed it, is exactly the point.
Opening July 2026.
Il Pirata
41 Triq Paceville
St Julian’s
Website
