Venetian restaurants in Italy
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Ex Mauri
Go to this contemporary, stylish Venetian bacaro (bar) on Milan’s urban island when you need a little Lombard-free time. Pull up a school chair at a lovingly scuffed table for imaginative seafood cicheti (Venetian-style tapas) : baccalà fritters, sardines in saôr (sweet-and-sour onion jam) and braised baby octopus. Smart but hearty mains take their cues from both Venice and further afield, while the gelati and cakes are house-made.
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Trattoria Corte Sconta
The Biennale jet set seeks out this vine-covered corte sconta (hidden courtyard) for imaginative housemade pasta and ultrafresh, visually striking seafood. Crustaceans are arranged on a platter like dabs of paint on an artist’s palette, black squid-ink pasta is artfully topped with bright orange squash and tender cappesante (scallops) sticking out their red feet, and roast eel loops like the River Brenta on the plate with a drizzle of balsamic reduction.
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Antiche Carampane
Hidden in the once-shady lanes behind Ponte delle Tette (Tits Bridge), this culinary indulgence is a trick to find, and you may wonder who you have to, erm, know to get a reservation. The sign proudly announcing ‘no tourist menu’ signals a welcome change: say goodbye to soggy lasagne and hello to lagoon-fresh crudi (Venetian sushi), bottarga pasta, and filetto di San Pietro (steak with artichokes or radicchio trevisano ).
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Taverna del Campiello Remer
Off the tourist routes and close to any Venetian foodie’s heart, you’ll find this vaulted cavern that opens onto a secluded square along the Grand Canal. Buffet-style lunches come fully loaded with affettati (Trevisana sausages and cured meats) and freshly made pasta for about €20. At dinner, abundant primi are served family-style with about a pound of pasta for two, and diners valiantly struggle to leave room for the grilled catch of the day and the obligatory tiramisu. Specials are recited rather than written down, and the sign says: menú turistico non ghe xe (there’s no tourist menu). Book ahead, or brave the crowds for an aperitivo and cicheti buffet.
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Osteria alla Vedova
Culinary convictions run deep here at one of Venice’s oldest osterie, which is why you won’t find spritz or coffee on the menu or pay more than €1 for a bar snack of Venetian meatballs – best not to get them started about spaghetti Bolognese. Enjoy superior seasonal cicheti at strictly fair prices at the bar, or call ahead to claim a wood table that has weathered a thousand elbows in post-pasta stupors.
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Osteria Mocenigo
A young and enthusiastic team serves you in this smallish but welcoming Venetian eatery. Exposed timber beams and burnt brown floor tiles give the place a sense of warmth, but it is unmistakeably fresh and modern - no attempt at recreating ye olde Venice here. Try the insalata di piovra (octopus salad, around €12).
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Tre Spiedini Da Bes
A classic osteria where you can crowd in for no-nonsense food. Choose from several broths and pasta for the first course and then dig into, say, a slab of sole for the main. It's a typically cramped Venetian locale, with ponderous timber ceiling beams and all sorts of paraphernalia hanging on the walls.
reviewed
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Fiaschetteria Toscana
A classic that has long maintained quality, the Fiaschetteria Toscana has sought-after super-Tuscan options on the menu of 600 wines, but it’s Venetian where it counts: the wild-caught lagoon seafood menu, especially the crudi, seafood risottos and frittura della Serenissima (a haul of lightly fried seafood). But you can also choose to rebel against the city’s pescatarian impulses with proper cuts of meat, including lagoon game and Chianina steak that makes pampered Kobe seem tough. Leave room for Mariuccia’s rovesciata, a Venetian take on caramelised-apple tarte tatin, and don’t miss lunch specials.
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Al Covo
All the markings of a classic Venetian trattoria – low-beamed ceilings, exposed brick wall, regulars installed in the corner – but with twists on typical dishes. Caprese salad gets the Covo treatment with basil and mozarella di buffala served with a heavenly cherry tomato gelée, squid-ink pasta with clams and squash blossoms, and Adriatic tuna with five sauces. Prices are understandable given top-quality, lagoon-fresh ingredients, and offset by reasonably priced, limited-production wine. Venice Marathon runners will appreciate the abundant €47 prix-fixe menu: primo, main, dessert/cheese and cover.
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Osteria di Santa Marina
Don’t be fooled by the casual piazza seating and simple dark-wood interiors: this restaurant is saving up all the drama for your plate. Given the à la carte prices, you might as well go for the €55 fixed-price menu or the all-out adventure of the €75 tasting menu, where each course brings two bites of reinvented local fare – a prawn in a nest of shaved red pepper, black squid-ink ravioli stuffed with branzino, artichoke and soft-shell crab with squash saor (Venice’s tangy marinade). Dessert is a must, especially housemade gelati and hot chocolate pie.
reviewed
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Sangal
Venice by way of Manhattan, with daring cuisine that rocks the proverbial gondola, magazine-ready leather and marble decor, and romantic lighting that gives diners a certain glow…or maybe that’s the food. The menu winks at Venetian culinary history with classic dishes like tripe with polenta, but raises eyebrows and expectations with Venetian wheat pasta stuffed with raw scallops and sea urchin and pineapple ‘carpaccio’ with olive oil ice cream. Dine under the stars on the terrace in fine weather, and line up for lunch specials.
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Anice Stellato
If finding this obscure corner of Cannaregio seems like an adventure, wait until dinner arrives: pistachio-encrusted lamb fillet, wild sea bass with aromatic herbs, and perfectly fried moecche (soft-shell crab) gobbled whole. Sustainability isn’t an afterthought here, with filtered tap water instead of bottled stuff, and seasonal menu highlights. Tin lamps and recycled-paper placemats on communal tables keep the focus on local food and local company – all memorable.
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Mistrà
Take an authenticity trip to Giudecca for seafood served over a gondola-building workshop. Shipwrights troop in from the boatyards downstairs around lunchtime for generous plates of briny clam pasta and genuine Genovese pesto, and toss back scalding espresso over predictions for upcoming regattas. Dinner features more seafood specialities, at more-upmarket prices. To get here, look for No 211 on Fondamenta di San Giacomo, take the narrow passage beside it, and follow the Mistrà signs.
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I Figli delle Stelle
Declarations of love at Venice’s most romantic restaurant are slightly suspect: are you sure that’s not Pugliese chef Luigi’s velvety, heart-warming pasta and soup talking? A creamy fava bean soup with chicory and fresh tomatoes coats the tongue in a naughty way, and the lagoon-fresh mixed grill for two with langoustine, sole and fresh sardines is quite a catch – though given the cuisine and waterfront views of San Marco, this is a surprisingly reasonable date.
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Al Fontego dei Pescatori
Garden dining is the prime seating option and the menu inspiration here, since chef Bruno takes wild herbs and local vegetables as seriously as he takes his seafood. Bigoli (wheat pasta) with cuttlefish and fresh mint, pasta with wild asparagus and clams, and prawn risotto made with wild hops are the seasonal dishes to watch for here, but any dish based on an exotic vegetable or sea creature you can’t pronounce is a good bet.
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Ristorante al Trono di Attila
Good cheer and great prices make this spot the pick of the four canalside restaurants lining the path from the vaporetto stop to Torcello’s Santa Maria Assunta cathedral. Pull up a chair under the pergola in the charming garden and linger over risotto di pesce (fish risotto, €20 for two people). Like the other neighbouring restaurants, this place generally opens for lunch only, unless you book ahead for a group dinner.
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Antica Adelaide
Dinner is served in the art-filled salon of a recently restored old Venetian home that’s been serving food to neighbourhood crowds since the 18th century. Drop by for tea or cicheti, or stick around for a meal of €8 to €10 pasta, plus fish or such oddities as arrosto di cuore (roast heart). Service is variable, but the people-watching in this Cannaregio corner around happy hour beats dinner theatre.
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Da Fiore
The unprepossessing shopfront appearance belies an Art Deco interior and traditional dishes, such as risotto di scampi (prawn risotto) and bigoli in salsa (thick pasta in tomato sauce), prepared with optimum care. They need to be. Once praised by Patricia Wells as one of the finest eateries in Italy and one of only two in Venice to have a Michelin star, Da Fiore risks all by pushing prices to the stars.
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Osteria Alla Patatina
Pile in around the rough timber tables and benches for cicheti (including sarde in saor and other classics) or simple pasta dishes (such as the hearty pappardelle con scampi e porcini, a thick ribbon pasta with prawns and mushrooms), washed down with a robust Refosco red. The Potato Chip Inn (don't bother looking for chips!) makes no compromise with fickle trends and retains a traditional air.
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Ai Assassini
This backstreet joint offers a glimpse into a fairly typical Venetian eating scene. Head through the Gothic doorway into a lowlit, cluttered (all those pots and pans hanging from the ceiling) and bustling ambience and pull up a pew at one of the long timber tables for simple Venetian fare. The food is not spectacular but the prices are reasonably under control and, wonder of wonders, even locals eat here.
reviewed
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Ristorante Cantinone Storico
Tagliatelle with seasonal asparagus, prawns and artichokes in busura (prawn sauce) may sound simple, but try telling your tastebuds that. Classic Venetian dishes here cost a bit more than in other places, but you get what you pay for with superior ingredients, professional service, and canalside seating handy to the Gallerie dell’Accademia and Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
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Da Mario
Squeeze in among the motley collection of fisherman’s lamps, ceramic pitchers, watercolours, and the locals who made them, and make yourself at home with a generous plate of seafood pasta and wine by the litre. This classic osteria seems miles from tourist attractions and the 21st century, yet the Gallerie dell’Accademia and Palazzo Grassi are minutes away.
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Osteria al Diavolo e L’acquasanta
Mementos climb the walls, recalling a time when the Rialto regulars were slightly less grizzled and the bigoli (wheat pasta) and seppia in nero (squid in its own ink) here were at the beginnings of their fame. There’s always a wait for the cramped tables – meanwhile, blend in at the bar with an order of nervetti, or calf’s tendon.
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La Palanca
Lunchtime competition for canalside tables is stiffer than the race for regatta bragging rights on Giudecca, but the views of the Zattere make tagliolini ai calamaretti (narrow ribbon pasta with tiny calamari) taste even better. At €6 to €8 for full plates of pasta, you’ll be paying half what diners are paying along the waterfront in San Marco.
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Osteria Vivaldi
You could easily rush past here in the crush of the San Polo shopping district, but if it's a food time of day, drop in to this traditional eatery, with its low timber-beam ceiling and cosy dark-wood tables. Accompany your ombra with a few cicheti. Alternatively, sit down to a full meal and try the grigliata di pesce (mixed fish grill).
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