Bar entertainment in Venice
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Tarnowska's
Watch your step as you pop down a couple of steps into this elegant hotel bar (locals know it as La Contessa, the Countess), ideal for a cocktail or postprandial brandy. With its polished tile floors, it spreads into several separate spaces. Alongside those having an animated chat over lovingly prepared tall drinks are other folks beavering away at computers, for this is one of those rare things in Venice, a wi-fi spot. The Russian Countess Maria Tarnowska, it is said, had one of her lovers assassinated in this very place.
The Russian Countess Maria Tarnowska, it is said, had one of her lovers assassinated in this very place.
reviewed
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Bar Terazza Danieli
Gondolas glide in to dock along the quay, while across the lagoon the white marble edifice of Palladio’s San Giorgio Maggiore turns into gold in the waters of the canal: the late afternoon scene from the Hotel Danieli’s recently restored balcony bar definitely calls for a toast. Arrive after lunch, and linger the afternoon away over a spritz (€10) or cocktail (€18 to €22) – preferably the sunset-tinted signature Danieli cocktail of gin, apricot and orange juices, and a splash of grenadine. Drinks come with complimentary nibbles and the occasional celebrity sighting.
reviewed
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Al Mercà
Discerning drinkers throng this upbeat bar for top-notch prosecco & DOC wines by the glass at €2 to €3.50, and scrap dinner plans in favour of cicheti, starting at just €1 for meatballs and mini-panini. Arrive by 6.30pm for the best selection of snacks and easy bar access, or mingle with crowds of stragglers stretching to the Grand Canal docks – there’s no seating, and it’s elbow-room-only at this little gem of a bar.
reviewed
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Cantinone Già Schiavi
Good lungs and long arms are instrumental in procuring orders during Cantinone’s cheerfully chaotic happy hour, when the entire neighbourhood descends for pallottoline (small bottles of beer) with salame crostini (open-face sandwiches with salami) and marinated artichokes. Students, gondola builders and Accademia art historians mingle on the quay out front, parting to greet the neighbourhood nonna (grandmother) and fetch her a glass of Soave.
reviewed
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Muro Vino e Cucina
No velvet rope here, though it’s the kind of snazzy urban place you’d expect to find one, given the aluminium bar, sexy backlighting and see-and-be-seen picture windows. Prices are friendly too, with wines by the glass starting at €2, respectable cocktails from €5, and €1.50 to €3.50 cicheti at the bar. The upstairs restaurant is swanky, but low tables out in the campo are more happening than any VIP lounge.
reviewed
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Café Noir
Morning brings the crowd that was here late last night back for espresso, only a little worse for the wear after all those top-shelf €6 to €8 cocktails. Architecture students, musicians and travellers converge for spritz in the calle (street), where the quickest way to start a conversation is to state any of the following: Calatrava is overrated, Albinoni is underrated, and spritz with Aperol is better than with Campari.
reviewed
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Harry's Bar
Aspiring auteurs throng the bar frequented by Ernest Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin, Truman Capote, Orson Welles and others, enjoying a signature €18 Bellini (Giuseppe Cipriani’s original 1948 recipe: fresh-pressed peach juice and prosecco ) with a side of reflected glory. Despite the basic bistro decor, this is one of Italy’s most expensive restaurants – stick to the bar to save financing for your breakthrough film.
reviewed
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Antica Osteria Ruga Rialto
Although seafood salads and the classic fritto misto e pattatine (lightly fried lagoon seafood and potatoes) – Venice’s answer to fish and chips – earn this osteria (pub-restaurant) a loyal following, drink is the common bond at this place by night’s end. The back room doubles as a gallery of local emerging artists, and the occasional live-music set fills the narrow alleyway with revellers all the way to the Grand Canal.
reviewed
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Caffè Blue
At this coolish student bar you may encounter live music, but it's more likely to be a DJ (Wednesday is a good night). If the DJ is good, the place packs to the rafters and punters spill out onto the street. It can be quiet on midweek evenings, which could be a good time to pop by with your laptop, as they have wi-fi for customers. On Thursday night there's a cocktail happy hour from 21:00 to 23:00. It has a good stock of whiskies, too.
reviewed
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Ultima Spiaggia di Pachuka
Between planned development work and Mose barrier construction, summer beach party nights are becoming more sporadic at this legendary ‘Last Beach’ on the far side of the Lido, with word of free live music events and late-night DJ sets passing via flyer and word of mouth – but that only makes them worth finding. Keep an eye out for flyers around Campo Santa Margherita, and ask what’s happening at Pachuka.
reviewed
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Paradiso Perduto
Paradiso Perduto ‘Paradise Lost’ is a find for anyone craving a cold beer canalside on a hot summer’s night, with occasional live music acts. Over the past 25 years, Italian jazz great Massimo Urbani, troubadour Vinicio Capossela, and Keith Richards have played the small stage at the Paradiso. On Sundays, jam sessions hosted by two independent local labels alternate with local art openings.
reviewed
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Il Caffè Rosso
Sunny piazza seating is the place to recover from last night’s revelry and today’s economic-crisis headlines, until the cycle begins again at 6pm with spritz cocktails and overflowing student crowds. Locals affectionately call this no-name joint caffè rosso because of its red sign, and it earns the nickname nightly with inexpensive spritz with a generous splash of bright-red Aperol.
reviewed
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Sacro e Profano
Musicians, artists, esoteric philosophers and the odd nutter make the crowd at this hideaway under the Rialto exceptionally fun to be around over drinks. Once you’re drawn into conversation, you may wind up settling in for a generous plate of pasta or chicken curry, or getting invited along to a ska show – the place is run by a former Venetian ska band leader, which explains the trumpets on the wall.
reviewed
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Ai Do Draghi
Ai Do Draghi‘Permesso! ’ (Pardon!) is the chorus inside this historic bacaro, where the standing-room-only crowd spills out onto the sidewalk and tries not to spill drinks in the process. If you can squeeze inside, past the tiny wood-beamed bar, there’s more seating out back, or just let the crowd carry you to tables outside on the campo (square).
reviewed
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Vitae
When things around here start to look grim, people converge on this place. On a Friday or Saturday night it's a lively joint for a convivial drink - and one of the few seriously decent options in the San Marco area for a fun-loving, unpretentious crowd. Vitae is also busy by day - it's a popular brunch spot for local office workers - and it's packed for after-work drinks, too.
reviewed
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B Bar
Pose as glitterati for the night at the gold-mosaic B-Bar, where top-shelf cocktails are thoughtfully served with bar nibbles and a piano player plays softly so as not to upstage VIP guests like you. There’s an entire menu of creative twists on the classic Venetian spritz, such as the bittersweet Rialto ( prosecco, gin and a splash of grenadine).
reviewed
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Mojito Bar
A tiny slice of Caribbean on the Lido, run by traveller-friendly twin brothers Andrea and Giovanni, this place (known affectionately as il baretto, the little bar) is the happening bar in the summer months. When nothing else is going on in, say, October, this is the place to be for beers, cocktails with fresh fruit (around €5.50) and Latin sounds.
reviewed
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Un Mondo di Vino
Get there early for first crack at the fresh and largely unfried bar noshes – marinated artichokes and mussels if you’re lucky – and a few square inches of ledge to help you balance your overflowing plate and glass of wine. There are 45 wines offered by the glass here with prices ranging from €1.50 to €4, so take a chance on whatever the bartender recommends.
reviewed
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Bacaro
Good looks and smarts too: the bar at Bacaro is a shimmering mosaic oval that reflects well on you. The business-casual clientele in for an afternoon espresso gets elbowed out by the spritz -swilling literary crowd after events at Mondadori next door, and holiday romances, going very well indeed, drift in around midnight for a three-hour nightcap.
reviewed
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Ancorà
Minimalist maestro Tadao Ando would approve of this chic bar tucked under the ancient porticos of Rialto waterfront warehouses, stripped down to bare bricks and spiffed up with square iron tables for two, hidden on an indoor balcony. Jazz, Grand Canal views, prosecco, raw oysters, organic produce and modern romance are house specialities.
reviewed
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Centrale
Under moody Murano-chandelier lighting, you might spot Juliette Binoche, Spike Lee, Charlize Theron, and sundry Italian moguls within these exposed-brick walls. Meal prices are high and the optional bodyguard service seems a bit much, but Centrale draws late-night crowds for mojitos, midnight snacks, chill-out DJ sets and occasional live jazz.
reviewed
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Bacaro Jazz
The dark red interior and unabashedly brash feel, not to mention the location right on the main tourist thoroughfare, may not make it your favourite, but a drink's a drink in a town where bars open after 02:00 aren't exactly in surplus. You need to be inside by 02:00 to benefit from the last hour's drinking, however.
reviewed
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Pub Tortuga
During the day this is a fairly standard café-bar, where you can pop by for a coffee, a beer and perhaps a bruschetta. At night it livens up as local punters slip in to sample the various imported beers on tap and, occasionally, a little live music. It's a warm little island in this lonely Cannaregio corner.
reviewed
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Al Timon
Pull up your director’s chair along the canal and watch the nightly parade commence. Paint-spattered bohemians join famished students and the stray Japanese hipster bingeing on crostini (open-face sandwiches) at the bar, and quality hooch keeps the evening nicely lubricated until the wee hours.
reviewed
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Taverna da Baffo
Named after Casanova’s licentious poet pal Giorgio Baffo and lined with his explicit odes to womanly curves, this upbeat bar draws a chatty young crowd with respectable spritz and imported beer. In summer, arrive early to stake your claim on outdoor tables and the bartender’s attention.
reviewed
