I don't know what your standards for food are. I would not eat pizza in Venice. You can more easily find acceptable pasta, but you need to know where to look, and to pay for it.

You can find non-seafood choices in Venice (it is a tourist town, after all), but you need to realize that if you go to a city built on water that any meat you eat is coming from someplace else unless it is duck. Other meat won't be great or if they are, you have to pay for that.

Doing a search on the Chowhound message board for Venice will be pay off as an investment of your time if you care about eating well in Venice. If you care most about price and eating nothing-too-far-out-of-your-norm, then asking tourist you pass on the street in Venice will get you the same quality of advice you get on the internet.

love Venice. but not crazy about northern Italy food. In the states, we're use to the southern Italy food. Venician food is just Ok.

I've had some very good pizza in Venice. My favorites-

Casa Mia- Calle dell'Oca 4430 (Cannaregio)

La Perla- Rio Terra dei Franceschi 4615 (Cannaregio)

da Sandro- Campiello Meloni 1473 (San Polo)

Ae Oche- Calle delle Tintor 1552 (Santa Croce)

We have had great pizza in Venice (for a casuale lunch) at a little neighborhood place down a random calle - and I could find it again only on the spot. But this is like coming to NY for TexMex food - it's not what is local or we do best.

The cuisine of Venice is based heavily on seafood (of which there are many types - lots of fish as well as shrimp, clams and all sort of things - besides the ones with squiggly bits). Also, while you can get pasta, the areas around Venice is know for it;s rice - an I would definitely try a couple of risottos - which can be excellent.

Birraria la Corte in San Polo is a very good
http://www.birrarialacorte.it/it/
Recommend starting with an arugula salad with thinly sliced pecorino cheese all drizzled with chestnut honey.

>>But this is like coming to NY for TexMex food - it's not what is local<<

There is plenty of good pizza in New York City, even though it's not "local." Like NYC, Venice is historically a city of immigrants and trade, so it is hard to identify what is "local" when it comes to local cuisine. The problem with eating pizza in Venice is that nobody is making good pizza in Venice. You would hear about it if it was happening, believe me. In fact, what you generally hear is how awful the pizza in Venice.

Rice was brought to Venice from China by Marco Polo, and there is now a long tradition of making good rice dishes (just like there is along tradition of making good pizza in New York City). But the areas around Venice are not known for rice. Venetian risotti are made from a specialty rice grown near Mantova, in Lombardia. (In the Veneto, people more often eat polenta as their starch.) The area of Italy most known for its rice is Piemonte, which is on the opposite side of the country from Venice.

More importantly, eating risotto in Venice is no answer to the too-much-seafood problem. Most risotti in Venice are seafood risotti. (Good luck tracking down risi e bisi outside of springtime.)

If you want to eat something other than seafood within a 15 minute walk of where you are astying, you can find it. If you want have passable or even great food eating in Venetian restaurants, or are looking for pizza and homemade pasta in Venice that isn't sub-par, check out what's recommended on chowhound, where there is a lot information about Venetian restaurants posted by people who go there several times a year and are professionally involved with food.

You can order pasta at Ristorante Fiaschetteria Toscana. Good restaurant

The best pizza I ever had was a margarita in Venice - it was simple and perfect, washed it down with some local wine. I have no idea where we went, but it was a small place with some locals I think.

Ae Oche has a new branch on the Zattere if you want pizza. I haven't tried it but it gets good reviews.

Try Polenta with Baccala, or Pasta or Risotto with Sepie, Spaghetti Vongole, grilled seafood. The myth that food is poor in Venice emanates from people uwilling to make an effort, do research and expand their horizons. Italy is a large country food-wise with distinct regions.

This restaurant in Dorsoduro, not too far from your hotel in San Polo,might suit your needs.

They have pizza and non-fish dishes and are accommodating to tourists:





http://www.tavernasantrovaso.it/taverna/index.php/en/pizzeria

There is indeed a lot of rubbish pizza in Venice, but there are some places we find acceptable. So far our the best is either of the 2 Casin dei Nobili restaurants in Dorsduro, the original one on Fondamenta della Toletta and the Terrazza di CdN on the Zattere (also one of our favourite places generally, particularly for the seafood pasta & main courses from the daily specials menu). The FdT one only does pizza after 7pm, not sure about the Zattere one. FdT is about 10-15 mins walk for you, the Zattere about another 5 mins on top.

We've also had quite good pizza at Le Due Colonne in Campo Sant'Agostin - we have only been once so far but will go back. Quite cheap, has tables out in square.

We also quite like the Ristorante San Trovaso (related to the Taverna San Trovaso mentioned by eks, v. similar menu but we prefer it as it has a garden) for Venetian staples - nice enough but nothing special. Didn't even realise they did pizza! We usually have pasta or antipasto then the mixed fried fish there.

When we were taking Italian classes one of our teachers recommended the new Ae Oche on the Zattere for pizza (but nothing else), but I've often walked past at lunchtime & always thought those I could see didn't look great.

For more expensive places with IMO the best pasta dishes, our favourites are the Osteria Enoteca Ai Artisti in Fondamenta della Toletta and - as of a couple of weeks ago - the Osteria Al Ponte del Diavolo on Torcello (all pasta homemade, only open for lunch), in case you are going there - I posted a review on Tripadvisor.

Most pasta dishes everywhere are however seafood pasta dishes. Ai Artisti is one of the few places usually mainly featuring seafood which is open on Monday, when it does just meat & veg dishes. La Bitta on Calle Lunga San Barnaba is a good non-fish restaurant.

Personally I don't much rate the Chowhound board for Italy.

I would never use Tripadvisor as a place to make eating choices.

The Chowhound posts for Venice are so knowledgeable and detailed about dining in all categories in Venice, I'm having a hard time believing you ever looked at them. Here is an example of specific and knowledgeable they are. I pretty much defy anybody posting here to match it for range;

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/866176

And you can find others just like it on Chowhound asking specifically about where to eat non-seafood meals.

It would be a pity to try to steer this poster away from such a rich source of information.

Each to their own, but whenever I've looked at Chowhound those offering advice are nearly all Americans with limited (holiday) experience of Venice, and reviews are written from a very much American point of view. I live in Venice and don't find it useful.

We stayed in Ca' Angeli and I can second the recommendation for Birrara La Corta in Campo San Polo. We ate there 3 of the 4 nights we were there. I wouldn't say it was the best food I ever ate, but it was on par with best I had in Italy. The pizza was very good and the house wine is dirt cheap. 1 eur per glass or 7/8 eur per carafe.

It can be touristy with screaming kids and strollers, though. We tried to eat later when there are less children to ruin the excellant atmosphere. They have no apparent hostess, so you have to flag down one of the older guys running around for a table, who might treat you a little gruff.

We tried da Sandro but didn't like it very much despite the good reviews. It is very small and close to the people walking past you. Also, the waiter was a sweaty slob and stood too close to the table chain smoking. We decided to go for the better atmosphere.


Both are really close to the Ca'Angeli.

aguamineral ~ I tried Chowhound ~ couldn't find a search engine on the Italy board for "Venice." I don't want to search through all those Italy messages to find Venice. How do I do this?

I do like TA for reviews. If there are some "terribles" or "poors" you can look at them by date to see if they are older or more recent and you can check out the other reviews by a reviewer. I do like it that the reviews come from people all over the world. I use TA, this Forum, Google search and images, and the website for the Restaurant. I have also just figured out that looking at the images on the TA review for a restaurant is also pretty helpful. Many of the reviewers take pictures of the inside and outside, and the food. The pictures really help.

Thanks all, keep them coming! I will start researching today.

Wrenwood: Do a Google search for "Chowhound Venice."

Look for posts by PBSF, who is one of several posters who spend many months of each year in Venice. There are other very reliable posters on that board as well, many of these are people who either live in the country or visit regularly. Although they write in English, many are not American. Although there is an emphasis, perhaps, on high-end eateries in Venice, there is plenty of advice on restaurants in the moderate range as well. Agree that you need to take some time to plow through all the entries.

Virtually all restaurants will have at least a few non-fish dishes on the menu. As always in italy, I would use the written menu as a guide, but also make sure to consult with the server to see what is recommended that particular day.

I am not a fan of TripAdvisor for restaurant reviews. Although some are written by knowledgable posters, and you can sometimes get a general feel for a place by plowing through the reams of reviews, you can also get a very skewed picture of the best places to eat in a particular destination. For example, in my home city of New York, a halal street cart is rated as the 6th "best" restaurant, and a bakery is ranked at #1.

I visited Venice in 2010. I dont eat seafood of any kind but loved the food out there.

We tended to stay away from the restaurants alongside the Grand Canal ad st Marks and headed for the restaurant in the back streets the food seemed a little cheaper.

We ate a selection of pasta / risotto and pizza and every meal was beautiful.

Have a lovely trip, i cant wait to get back to Venice its my favourite Italian place so far

The little whole fish floating in clear broth killed my appetite in Venice. Had trouble getting anything other than fish - but then I wasn't in charge of choosing our restaurants. Next time I'll stand my ground. It sounds like lots of people here were able to get a decent meal - but I practically starved to death because I seldom eat fish.

I've been to Venice twice, hadn't thought about it but I don't think I ever ate seafood while I was there. I hadn't researched restaraurants and we just went wherever was handy without the greatest results honestly. But it wasn't because there was only seafood available.

This will sound crazy but my favorite thing to eat in Venice was the sandwiches that are made ready-to-eat in the glass cases at some of the sitdown cafes. Some delicious ones with hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, roast vegetables, etc. They just really hit the spot (fairly plain, very fresh) during a day walking around the city.

I also love that you can get a glass of cold white wine at pretty much any stand-up counter serving coffee. Handy!

What about La Zucca?

What about it? It's not Venetian, so it doesn't do much fish -- and therefore very popular.

Try La Bitta, Calle Lunga San Barnaba, in Dorsoduro. They are proud of the fact that they don't serve fish.

We've eaten well there several times, and the smoked leg of goose was pretty good.

Wrenwood, we enjoy La Zucca, have been twice, two different trips - they do wonderful things with vegetables. Reservations a must.

If you are looking for a place that does not serve fish, this is one option; I had a very good meal here years ago and the reviews still look good. I will always remember the restaurant because I had my first taste of Colonnata lardo here, on a tasting menu. I swooned over it, and they then presented me with a whole plate of gossamer thin slices.

http://www.aigondolieri.com/default.asp?lang=en

I am thinking La Zucca might be nice for the first night as it's only about a 10 min walk from the Hotel, and we need to get up early the next morning.

La Bitta is definitely on the list, thanks all for that one.

Anyone been to Pizzeria Trattoria All'Anfora or Antica Birraria La Corte?

La Zucca was delicious. We were just there. Make sure that you have a reservation. They have 2 seatings - 7 pm and 9 pm and if you want to dine outdoors you should specify when booking.

The service when we were there was precise but very snooty - but the food - terrific. You have been warned! In fact, the service in Venice (aside from a lovely server at Anice Stellato and the waitstaff at Muro San Stae) was totally aloof, and at La Zucca from one female staffer in particular, almost rude.

I hope that you have better luck in that regard.

There was a place just across from La Zucca as well that looked as if they were turning out some nice pasta dishes. I cannot remember the name though, but if you are there, perhaps check out the menu. Also go just up the way to the Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio - lots of nightlife there! When we were there they had a band playing Beatles on night and Italian tunes the other. Lovely! and 2 E Proseccos to help enjoy the music.

Thanks jamierin. I too hope we don't get snooty waitstaff, that can really spoil a meal!

Your answer did make me wonder. What does a restaurant do if you book an outside table and then it is terrible weather?

I always wonder that too but I assume that they would seat you inside. Are you going soon? Perhaps you can get a weather report for your first night. Inside was nice too, so not to worry in that regard.

Enjoy Venice!

I can third [fourth?] la Bitta. the heap of various cuts of meat set in a sea of polenta went down particularly well with DS but it was a LARGE portion, the steaks that DD and I had were more manageable.

ciccetti [bar snacks] and tramezzini [triangular sandwiches] are all worth looking out for; there was a particularly good bar serving delicious filled rolls in the little square near our apartment which was at the back of the piaaza san bartolomeo - basic directions are that you head into the callle between the Coin department store and the public toilets, and turn right and left!

in fact that whole area is full of interest and well worth exploring.

"Anyone been to Pizzeria Trattoria All'Anfora or Antica Birraria La Corte?"

Yup and both are good. Anfora has better pizza and they are HUGE to boot. But Birreria la Corte has other stuff besides pizza (including the arugula starter Anna recommends above) plus a really great wine list. I would go back to both in a heartbeat.

We'll be there late September, I was just hoping to get some reservations made.

I found 2 places that said La Bitta is cash only? I think they're closed Sundays, don't know about Mondays, can't find a website for them. Need to convince DH about the cash only thing with La Bitta.

We have 4 nights. Too many choices. Right now I have La Zucca and Da Mamo, maybe LaPorta Acqua, maybe Al Paradiso. Birraria la Corte?

And I don't know if we want to try someplace like L'Osteria di Santa Marina or Fiaschetteria Toscana or????? that's a little pricier for our Anniversary dinner. I'd hate to pay the high prices in Venice for a speciall night out and be disappointed or get a snooty waiter!

Need to convince DH about the cash only thing with La Bitta.>>

not quite sure what the problem with cash is, wrenwood. we're not talking cipriani prices. i can't remember exactly, but I'd be surprised if we paid more than €100 for 2 courses, wine, water, for 4 of us.

Ann that makes me feel better! With no website and high prices in Venice I was thinking it would be at least twice that for 3 of us, thanks for the feedback.

Hi wrenwood,

I'm taking the liberty of posting the link to my TR from our family holiday in Venice 3-4 years ago [it says 2010 but I don't believe that!] as you might be interested in what we ate and what it cost.

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/we-went-to-venice-and-we-saw.cfm

couple of things to say - it was a few years ago [I think 4 as DD was 20 and she's 24 now] so prices might have gone up, but OTOH the € has come down so the actual cost is probably about the same.

the restaurants mentioned towards the end of the trip in the calle san barbara is la Bitta, I think. [Peter_Aus and I had an argument about that, and I think he won!]. also my memory has failed me slightly in some of the things I said above - it's the CAMPO San Bartolomeo, for example.

if you are worried about prices, and not too keen on fish, you will do well to avoid ordering whole fish that are priced by weight. [it'll say on the menu " /gr" or " /kg".] of course there are many places where you will not get ripped off if you order fish like that, but it does give the unscrupulous an opportunity to make a bit of extra cash.

if you stick to places recommended here [especially by Peter or caroline] IMO you can't got far wrong.

Is this the place you were thinking of, annhig?

http://www.osteriairusteghi.com/html/home.html

well done, baby. the entrance to our apartment was at the back of the campo.

i could never work out the opening hours of the osteria but it was very nice when it WAS open.

I'm absolutely amazed that there has been no mention of the outdoor pizzaria at the foot of the bridge to Dorsoduro! Wonderful view of the Grand Canal, good pizza and beer (or wine) and relatively inexpensive.

DTJ, yes, you're thinking of the one right at the Accademia Bridge, on the Dosoduro side. Excellent. And on Murano there is wonderful pizza at Osterio Duomo. In fact you can get excellent pizza in Venice -- just like you can in New York or elsewhere. Some pizzerias are even owned and run by Italians who have moved from Naples, so why wouldn't it be good?

And I've had excellent pasta at a number of places, including the best lasagna I think I've ever had (on a couple of recommendations, as I'd never think of ordering lasagna in Venice) -- at Enoteca Mascareta in Castello.

Hm, IMO the pizzeria at the foot of the Accademia bridge has just barely-acceptable pizza - we'd only go there in an emergency, e.g. getting pushed for time to go anwhere else - but I agree the location is lovely..

IME the vegetable dishes at La Zucca are great, the meat dishes not so great. The website is here - http://www.lazucca.it/?lang=en

Anyway)) Just don't go to the restourant in the middle of the center - their menus are only for tourist and you'll pay three times more that native for the same dish

Agree about La Zucca, most of the vegetable dishes are delicious, particularly the sformate. And the setting is lovely on a warm evening. Have you tried Antiche Carampane or Algiubagio yet, Caroline? Both are in the splurge category for us, but justifiable while on holiday!

Highly recommend Il Refolo for pizza.

il Refolo.
Campiello del Piovan
Santa Croce, 1459
+39 041 524 0016

"Hm, IMO the pizzeria at the foot of the Accademia bridge has just barely-acceptable pizza - we'd only go there in an emergency. . ."

A good reminder. We all don't like the same pizza. I remember being told that a couple of places in London had great pizza -- and I nearly gagged on it. Some people rave about Chicago deep dish pizza and I can't stand it. Ask New Yorkers about the best pizza and you may start a war.

"Good" anything, be it pizza, wine, coffee, or ice cream, is very subjective.

>I also love that you can get a glass of cold white wine at pretty much any stand-up counter serving coffee. Handy!<

suze~this was one of my favorite things as well!

Good point, Patrick.

Hi Tarquin. No, haven't eaten at either of those yet, although I think we've had the odd Spritz at Algiubiagio while waiting for a vaporetto to the islands. Since our splurges are limited as this is now real life and not a hol (& we're unemployed!), we are still largely using them to revisit old faves, although we got sucked into our new fave as part of visiting Torcello on the Festa della Assunta (basilica, museum & concert free - lunch E139! ) But I hadn't heard of Antiche Carampane, so thanks for another recommendation for future investigation! You are coming over soon, aren't you?

Hi Caroline, I missed your message until today.

The fun part of Antiche Carampane is finding it, you have a real sense of accomplishment when you get there!

We will be in a flat in Padova 15th to 22nd Sept, during which time we'll have 3 or 4 daytrips to Venice along with visits to other old favourites like Villa La Malcontenta (Tues) and Vicenza (Wed.) Want to meet for a spritz?

Hi Tarquin - that would be lovely. If you look at DH's blog - http://jonesesavenezia.blogspot.it/ - it has an email address on it. We are currently free during the daytime any day next week.

Latest update on the Santa Marta farmers' market - c.6 fruit & veg stalls, 1 winemaker, 2 cheese stalls, 1 baker, 1 butcher, 1 selling eggs + chickens, 1 with honey, 1 with plants & herbs.

ciao, caroline,

thanks for reposting your DH's blog - i enjoyed catching up with what you've been doing in more detail - and the pics of you "cozying" up to the mussels!

we really liked Torcello and went twice during our last stay in Venice. we didn't come across the Osteria del diavolo, but did have a very nice and reasonable lunch at the Taverna d'Attilla, which I infer was a little more traditional than your new find. as for the Basilica - I think that your DH describes it very well. i remember being struck by two things, apart from the mosaics - the fact that it was last renovated over 1000 years ago, and the view of snow on the Dolomites as we left, on a boat that was somewhat LESS crowded than the one you were on.

apropos of italian lessons, they tried to change the time of my conversation class to the day-time when i couldn't do it, but due to pressure from me and a few others, [and the fact that had they stuck to the alteration, they didn't have enough people to run the class] they've put it back to its old time. are you going back to the language school?

Hi Ann and thanks for the kind words. We've only so far seen the snow-covered Dolomites hanging in the air once, en route to Lazzaretto Nuovo - it is breathtaking, isn't it? Re Italian classes - no, that's us done now, having had our 3 months at half price! I really need to try to work out some sort of conversational arrangement, though - as I believe Peter_S_Aus's DW did. It struck me on Saturday that my longest Italian conversations are with the lady in the draught wine shop! Well done on sticking to your guns and keeping your class when you need it.

Well done on sticking to your guns and keeping your class when you need it.>>

i certainly need it - lol! I'm hoping to get to Sicily next spring and I want to be able to do more than say 'si" and "non`" in what I hope are the right places. but also we have a good time and a laugh, as well as meeting socially occasionally.

do they have the equivalent of the advert in the post office window where you could advertise for other people to converse with? or for a 50/50 arrangement? or is there a noticeboard at the language school that you could post something on? how often do you get to the draught wine shop? [you don't HAVE to answer that!]

Thanks Ann, good suggestions. Twice a week, normally - but you didn't ask how much I buy each time

Twice a week, normally - but you didn't ask how much I buy each time >>

LOL, do they do half bottles, Caroline?

there was one of these excellent establishments just outside the entrance to the courtyard where our apartment was, and we were in there quite often in the week we stayed there. it's round the back of the campo san bartolomeo, as I think I've said before. where is your "offie"?

We'll be able to see Antiche Carampane from our apartment window this coming holidays. We'll be there for holloween, Feast-day of the Madonna della Salute, american thanksgiving, Christmas, new year and epiphany. Would love to meet you and your husband, Caroline, over drinks.

annhig, I know the San Bartolomea area pretty well. We stayed in two different apartments above the Rosticceria Sa,n Bartolomeo - two months in 2009 and two months in 2010. We have been "living" in Venice two or three months every year since 2007.

OP, if you are still out there? The acqua was fairly alta today (to the extent of some vaporetto routes being affected), but it didn't reach the top of the steps inside your water gate.

Today's farmers' market news - there was an additional salumeria, which however I didn't try today. But I have decided the porchetta from the original butcher's stall (Pastrello) may be the best pork I've ever tasted! And only E10/kg.

Ann, My old regular is the one in the Campo dei Carmini, which used to be on Calle Lunga San Barnaba (there's a different outfit there now). Now we are not at school and going to Dorsoduro all week any more, I usually shop there on Saturday & top up as required at the place round the corner from us on Calle de le Botteghe, Dai Do Cancari - or Dai the Wine as we call it!

baby2, that will be great - see my response to Tarquin above re getting an email address for us from DH's blog.

Caroline, hello!

Since your comment to the "OP" is about acqua alta affecting "my" water gate, I'm guessing that you may be directing your comment to me, rather than Wrenwood? If I'm right about that--thank you so much for the info about our water gate--I've been checking the weather in Venice and wondering about that! And if your comment is not directed to me--well, it's still helpful anyway.

Either way, I've been meaning to respond to the additional Venice info that you and others have posted since I last responded--thank you, thank you. My husband and I will be departing the U.S. this Saturday, arriving Sunday in Venice--I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! Unfortunately, I've been overwhelmed by some family and workplace issues that have taken up a lot more of my time recently, plus all of the stuff to do getting ready for our trip, so I haven't had much time to catch up on the Forum.

Coincidentally, I googled the Santa Marta market today and on several websites it gives the hours as 2:00pm to 7:00 pm. That seems different from your descriptions. Perhaps it's just more incorrect information on the web.

Ah - hi, RMMR2, yes I had got the 2 threads mixed up!

Yes, I think I said the first time we went to the farmers' market, we took the hours from the comune website (2-7) & turned up about 4 - but some stalls had already packed up. I asked one of the stallholders about it and he said it had been changed to start at 11, maybe because people don't want to shop after lunch when it's hot. No sign of it changing back, though! And we know the comune website (and others obviously cribbed from it) are wrong, don't we, as they say the Rialto market is open every day! The last couple of weeks I've got there c.11.30 and it's been quite busy. Maybe our paths will cross there next Monday - buon viaggio!