Best Restaurants In Venice
 

First visit to Venice. Would like opinon on what are the best four restaurants in Venice reguardless of price. Is the restaurant at the Cipriani worth it? Trying my best to avoid the tourist traps.

have not heard from anyone.

Hi Robert, <BR>CIPRIANI is a must do for their famous "Bellini" drink. That's about it. One is not enough, two should do it . Just enough to soak in the historic bar atmosphere Hemingway must had enjoyed.The food however, is not worth the money. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 6. <BR><BR>There is this little fancy restaurant right on the canal not far from San Marco Square where you can dine outside and enjoy the Pasta Fagiole Venice is known for while watching people begin their gandola ride just a few feet away. <BR><BR>Venice doesn't have the really memorable restaurants worthy of spending you money , not to be cheap and all. Save it for your trip to ROME, LAKE COMO, TUSCANY and CAPRI. <BR>Did I mention Rome for fine dining???<BR>A must....<BR><BR>Oh if you visit MURANO in Venice, don't leave without trying their fried calamari , Venetian Style (no marinara sauce at all) but it was the best fried calamari and buy as much Murano glass souvenirs, they're at least double the price here in the US and more without the great selection of course. <BR><BR>MUST invest at least $100 for a beautiful Venetian Mask and last but not least, enjoy Cafe Fiore every night with the live music in the piazza and the sight of San Marco. I recommend Hotel Danieli for a very memorable time in Venice overlooking the canal of course. <BR><BR>enjoy. <BR><BR><BR>

See this thread:<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&tid=1286857<BR><BR>with lists of several extensive threads on Venice restaurants.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Good evening, Robert On occasion have<BR>eaten at Harry' Bar which is famous as<BR>mentioned by Ditas of their Bellini.<BR>Have not eaten at the ristorante over<BR>at the Cipriani. An excellant place<BR>for lunch is the Locanda Cipriani on Torcello and just west of St. Marks<BR>Square about a block is the La Caravella<BR>in the Saturnia and lastly the Poste Vecie in the Rialto Pescheria Venezia.<BR>Richard of LaGrange Park, Il..

Try the Alla Madonna (not sure of the spelling. It is on a little side street off of the main canal street just north of the Rialto bridge. From the San Marco side of the Rialto bridge, cross the bridge, then take an immediate left along the Grande Canal. Then take the second left. It is a small side street, and the restuarant has a little yellow sign about half way down the street on your left. (Avoid the restuarants along the Canal as you head toward this restuarant. The restuarant is generally filled with locals. (It was recommended to us by two seperate shop-keepers away from the tourist areas). We always spend our last special night in Italy there (Plus a Thanksgiving dinner twice), and we have never been disappointed. You will find some tourists as well, but the food is great. (Dinner for three with a liter or two of wine was about $100. Try the seafood risotto, and anything with the squid ink sauce. Good luck.

I had a completely different impression of the Cipriani restaurant at the Cipriani Hotel on Giudecca, unless ditas was referring to Harry's Bar on the "mainland." For the Cipriani restaurant<BR>in the hotel, you take the hotel's private launch to go back and forth from San Marco (it's only a 3-4 minute ride.)<BR>The hotel grounds are gorgeous (in season at least) and the dining room is beautiful with Murano glass sconces.<BR>If you have a drink in the bar or on the terrace before dinner, you'll really start to relax.<BR>I've eaten there twice, and I thought the food and service were perfect, though from what you can already tell, very pricey indeed. Because it is in a hotel, many of the diners are of course visitors/tourists, but imo it is by no means a trap.<BR>The other top of the line place imo is Da Fiore. It has a very unimpressive entrance past a bar--at first we thought we were in the wrong place. The dining room is simple but very pretty, and some tables overlook a small canal.<BR>The food is really top-drawer as is the service; one of the top meals of my life.<BR>You can find more information on Da Fiore and other great places to dine in many sources, including doing a search on this message board, or following the link Rex provided. Very few top restaurants are unknown to visitors, and Venice lives on tourism, but the traps are mostly places around San Marco that advertise "tourist menus". <BR>I have found a very valuable pocket-sized book called<BR>"Time for Food Venice" published by Thomas Cook, which is excellent for restaurant suggestions at all price levels, even picnics.

Disagree on "no memorable restaurants in Venice". Da Fiore, Al Covo, Vinni di Gigio, Conte Sconta, all are excellent restaurants. The four belong to an association of five restaurants that guarantees quality ingredients and fair prices to all who visit their restaurants. Da Fiore a great seafood restaurant. Al Covo is so creative in their preperation of wonderful, healthy food. Di Gigio, our favorite, is a complete dinning experience with the wait staff and owner playing as integral a part as you wish with information on ingredients, preparation and sources for fine ingredients. Rita, the amazing owner at Conte Sconta, will, also, participate in menu selections with a real interest in your dinning preferences. She is a gem. We have never made the fifth restaurant of the association and it's name escapes me. But, if you ask at any of the above restaurants, they will give you a small brochure that explains the reason for their association and their committment to quality. Enjoy.

One of the other posts recommended this restaurant... but I really needed to give my two cents worth on it as well... This restaurant is called "Corte Sconta". There are no<BR>street names in Venice... so it's after the 4th bridge from Piazza San<BR>Marco....to Calle del Forno, va in Calle Del Pestrin. This is a lovely<BR>Italian woman owned restaurant. There are no menus. The owner just talks<BR>to you about what types of food you like and she creates your menu for<BR>you.... you're not quite sure what you're getting, but it'll be awesome!!!<BR>We had john dory fish (only found in Mediteranian), clams in white wine,<BR>mussels in sauce, black squid inked pasta, something similar to a<BR>crayfish.... just incredible fresh food and not too expensive (especially<BR>for Venice). Enjoy!<BR>

Hi Robert,<BR><BR>Yes, Cipriani is definitely worth it. It is beautiful and delicious and the service is wonderful. Also, the grouds of the Cipriani Hotel are absolutely beautiful. I must advise you that "ditas" has Cipriani confused with Harry's Bar which is known for the bellini. I can't comment on the food at Harry's because I haven't eaten there, but Cipriani is wonderful.<BR><BR>The other fabulous meal I had in Venice (maybe even better than Cipriani) was at Ai Gondolieri. It is right across the canal from the Peggy Guggenheim museum. We had an extensive tasting menu that was fabulous. I remember going there because it was a Monday night and our guide book advised us not to eat fish Monday night because that is the day that the fishermen take off, so the fish is not fresh. We went to Ai Gondolieri because it was one of the few restaurants with a menu more focused on meat than seafood.<BR><BR>I also disagree with the comment that there is no fine dining in Venice. We had nothing but fabulous meals while we were there. Just don't eat anyplace near the tourist spots. Make sure to go places more removed, even by just a couple of blocks will do it.<BR><BR>Have a great time!

Just returned from Venice last week. We had wonderful meals at Antico Martini and Il Forno.

ttt2

Seems that everyone has a different spelling for Corte Sconda (this is mine) but everyone agrees that the food is terrific. I second the rec on Ai Gondelieri, which is also a member of the group mentioned by another poster. A couple of others I especially like are Il Cortile in the Saturnia hotel, the floating restaurant at the Monaco and Grand Hotel, and yet a third Cipriani related place--Harry's Dolci on the Guidecca. Latter is best for lunch with tables right up to the canal between Guidecca and Dorsoduro and with wonderful views back across to the Zatterre. Try their gnocchi. Little pillows of potato with tomato and basil.