Anyone been here lately? Is it easy to find? Is it open at night for snacks as well as dinner?

Yes, Yes, just behind the Rialto fish and vegetable market, just off Campo San Giacometto (the campo with the ancient church and the huge clockface) only until 8pm for cichetti-very expensive, atmospheric, copper pots, 14th century, but Bancogiro and Al Merca, both bacari in Campo San Giacometto, offer better prices for wine and cichetti, go look around Cantina do Mori but go to the other bacari-also Do Spade, which is just off the Campo as well.

Hi Everyone!

Wanted to revive this thread because we'll be in Venice and Padua soon... and we love cicchetti!!!

If anyone has been to any of the above-mentioned "bacari" more recently, please post here with any recommendations.

Also, has anyone been to "Gigi Bar" in Padua for cicchetti? Grazie!

Well, the information given here is old... and has never been very good. Do Mori is an excellent place; it's not open at night, like most every "cicheti" - this is how Venetians spell it - place (they close at 8 or 9 pm - Do Mori at 8, if I remember correctly). Bancogiro and Al Mercà are modern fake bacari, just a few years old and made for tourists - definitely no authentic experience. And Do Spade offered great cicheti - once upon a time, until 1995 or so. Then, it was a very good restaurant (no cicheti); and then, the owner retired, the place changed hands several times, and now it's posh, always empty and from what I hear and read, dreadful.
THE place for cicheti in Venice is Cantina di vini già Schiavi, nothing comes near it; Do Mori, as I said, is very good, too.

FRANCO: Grazie mille for responding to the post! Are you currently living in Venice? Or do you just visit often?

I had heard that DO MORI is authentic, but can be quite expensive. But yes, I already had GIA SCHIAVI on my list as well!

The other thing I'm dying to know is where IN VENICE OR PADOVA (Padua), I can find an enoteca or shop that sells red wines from FRIULI. I fell in love with a Pinot Nero from Friuli... but we may not be able to travel to Friuli to get it. So I'm hoping I can find it in one of the other cities we'll be in. Thank you!

No, I'm not living there, but visiting so often that I'm ALMOST living there
For your Friuli red wines, once more, the first place I'd try is già Schiavi, which is also an enoteca, and the best I know, and very reasonably priced, too. Otherwise, try at Al Volto, which is likely to be more expensive, but one of Venice's best enoteche (also a great place to sip a glass of wine, but I suggest to skip their cicheti). Padova is not my "home territory", I can't help much there.
But if you want to buy really that specific Pinot Nero, the best way is certainly to call the producer, and ask where his wine can be found in Venice or Padova.

Is Cantina di Vino Già Schiavi still open? They were closed every time I walked by this past March.

Of course it's open. I've been twice last week, on Friday and on Saturday.

FRANCO: Thanks again!

HOLLY: Are you sure you went to the right place? I saw their listing as "Cantinone Gia Schiavi" at Dorsoduro 992 (Fondamenta Maravege).

Don't worry about già Schiavi. They are always open, except for Sundays (and just until 8.30 or 9 pm). They're five in the family, all working there: the senior parents, and three sons. (The greatest wine expert among them is the shortest of the three brothers, btw.) One or another of them will always be there, so this is certainly not a place that will ever close down. Perhaps they were on a holiday in March, that's nothing Venetian businesses would typically explain to their clientele. (The locals know it anyway, and the others? Oh well.)

Yes, same place, betty. Glad to hear they're still open. With so many long-time shops closing each year, it doesn't surprise me to see anything closed any more.

HOLLY: I'll be sure to report back here after visiting "Gia Schiavi" in a few weeks... Cheers to both of you!