Inexpensive Restaurant in Venice
 

I have searched this website for Venice restaurant, looking for inexpensive,<BR>good restaurants. I like the ones where locals go, for under approx.$50 for 2 persons (just main course and a glass of wine?). I have a few leads but there's not much info about the cost of these restaurant:<BR><BR>- L'Incontro<BR>- Ostaria ai 4 Feri<BR>- San Trovaso (some called it &quot;touristy&quot;)<BR>- La Rivista<BR>- Trattoria da Bepi<BR>- Trattoria Tre Spedi<BR><BR>any suggestions? Thanks

John,<BR><BR>I haven't been to any of the restaurants you've mentioned but I can tell you La Rivista in the Ca' Pisani hotel is supposed to be very good but I'm not sure it will be under $50. San Trovaso is cheap but reports on food are mixed &amp; there were long lines to get in when we were there.<BR><BR>One of the most famous places for locals &amp; tourists is Cantina Do Mori (a baccaro) near the Rialto market.<BR><BR>The best meal we had of your description was a place near Campo San Barnaba where we just walked in. Believe it or not, I forgot to write down the name. It could have been Osteria ai 4 Feri but I'm not sure! There are a number of places also around Campo Santa Margherita. I'm sure others will be more helpful!<BR><BR>We did eat at Trattoria Da Fiore (NOT Osteria Da Fiore-very expensive) which was good &amp; would fit your price.

If you talk about trattoria de bepi in cannaregio, i used it as my &quot;home base&quot; during a week with the kids 3 years ago.<BR>Good value for money, plain and simple kitchen, very nice people towards the kids. Also visited by locals, which is always a very good sign...

Hi John,<BR><BR> There are many good, inexpensive restaurants away from Saint Mark's Square.<BR> You might want to look up Alla Madonna in the &quot;Rants and Raves&quot;.

Osteria Da Carla !

You might want to try the book &quot;Great Eats Italy&quot; by Sandra Gustafson. It has three sections, one each for Rome, Florence and Venice. I used it while in Venice and was quite pleased with most of her recommendations. She covers all price ranges and tries to recommend out of the way/non-touristy restaurants. She recommends both L'Incontro and Taverna San Trovaso.

We enjoyed Casin Dei Nobili. They have a no-smoking room (important to us!), the food was great; filled with locals. It is in Dorsoduro. We spent about $30 for two (no wine), so it is very reasonable. To find it: walk straight back from the Ca' Rezzonica vap. stop; in Campo San Barnaba turn left and go through the arches. Rest. is on your right just before the bridge.<BR><BR>Anne

I second Anne's mention of Casin Dei Nobili. It was only a few blocks from our locanda so we discovered it while walking from there to the Campo Santa Magherita. A restaurant we enjoyed in the campo itself was the Antico Capon.

I have been disappointed at San Trovaso and, while I have previously raved about L'incontro, I had a disastrous meal there last month. But I found a treasure that I have never seen posted before. Avogaria in Dorsoduro is off the beaten path (for sure) but is worth the effort. <BR><BR>When approaching Campo San Barnaba from the Accademia area (going toward Santa Margharita) make a left as you go over the bridge and walk for about ten minutes. You go over one bridge, walk a few hundred feet further and Avogaria is on the left. It is recently remodeled in a very contemporary manner, the food is excellent and, while not exactly cheap, is less than many Venice places.<BR><BR>I can't believe that one needs a reservation, but the number is 0412 960491.

We ate twice last summer at Taverna San Trovaso and thought it was very good. It was recommended to us by our lodging, and another couple who we met early in our visit. We tried a number of menu items and coudn't find anything we didn't like. I especially liked the Frutti di Mare appetizer and the four cheese Gnocchi. For around 50 EURO we had the following: shared appetizer, 1/2 liter house wine, two mixed salads, two Primi and two Secondi, with mineral water. Yes we saw many tourists, but also obviously many locals. Get ther early as there was always a line waiting when they opnend the doors at 7 PM.

My experience of the Taverna San Trovaso was similar to Jimcolorado's. <BR>Good, honest, unpretentious food (including the best monkfish I've ever eaten), and very good value for Venice. The waiters were charismatic and friendly, and I didn't feel surrounded by tourists at all, even though we were far from being the only foreigners there.<BR><BR>I remember eating several enjoyable dinners there when I was a child, over 20 years ago, and when I returned last year it all seemed the same!<BR><BR>It's true that you need to get there early though or, better, book!

La Rivista<BR>Spring 2002<BR><BR>&quot;We have an absolutely wonderful meal. The bread basket is just fantastic. As well as short homemade crunchy breadsticks and a very thin crunchy sheet of similar taste there are fresh white and brown slices, white rolls studded with moist chunks of olive and walnut rolls full of flavour and walnut chunks. I am in heaven and ask for extra walnut rolls mid-meal. We share two pasta dishes. One is a dish of garganelli pasta with rabbit ragout and spring onions. The second is pasta with cauliflower and pan fried goose foie gras with parsley leaves to garnish. The pasta is spaghetti or similar, and the sauce is nothing more than olive oil/ butter. The three slices of foie gras are perfect. After the pasta we share a chocolate mousse with orange sauce. This comes on a huge flat dinner plate: 3 dollops of unctuous mousse laid out in a line across the plate, orange sauce containing strips of orange zest drizzled over and around, segments of blood orange around the plate and whole dish scattered with tiny yellow and purple petals and small mint leaves. With a litre of water and a peroni the bill is just 41 Euros plus our tip. There is no cover or bread charge and no included service, tip being left solely to the customer. The menu is small but includes about 3 or 4 pasta dishes, some main meal salads, a risotto and some meat dishes. We do see some customers also ask for sandwiches which we didn't notice on the menu.&quot;<BR><BR>Kavey<BR>

The food at Taverna San Trovaso that I was served was a big pile of a greasy mess. It was absolutely inedible, and I am hardly a food snob. For me it was definitely not worth the trip.<BR><BR>I liked Acuigheta (?sp-the Italian word for &quot;anchovy&quot;) It wasn't far from San Marco heading towards Castello.<BR>They did have the dreaded &quot;tourist&quot; menu in 5 languages, but I thought the food was quite fresh, cooked simply, and was fairly priced. about 60 euros for appetizer, meat dish, bread, wine, and dessert choice of ice cream or fruit.

We also liked Ristorante da Raffaele at Ponte delle Ostreghe, S Marco 2347.<BR>Not particularly untouristy (we're talking Venice, most places are full of tourists) but the service here was particulary friendly both nights we went... they went out of their way to chat, laugh with us and we really enjoyed the food too.<BR><BR>First time we had fegato (liver) in the Venetian way - chopped and served with soft strings of thinly sliced fried onions and polenta - and an excellently tender fillet of beef with a generous and rich gorgonzola sauce (on the daily specials menu). My panna cotta dessert was delicious. <BR>Second visit we enjoyed a starter of carpaccio con parmigiano (very thin slices of raw beef, full of flavour and really melt in your mouth consistency with generous shavings of parmesan) starter of tagliolini casanova (pasta with shrimp, rocket and fresh diced tomatoes). Then the filet steak with gorgonzola sauce again. Desserts are Tartufo and a wonderfully light and creamy tiramisu.<BR>This isn't gourmet restaurant, just a regular place but we found the food that little bit better prepared and the service more genuinely friendly than some other places in the area.<BR>With wine and tip bills were about 130-150 Euros.<BR>

Hi Kavey, My family of 4 is also planning to go to Ristorante da Raffaele in June. Please tell me, was your bill of 130-150 Euro for 2 people?<BR><BR>Did you have a canal side table and was the atmosphere nice? Could you hear and see the gondolas as they went by?<BR>We are planning to celebrate our birthdays here, so I would like it to be special. Thank you for your help. Laurie

The bill was for 2 people for a three course meals with drinks and wine and tip. We sat inside as it was a little cool at that time to sit outside.

Correction, first bill at Raffaele was less than 100 E for dinner for two people with wine - we didn't get starters. The second one was 115 E or so plus tip, we got three courses plus aperatifs, wine etc.

Thanks for the info, Kavey! Laurie

L'Incontro and Da Rafaelle are good restaurants but they are not cheap...

At Raffaele I'm reasonably confident that (unless prices have gone up sharply in the one year since I went) one could get two mains and a glass of wine each for around the 50 Euro/ $ price mentioned in the first post.<BR><BR>Our more expensive bill was for a meal of more courses and more drinks.<BR><BR>One thing to note in many Venetian restaurants is the relatively high price of starters - we often found that they were almost the same price as the main meals. So cutting out starters would mean vastly reduced overall bills.<BR><BR>Kavey