Report on Restaurants in Venice
 

Just returned from a great trip to Italy, and wanted to report first on our experiences at restaurants in Venice, for the additional benefit of visitors to Venice and for Venice experts interested in finding new places, or hearing about "old" ones. (Franco especially!)

As you may have heard before, one doesn't go to Venice for the food. But on this trip, I feel like we did pretty well in the food department, and had very enjoyable meals.

As background, DH and I have been to Venice several times. We were there with a colleague of DH, M, and M's wife G. It was their first visit to Europe. We are all interested in food, and when getting together for dinner at home, tend to go out to more upscale places. We're all pretty adventurous and don't eat much typical American food at home. In this report, I included prices, since others often find that helpful. In most places, we each got 2 courses (some combination of antipasti, primi & secondi), and sometimes got desserts and/or coffees, though we often split courses at lunch. Always got two bottles of pretty good wine at dinner, one at lunch (or beer). I reserved all of our dinners in advance, after way too much research. For lunches, I had a list of possibilities that we chose from.

Dinner at Vecio Fritolin (Calle della Regina, San Polo): I'd heard good things about this place; fresh local food, and the website pictures looked good. And out of the tourist fray a bit. We had a good experience here, but it didn't "wow" me. But for our friends, it worked well; it was Italian, but not too different, and the menu was in English and Italian. My baccala and sarde in saor antipasto was particularly good (both are local Venetian dishes). Price was about 200 euros for the 4 of us, including 2 bottles of decent wine.

Lunch at Ai Acuigheta: I'll admit I was drawn to the place because of the name; I like anchovies! And because we were in Venice for the guys to attend a meeting, we had to meet for lunch at a place that was convenient for them. I was disappointed. It looked and acted like a typical tourist place, in a very touristy location, and the service was unusually slow. The ceccheti antipasto plate was only ok.

Dinner at Anice Stellato (Fondamenta della Sensa, 3272, Cannaregio): This was my and DH's third dinner here; we like the place, both the food (very good seafood) and the ambiance. Definitely out of the tourist fray, in the backwaters of the Cannaregio. After a day of tourist activities, it was nice to show M and G a much quieter part of Venice. I did see M gulp when he saw the menu was only in Italian, though! Between Sandro, the owner, and me, we translated everything easily. We got the grande cichetti platter for the 4 of us, which was much better than those at lunchtime, though a little heavy on the sardine items. The rest of our meal, which included spaghetti with canoce (a kind of shrimp), tuna and another kind of shrimp, was flavorful, fresh and included some Asian spices. Those added some nice variety. Our bill totalled about the same as the night before. This restaurant is still on my list of favorites!

Lunch at Trattoria dei Greci (canal dei Greci, near Ponte dei Greci, Castello): We ate here on a previous trip, and for a location on a beautiful canal, the food isn't bad (though not cheap, our total was about 140 Euros) either. It's a great spot to watch the boats on the canal and the people on the bridge.

Lexma, thanks for the report..I don't know how I missed it when you first posted..

Anice Stellato has been on my list for a long time and I seem to miss it each time I visit the city...but now it is near the top of my list. Thanks again!

Got bogged down by returning-from-vacation work and home activities, so here are the other restaurants we visited:

The famous (on Fodor's anyway) Osteria alla Botte, on Calle della Bissa, 5482 (off Campo San Bartolomeo), San Marco. Much recommended by Franco! It is on a snakey side street, but we found it without difficulty (another way to get there: from Campo San Bartolomeo, head into the calle with the public W.C., then turn right, then right again. The sign is very faded, so unless they're actually open, you might miss it).

I had a delightful time here, and I think my travel companions did. It helped a lot that I speak a little Italian, and LOTS of "food Italian." There's a front bar area, and a small (8 tables maybe) back area for meals. One overworked but cute waiter served the restaurant area.

I had cicchetti as a first course, which I shared with our group, as the amounts were huge. This was the best cicchetti I had while in Venice. For the cicchetti, you order at the bar, and they'll bring it to your table. The sepie al nero (squid with black ink) was the best we had in Venice; the baccala was mixed with tomatoes, onions and other ingredients, and also delicious; we also had other stuff. The bar area was busy (at 7:30 on a Mon), so it was a challenge to get the guy's attention & order - I know enough Italian to understand what everything was when he told me the names in Italian. While I waited to order, however, a man came into the bar and asked the bar guy if he spoke French (in French); the bar guy said "Non," so the guy left. I'm not real sure the bar guy would have had the time or patience to explain every cicchetti item in English (or French) to someone who needed that.

The rest of our food was also very good; I had bigoli (local thick spaghetti-shaped pasta) in salsa, which is an anchovy paste. Not too pretty to look at, but delicious. G's octopus (she let me taste), however, was bland, though fresh. Everything was huge portions. Our total for 4 was 170 Euros.

Bottom line on alla Botte: I would (will?) return, but I wouldn't necessarily say this would be a good first choice for a first-time visitor to Venice who doesn't speak any Italian.

Boccadoro, 5405A Campiello Widmann, Cannaregio. Strangely, this appealing little restaurant was almost empty at lunchtime. It's on a quiet piazza very close to Campo Santa Maria Formosa. They had marinated anchovies (not the disgusting canned variety, but fresh anchovies marinated in lemon juice), which I LOVE, and theirs were good. We all only had pasta, which was a bit different from the usual Venetian fare. I had the white and black gnocchi, served with go (a local fish from the lagoon); M had the gnocchi with crab, which looked just as good. G's baby squid were another good choice. Total for 4, if my notes are correct, 113 Euros.

Alle Testiere: We went here on the fervent suggestions of a chef friend of ours, who made the reservations for us. The food and service (especially Luca) were delightful, and we had a great time. A lot of fresh food, especially seafood, prepared simply (but also a sophisticated touch). The razor clams, I heard (I'm allergic) were as tasty as others have said. My main course (and G's) was the shrimp, in an amazingly complex sauce flavored with cinnamon and ginger. Total for 4, which included 2 good bottles of wine, and 3 courses plus 2 shared desserts, 354 Euros. I liked the place for the food and the ambiance. If you want a formal, grandiose experience, look elsewhere.

I didn't mention all the snacks we had - I've decided that Venice has good pastries, though the ones I choose are the little cookie-type items, such as zaletti and biscotti. I had chinotto, an Italian soft drink - Yum, if you like ginger ale (which I do). Campari soda, I will confirm, tastes like medicine!

Thank you Lexma for posting this. I will be in Venice next May. I had heard, also, that you don't go to Venice for the food, which has me a little worried. Great meals are a big part of why I love to go to Italy.

Hopefully between your post and Franco's, I can find some places that will be worth while.

Johanna

Lexma, thanks much for posting this. What seems like the most appealing place for me - apart from La Botte, of course ;) - is Boccadoro, a restaurant I've never heard of. But any place serving gò deserves sympathy and attention!

Franco - I don't know where I first read of Boccadoro; per my notes, eGullet and SlowTrav both mentioned it, as did Concierge.com. I read somewhere that Davide Stefani is the chef, and that he formerly worked at Al Covo. Do let me know what you think, if you get a chance to go there.

And thanks again for the Alla Botte rec! You said in another post that you'd be curious to see my take on the restaurants that we planned to go to. While they're all pretty different, none were in the "very formal" category, and I definitely liked Alla Botte, though for different reasons (other than the good) than the other two that I enjoyed the most, Anice Stellato and Alle Testiere.

Thanks for the report, Lexma90. I am writing up my trip report on Venice right now, and Boccadoro provided us with a very good meal. I especially liked the razor clams, which I had never had before. I also had a great cheese plate there. I'll write more later but wanted to say thanks and tell you that I enjoyed your report and that I agree that Boccadoro was a good meal.

Lexma, thanks for your report. David Stefani is not the chef at Boccadoro anymore - hasn't been for some time. But the new chef is great which you seemed to have experienced. They have great fresh pasta and seafood there.

I never liked Ai Acuigheta either though I have heard it is a different experience to eat cichetti at the bar there.

Also love Alla Botte - it's one of the best places in the world, not just Venice. :)

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Wife, daughter and I dined twice at Anice Stellato two years ago and enjoyed it both times. I very much enjoy the relative calm of Cannaregio. In fact, we enjoy staying at the Dei Dogi when in Venice.

Yummm - Just over a year ago we were enjoying the wonderful cicchetti at alla Botte - I still crave the polpette and the gamberoni alla griglia with a mustard sauce, and the wine was good too!!!

ttt

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Wonderful, helpful post. We need to go again. We'll take this with.

One of our favorite travel memories is ordering at Alla Testiere. All four in our party ordered a pasta first course. The waiter muttered to himself, "Four Pastas, three fires. One will wait." Great food, great fun.

Last Wednesday I had dinner at Anice Stellato and, really, I enjoyed it as every time I go there.
But, but. . . . . it became expensive and now, IMO, the rate quality / price is not excellent as it was in the past.


Vincenzo

We ate at La Bitta a couple of times over the last month, and it was good. No fish. Calle Lunga San Barnaba, Dorsoduro, No 2730 or thereabouts. We ate once at Osteria San Barnaba, Calle Lunga San Barnaba, Dorsoduro 2736. It's small, about ten tables, and the food was excellent. We ate well for about 70 Euro, including wine, and we regret not trying this place a month ago, as we'd have gone back again.
Ristorante Sempione, near San Marco, is a bit of a nostalgic favourite, but over priced.
Try the bar Ai Artisti inC ampo San Barnaba - the staff are friendly. Coffee and brioche will cost you 2.10 Euro.
Try the bar Arancina, not far from Ca' Rezzonico, Calle Foscari 5255, Doroduro. We're sort of regulars there,and a spritz costs 2 Euro, free finger food in the evenings, closed Saturday and Sunday (in winter, anyway).

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