Venice dining
 

My sister and I are traveling to Italy in May and would like lunch and dinner suggestions for the 2 days we will be in Venice and also 2 days in Bellagio. Our dining experiences are important to us as we really enjoy food and wine. Ambiance is important to us too. We don't want to break the bank and that doesn't always translate to the best places to eat either. Any suggestions are appreciated!

You will find both in my trip report named SILVER FOR GOLD. Just click on my name above.

Enoteca La Mascareta in Santa Maria Formosa was a chance discovery when we were there and the food was great.

For Venice. Recommendations are from an end of August 2011 visit.

Our favorite meal was at a tiny, expensive restaurant named Ristorante Da Ivo (www.ristorantedaivo.com). It is within easy walking distance of Piazza San Marco and is accessible on foot or via gondola. There are about 10 tables in the restaurant, and it is extremely cozy and romantic. The food was delicious, and the service was excellent. We also had a very nice bottle of wine with out meal. Reservations are essential.

One night I had planned a gondola ride before dinner. We had a recommendation from a friend for the Ristorante da Rafaelle (www.RistorantedaRafaelle.com). It is located alongside a canal fairly near the Gritti Palace Hotel and Santa Maria del Giglio. There is a gondola station in the canal right next to the restaurant. We secured a gondola, I got in, my boyfriend got us drinks for our ride from the restaurant, and we took an early dusk ride through picturesque back canals with also a stretch along the Grand Canal (which is just what I had requested). When the gondola returned to the station, we went immediately to our reserved canal-side table. The food here was very good too. Again, I had made reservations several weeks in advance.

We have eaten at La Bitta, and also here: http://www.stay.com/venice/restauran...a-san-barnaba/

Both were great. Location is in Calle Lunga San Barnaba, nearest vap stop is Ca' Rezzonico. Near Campo San Barnaba, and not hard to find.

I'm not exactly a foodie, so if you are, take my opinions with the proverbial grain of salt. But:

I really enjoyed our dinner at Al Nono Risorto in Venice - it seemed like a local place, which is really hard to do in Venice! It was the only place we saw with no English menus. Our fixed menus were €17 and €19, I believe, for two courses. It was a little tough to find for the uninitiated, tucked in a passageway off a campo. They had a garden, but we took the last open table, which was in the main dining room. It was somewhat noisy (with people having a good time), so if by "ambiance" you mean something quiet and elegant, maybe not for you.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ce_Veneto.html

In Bellagio, we ate at Trattoria San Giacomo as well as the wine bar right across Salita Serbelloni. Both were recommended to us by the hotel staff. The trattoria had what seemed to be traditional northern Italian dishes - I'd recommend it. The wine bar had light dinners and appetizers and was good for a light meal. We also had pizza at Carillon by the lake.

From my trip report of four years ago (but we ate there a year ago too):

We ate at the Osteria “san Barnaba”, Calle Lunga san Barnaba, Dosoduro 2736. It's small – seats about 16 people, operated by a couple, and the menu is written in Italian only. However, the proprietor speaks excellent English, and steps you through the menu. We had smoked leg of goose as an antipasto, rabbit cooked in a casserole, and calves liver Venetian style, which is a standard here, along with grilled artichoke and a bottle of good local wine. The tab came to about 70 Euro, and this is probably the best meal we have eaten in Venice – it was great. We regret that we did not go there weeks ago, because then we would have visited there again. Closed on mercoledi and giovedi mattina.

Peter and I don't necessarily agree about this, but I think we ate at the Osteria San Barnanba too, and we thought that it was very good as well.

generally, staying out of places where someone is standing outside enticing you in, is a good rule of thumb.

We have loved our meals at Antiche Carampane. We also love cicchetti at Vini al Bottegon (aka Gia Schiavi) on San Trovaso.

I agree with galelstorm's suggestion of Enoteca La Mascareta in (near) Santa Maria Formosa.

Another favorite of mine for lunch or dinner is Osteria La Zucca. Click on the tiny links on the upper right for more information-

http://www.lazucca.it/?page_id=13&lang=en

I thoroughly agree with zoecat's recommendation of La Zucca. Outstanding. Ambience is wonderful and food was quite delicious. (Five of us had a total of about 15 small plates, and nary a bad word on any.) I also found it quite affordable!

Loved La Zucca. Reservations are a must- it is a small place with 2 seatings a night.

Buon viaggio!

If "food is important" to you, take your questions to the Italy message board of the Chowhound website. People there take food very seriously, and several of them visit Venice every year or more. In fact, if you simply search that board, you will find copious information about Venice.

Here on Fodor's, there is an Italian poster named Franco who lives in Venice who once created a thread discussing his favorite restaurants. The thread is called "Franco's Favorite restaurants in Venice". If you scroll to the end, you will see recent updates.

More than one person posting in this thread often cheerfully jokes about not being a foodie on their travels in Italy, so you need to take their restaurant recommendations with more than a grain of salt. Both Venice and Bellagio are overrun with tourists and the vast majority of restaurants reflect that, serving tourist-friendly "Italian" food that has little to do with eating local.

You don't say what kind of "ambience" you like, but many of the best places in that area have friendly people but modest decor and no views.

Well, I am obsessed with Italian food so I stand by my recommendations:

Antiche Carampane - very good fish and such a feeling of accomplishment when you find the place

La Zucca - finally got here on our last trip, great vegetable (not vegetarian) dishes, eg Sformato di Melanzane. Ask for a table outside if the weather is good enough.

Algiubagio on the Fondamenta Nove - really good fish and a wonderful view over to San Michele and the Dolomites.

For transporting views, there is La Palanca in Giudecca looking over to the Dorsoduro, and some modest but perfectly ok places on the Zattere (the ones near the vaporetto station, NOT the one by La Calcina) looking over to Giudecca. Both are lovely for lunch outside in good weather.

I also like Vini al Bottegon but really need to sit down by the time we eat or drink, and sitting on the bridge is not allowed.

This thread has been discussing food in Venice for years now, is quite exhaustive and though it started a long time ago, it's up-to-date: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...estaurants.cfm

We enjoyed Locanda Montin on several trips to Venice.Our meals were excellent and in good weather dining is offered in the garden/atrium area. The restaurant has been there since 1940's. It is located in the San Trovaso area and hard to find-sits on a tiny canal. Best to google it for map and details. I should mention that fish is a specialty at this restaurant.

Thank you, thank you! So many suggestions which we will check out, can't wait to be there!

dkrause:
another vote for La Zucca...we've enjoyed dining there. Only a few tables outside..it's by a little bridge over a narrow canal..not too far from vap stop St. Stae..pleasant walk with a few sharp turns...try the tagliatelle with melted gorgonzola and pine nuts.
stu

We loved Alle Testiere in Venice -- great fish. Tiny place.

Hope no one minds my pointing out for the sake of the OP that La Zucca does not serve Venetian food. It serves what it describes on its website as "alternative cuisine." In fact, if I'm not mistaken, La Zucca doesn't even serve fish, which puts it fairly outside anything traditional or local to Venice.

It is very popular with tourists to Venice, and since I've never eaten there, I have no reason to say the food isn't pleasant -- obviously it pleases a lot of people!

But people putting themselves forward as being obsessives about Italian food might at least point out what kind of a restaurant this is for the benefit of the OP. Many people going to Italy who care about food want to eat the local cuisine.

Important point, zeppole. The food at La Zucca is fine, but not spectacular either. I prefer continuing my way for 100 meters and eat traditional Venetian fare in sometimes good and sometimes excellent quality at Capitan Uncino on Campo S. Giacomo dall'Orio.

It's fascinating, by the way, that two of the most popular restaurants of Venice, and probably THE two most popular restaurants (with tourists, of course) don't serve anything faintly Venetian, the second being Anice Stellato, where the food is not even good, and frankly, not even acceptable IMO.

But I recommend La Zucca for strict vegetarians; while the restaurant is not strictly vegetarian over the whole menu, vegetarians will find a satisfactory choice of dishes there, in satisfactory quality.

All of my recommendations serve what I consider to be traditional Venice fare -- samples sometimes mentioned. I would put most of these places in the "good, moderately priced" category:

L’Osteria de S. Marina, in Campo S. Marina, in the Castello district: risotto carbonara, seafood cicchetti, polenta with cuttlefish, mushrooms and pesto.

Trattoria da Fiore, near Campo S. Stefano: vegetable cicchetti, polenta with shrimp, pasta with mushrooms, artichoke hearts in olive oil.

Trattoria al Sempione. This place is a little bit north of S. Marco.

Trattoria da Bepi, in the Canareggio district. On a side street off the campo and has a lot of locals eating there. Nothing fancy, just real Venice.

Venetian fare, yes, except for pesto, which is of course a Ligurian specialty and as Venetian as a cheeseburger.
The food at Santa Marina is fine, but I don't eat there since the laughable size of helpings make this an insolent rip-off IMO. I once ate there with two Venetian friends; one of them, an extraordinarily distinguished and usually very calm person, was so upset by the size of his primo piatto that he engaged in a loud and heated debate with the owner, who dared insisting that four ravioli (!) be the perfect size of a pasta dish - "quattro ravioli sono la porzione ideale", which has since become my standard phrase for qualifying pathetically small helpings.

I second the recommendation of Alle Testiere. It is very tiny so reservations are required. I believe they have two seatings - 7:00 and 9:00. They specialize in seafood.

Franco, I will borrow that phrase when confronted with same!

I also had an excellent meal at Alle Testiere but have not been in Venice in about 10 years so...

franco: I didn't mean to say that EVERYTHING mentioned was Venetian, just that the restaurant mentioned served typical Venetian -- if not exclusively Venetian. Honestly, I think you're at the point of picking nits about this.

Re Santa Marina: It was a couple of years ago when I ate there, and I think I do recall that the cost was a bit much in relation to the amount of food (I sometimes confuse restaurants, so I didn't want to state that flatly.) So your point is well taken. Still, I remember ( I think) that the quality of the food was good, and the menu was varied. I also take into account the service (very good) and the setting.

<<But I recommend La Zucca for strict vegetarians; while the restaurant is not strictly vegetarian over the whole menu, vegetarians will find a satisfactory choice of dishes there, in satisfactory quality.>>

In the 10 days I spent in Venice in the spring of 2010, La Zucca was the one clear disappointment. At the time, it ranked among the top 20 restaurants on tripadvisor.com (Where is it now? I'm curious and will check.) Anyway, to me, the food was mediocre, the setting inside nondescript, the service abrupt. I said so on tripadvisor.com. There were some other negative reviews on the site around the time I was there. Maybe they had a bad stretch, a few off nights. Maybe La Zucca is "satisfactory" for vegetarians and even some omnivores. But I found so many more interesting, appetizing choices while I was in Venice.

dkrause:

My sister and brother-in-law are going to Venice in May and asked me for restaurant suggestions. In 2010 I wrote capsule reviews of various restaurants after staying in Venice for 10 days. Maybe this will help you in some way:

VENICE RESTAURANTS

EXCELLENT, EXPENSIVE, WORTH THE EXPENSE

A BECCOFICO http://www.abeccafico.com/
My personal culinary tour of Venice last month included A Beccafico one evening, and I was very happy with what I found and ate there. After a complimentary bruschetta, I had a terrific pappardelle in tomato sauce and arugula with squid and shrimp, followed by sesame-encrusted tuna seared to perfection, all of this beautifully supported by a chianti wisely recommended by my very able and amiable waiter. I finished with a delightful mandarin orange and lemon sorbet. Naturally, I told the waiter how wonderful everything was, and he responded by placing a bottle of lemoncello on my table along with the bottle of another after-dinner drink. The simple message was: "They're all yours." A little later, as I was leaving, I was asked by someone I took to be the owner how I came to dine at A Beccafico. I told him that it was rated among the top Venetian restaurants by the reviewers at tripadvisor.com. He smiled and said a staff member had referenced the website and told him about it and that he'd be taking a look at tripadvisor.com soon enough. (If he does: "Thanks again for a great meal!"

OSTERIA ANTICO GIARDINETTO http://www.anticogiardinetto.it/
I ate twice at Osteria Antico Giardinetto within a week during my recent 10-day stay in Venice, and my only regret is that I can't go back there again tonight. Twice I had their superb gilthead sea bream filet with orange sauce and Cointreau. I also had their excellent sauteed clams and mussels with toast one night for an appetizer, and their very fine tagliolini with scallops and asparagus another night for a first course. Both times I had the heavenly panna cotta with strawberries. I was also treated to a complimentary grappa. Larisa, the chef Virgilio's wife and the server for the evenings, was very sweet and attentive. (She even managed to store away the small umbrella I forgot on my first night there and returned it to me a few days later when I dropped in to make another dinner reservation.) The two experiences at Osteria Antico Giardinetto were so good that I photographed Larisa and Virgilio together before I left that second night — because this was a place I wanted to remember.

VENICE RESTAURANTSLA CARAVELLA http://www.restaurantlacaravella.com/
Ten years ago I had a fabulous meal at La Caravella — fresh marinated fish with toast, green linguine with small clams, sea bass fillet with french fries so thinly cut they melted in my mouth, a lemon ice cream mousse with wild berries, a half-bottle of Gavi, and two grappas. I made a reservation to dine there again, but I became ill later on the trip and never returned.
Last month I finally did, and La Caravella was as good as I remembered it —from the pumpkin ravioli and filet of sole to that lemon mousse with berries, and the wine and grappa. The service is impeccable, the ambience, with a nautical twist, is warm and comfortable. Very highly recommended!

VERY GOOD, VERY EXPENSIVE

AI MERCANTI http://www.aimercanti.com/
I had a wonderful dinner three weeks ago at Ai Mercanti — lasagna with pigeon, rare tuna in tarragon, a mixed fruit sorbet (banana, kiwi, and lemon), excellent breads (the terrific breads in Italy are all too ignored), a bottle of soave classico, and a grappa. The low-light elegance of the room, which was considerable, was marred by the odd appearance of two large and rather frightening dolls, which were sitting among several bottles of aperitifs and cordials in a well-lit display. When I asked my server about the dolls, he said, rolling his eyes, "The chef likes them." (Given the high quality of the food, I guess it's wise finally to placate their eccentric chef.) The service was excellent at the beginning, but, as is sometimes my experience as a solo diner, it began to break down as the restaurant got busier.

OSTERIA DA FIORE http://www.dafiore.net/
I enjoyed my experience at Da Fiore, with reservations. The maitre d' was welcoming, the service excellent, and the food was fine, though I've found better value for the money elsewhere in Venice. I started with a perfect Grey goose martini (9 euros) and some wonderful baked oysters (30 euros). My main course was not quite there — the steamed bass wrapped in artichokes and accompanied by stewed apples in balsamic vinegar (48 euros) was finally rather bland. My dessert was superb — vanilla gelato in burnt whiskey sauce (15 euros). I had a half-bottle of outstanding red wine (28 euros), so outstanding I wish I remembered its origin. The total bill came to 135 euros, for me alone. (You live once.)



One very jarring note: A loud and obnoxious little girl, maybe eight years-old, burst into the room ahead of her family and demanded to be taken to an alcove where open glass doors let out to a small private dining area outside overlooking a canal. She wanted to be photographed there and was indulged, despite the fact that a couple was dining in the alcove inside. The couple looked surprised, at the very least, but obviously could do nothing but wear pasted smiles as the turmoil went on. A member of the child's family — The mother? An older sister? An aunt? — then decided that she too wanted to be photographed near the open doors, and this too was permitted. What should the restaurant staff have done? I'm not sure, but it compromised the experience, especially for that timid couple in the alcove.

VERY GOOD, REASONABLY PRICED

AL MASCARON http://www.osteriamascaron.it/
I had a great lunch here two weeks ago when I was in Venice and wandering about the Castello sestiere. Al Mascaron is a lively, authentic, and comfortable place full of locals and, in one room, full of amusing artwork on the walls, including whimsical drawings of fishes. I started with a deceptively simple plate of mozzarella with sliced tomatoes and basil, the kind of essential meal that you dream about when you're flying to Italy and know you'll never get again when you return to the U.S. My second course was a hearty and heartfelt tuna in tomato sauce and pasta that was utterly fresh and completely satisfying. I conveyed my sense of satiated pleasure to my server who I believe was also the owner, a compact, friendly fellow with a lion's mane of white hair. He was so appreciative of my enthusiasm that he shook my hand vigorously and gave me a complimentary grappa. He also later gave me the restaurant's card, hoping, I imagine, that I would soon return, which I gladly would've if I'd had another day or two in Venice. For anyone who has a day or two in Venice, you'll do yourself a favor by dropping in at Al Mascaron.

OSTERIA LA BOTTEGA AI PROMESSI SPOSI ‪Calle dell'Oca, 4367 Venice, Italy‬ (0412412747) No website found
I was very happy to come upon this small restaurant after a long morning jaunt last May through the Cannaregio district. I knew about Osteria La Bottega ai Promessi Sposi, having read positive reviews of it by travelers on the Fodor's online travel forum, and I was not disappointed. I had a signature Venetian dish, its spaghetti with small clams, and it was perfect. I was glad to sit in the room near the bar where locals came in for a glass of wine and a little conversation. (There's a larger adjacent dining room.) The waiter was very prompt with my meal and wine and was quickly accommodating when I later asked if I could have a copy of the day's printed, hand-written menu, a prized souvenir that I put in my travel journal, along with my other ephemera. All in all, I highly recommend this authentic, unpretentious restaurant, for its food, house wine, service, and its pleasing ambience. (Here is another diner’s review: http://foodloversodyssey.typepad.com...-ai-sposi.html

DISAPPOINTING, REASONABLY PRICED

LA ZUCCA http://www.lazucca.it/
I just got back from 10 days in Venice, and after eating at several tripadvisor top-rated restaurants in the city, I can clearly say that Osteria La Zucca was the standout disappointment. Given its forgettable ambience, I found the notion of seating times rather pretentious. The abrupt young woman who took my order couldn't have been more charmless. I've seen more animation in a police officer giving a traffic ticket. I didn't expect her to break out into smiles or entertain me with jokes, but I would've felt better if I hadn't thought I was intruding on her. (Though perhaps as a solo diner, I was.) My spaghetti with gorgonzola was okay. As for my main course, the chicken I had reminded me of my college days when I was content with the so-called "chicken" I ate at third-rate Chinese restaurants. The rice was equally bland. La Zucca is certainly not the worst restaurant I've ever dined at, but I'm baffled by its high reputation.

BEYOND AWFUL

AI DUE VESCOVI ‪(Believe me, you don’t want to have the phone number or the website; it’s near Piazza San Marco, where it spins its web for innocent victims)
My wife and I "celebrated" our 10th anniversary at Ai Due Vescovi in 1993, on the recommendation of the New York Times, no less, which had just published a positive review of the restaurant in its Sunday travel section. (I know this is an old review, but the nightmare we experienced at this hole is still all too fresh in our minds when the word "Venice" is uttered, and I am encouraged to add my evaluation, however tardy, after reading on Trip Advisor that Ai Due Vescovi hasn't lost its touch when it comes to making naive tourists miserable.) 



What I recall most about ADV is how, after being given menus and aperitifs, we were largely ignored the rest of the evening. After we ordered our meals, the waiter nodded to us from time to time as he whisked back and forth attending to others. He even deigned on occasion to give us the estimated time of arrival for our food. The criminal neglect only grew worse as the restaurant filled with regular customers the owner and waiter knew and cared far more about. Travel neophytes, we stoically endured the rest of the evening, eating something, I guess, because we did pay the exorbitant bill. 



Bottom line: Avoid Ai Due Vescovi at all costs. And think twice about believing a favorable New York Times restaurant review.