bacci111

visitng venice in 2 weeks,want to go where the locals eat,not touristy restaurants.any suggestions?

StephenG

Seems to me Venice's economy is totally dependent on tourism. It might be hard to find restaurants while touring the sights that are not full of tourists.

SuzieC

try a new book called Chow! Venice.
I read one of the author's blogs ... if she writes her cookbooks like she writes her journal....the book is a treat WITH great information.

RufusTFirefly

There are plenty of restaurants in Venice that do not cater directly to tourists. You just have to walk away from the Grand Canal and P. San Marco.

I don't have a particular one to recommend, but I have seen numerous write-ups on where to find such restaurants. Just search around on the web.

suze

Keep your eyes open and wander away from Rialto and San Marcos. Go into residential neighborhoods away from the main "sites". Even in central area look for old men standing up at a sidewalk-side bar drinking wine or espresso in the morning. Look for menus not translated into other languages. Same advice for any city really.

Patrick

Staying in an apartment this summer in Dosoduro, we asked the owner, living downstairs (Lamberto Deho) where the locals eat. He only half jokingly told us that most locals always eat at home, or if they are like him and don't cook, they eat their friends' homes.

Of course, locals patronize little casual restaurants for a quick bite to eat from time to time, but generally speaking if you're talking about regular restaurants for a full meal, they are generally visited by locals rarely and only for special occasions. So most regular restaurants depend on tourists, which incidentally has nothing to do with the food being good or bad. Are you ashamed of being a tourist? There's a big difference between a restaurant that is popular with tourists and a tourist trap.

suze

Patrick makes an excellent point. I live in Seattle where there are tons of fabulous restaurants of all styles. But except for the two inexpensive Mexican & Italian joints in my neighborhood, I rarely eat anywhere but home!

ira

Hi bacci,

We enjoyed Cantinone Storico 041.523.95.77

RufusTFirefly

Just because Lamberto says Venetians don't dine out that doesn't make it so.

Just like anyone else, Venetians do like to dine out now and then, and not just for special occasions. There are many parts of Venice where very few tourists wander, and there are restaurants in those areas that cater to the locals.

Marija

Patrick, any recommendations for restaurants in Venice based on your trip? We'll be there at the end of September.

Patrick

Rufus, sorry you missed the part where I said he replied "half jokingly". Of course, Venetians eat out. But the point is that the vast majority of all restaurants there cater to tourists as well as locals. And does anybody think that somehow a really good local place wouldn't have been discovered yet by any tourists?? Do people hope that they are somehow the first tourist to have looked for one, and will be the first tourist to find it? Don't you think most tourists have asked locals and gotten tips? Many, many tourists have long ventured off the tourist track and even deliberately go where they think no tourists have ventured before.

Now, as to recommendations. We went off into the Ghetto/Cannaregio to a small place called Antico Mola -- the type of place you'd think would be only locals -- the area was deserted at night. The food was good, the staff was pleasant and it was fun sitting in the little garden in back. But all the diners seemed to be tourists.
We ate as we always do in the beautiful garden at Locanda Martin -- but admittedly that is a place for Venetian special occassions and otherwise tourists.
We enjoyed a nice dinner on one of the "floating" platforms along Zattere called Gianni -- great fish.
Had a super meal at the bustling Taverna San Trovaso.
After a long day trip out we stumbled into Piccolo Martini near ST. Marks for pizza rather late one evening. What a strange place. The pizza was great. The entire staff -- and I mean every last one -- was clearly Japanese. Just seemed so odd.
Another evening did great pizza at our neighborhood "breakfast spot" Bar Foscarini, right next to the Accademia Bridge.
But the best dinner we had was sitting outside at one of the couple of tables right on the water at St. Basilio Trattoria, right by the vaparetto stop there. Now this place should have been all tourists judging from the area, but we were clearly the only ones. The others all seemed to be long time friends of the owners and locals. So the real answer to bacci's original question is "you'll never know".

Incidentally, with the exception of the Japanese pizza place, all the others we sought out from the list I compiled from suggestions right here on Fodor's threads. And it proved to be a very good list.

Patrick

To the top for Capo and anyone else.