4 Best Restaurants in Dorsoduro, Venice

A beautiful and atmospheric bacaro, Alla Bifora has such ample, satisfying fare that most Venetians consider it a full-fledged restaurant. Offerings include overflowing trays of cold, sliced meats and cheeses; various preparations of baccalà (cod); and Venetian classics, such as polpette (croquettes), and marinated anchovies. La Bifora also serves up a couple of excellent hot dishes; the seppie in nero (cuttlefish stewed in a sauce made with its ink) is among the best in the city. Owner and barman Franco Bernardi and his sister Mirella are warm and friendly—after a few visits, you'll be greeted like a member of the family.

Pop into this canal-side restaurant at lunch for a satisfying primo or come for dinner to sample fine and fresh offerings; the candlelit tables that line the fondamenta (quay) suggest romance, and the service is friendly and welcoming. The posted menu—with choices like tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms and tiger prawns, or a filleted John Dory with tomatoes and pine nuts—changes daily (spot the date at the top) and seasonally.

This sleek café is a favorite lunchtime haunt for professors from the nearby university and local businesspeople, when you can easily have a beautifully prepared primo (first course) or secondo (second course), plus a glass of wine, for a reasonable price; there's also a good selection of sandwiches and salads. Unlike most local eateries, this spot is open from breakfast through late dinner, and you can dine well in the evening on imaginative pasta, seafood, and meat dishes. An unusual option is the one-plate "composed" dish that may include boiled and grilled vegetables with marinated salmon and tuna with citrus sauce, or crunchy sautéed vegetables with calamari, shrimp, and octopus.

One of several restaurants on the Zattere with an over-water terrace, Gianni offers much more than pizza. They also serve unusually good preparations of favorites such as spaghetti with clams, tiramisu, and coffee. There is a variety of fish dishes, either with pasta or grilled, and a good choice of meat dishes. The service can be a little slow, but if you’re watching the splendor of the sunset you may not mind.