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Dining options in Venice range from the ultra-high end, where jackets and ties are a must, to the very casual. Once staunchly traditional, many restaurants have renovated their menus along with their dining rooms, creating dishes that blend classic Venetian elements with ingredients less common to the lagoon environs.
Mid-range restaurants are often more willing to make the break, offering innovative options while keeping traditional dishes available as mainstays. Restaurants are often quite small with limited seating, so make sure to reserve ahead. It's not uncommon for restaurants to have two seatings per evening, one at 7 and one at 9.
There's no getting around the fact that Venice has more than its share of overpriced, mediocre eateries that prey on tourists. Avoid places with cajoling waiters standing outside, and beware of restaurants that don't display their prices. At the other end of the spectrum, showy menu turistico (tourist menu) boards make offerings clear in a dozen languages, but for the same €15–€20 you'd spend at such places you could do better at a bacaro making a meal of cicchetti (savory snacks).
Budget-conscious travelers might want to take their main meal at lunch, when restaurant prices tend to be lower. Also keep an eye out for cafés and trattorias that offer meals prepared for operai (workers); they’ll have daily specials designed for those who have to eat and run, which anyone is welcome to partake in. Bacari offer lighter fare, usually eaten at the bar (prices are higher if you sit at a table) and wine lists that offer myriad choices by the glass.
Although pizzerias are not hard to find, Venice is not much of a pizza town—standards aren't what they are elsewhere in Italy, and local laws impede the use of wood-burning ovens. Seek out recommended pizzerias, or opt for a bacaro snack instead of a soggy slice of pizza al volo, which is too commonly precooked and reheated. Tramezzini, the triangular white-bread sandwiches served in bars all over Italy, however, are almost an art form in Venice. The bread is white but doesn’t at all resemble the "Wonder" of your youth; many bars here still make their own mayonnaise, and few skimp on the fillings.
Here you'll find the usual array of gelato flavors, which change with the seasons, plus more unusual and trendy ones like Calabrian licorice and matcha tea. You can also enjoy a granita (regular and Sicilian), panna in ghiaccio (a brick of frozen cream between wafers), fruit popsicles, milk shakes, and some specialties (chocolate covered and otherwise) in front of the counter.
Founded in 2003 by two men from Torino (one of them named Federico Grom), this modest gelateria (ice cream shop) has expanded across the globe, including to 34 Italian cities and 10 international cities. Natural ingredients such as Ecuadorian or Venezuelan chocolate, Sicilian lemon, and Mawardi pistachios add intense flavors, and the selection changes with the seasons. They also make fruit sorbets, popsicles, and other specialty items.
This popular takeout gelateria, just off Campo Santa Margherita, offers a wide selection of flavors, from a few low-calorie options, including yogurt and soy, to the extra-rich strabon (Venetian for "more than good," which in this case means made with cocoa, espresso, and chocolate-covered almonds), as well as granitas in summer. It's worth a detour, and it's open late most of the year.
Enjoy the Zattere's most scrumptious treat—Nico's famous gianduiotto, a slab of chocolate-hazelnut ice cream floating on a cloud of whipped cream—and relax on the big, welcoming deck. Nico's is one of the few places still serving authentic homemade (artigianale) ice cream and has been seducing Venetians since 1935. It's also one of the rare gelaterie where you can sit down; most of them have no seating.
The morning sun draws crowds of all ages and nationalities to take a seat on busy Campo Santo Stefano and enjoy a little cup at this favorite café-gelateria. A scoop of limone (lemon) gelato is particularly refreshing on a hot summer day.
This friendly café and art gallery, located between Campo Santa Margherita and Campo San Barnaba, is a great place to stop for a spritz, or even for a light lunch or dinner. The highlights are the freshly made salads, but their panini and tramezzini (triangle-shape Italian sandwich) are also among the best in the area. The staff prepare a freshly made pasta and a soup every day—this is one of the very few cafés where the pasta is recommended. The well-stocked bar has a good assortment of wines, and the talented bartenders can even whip up a decent American martini. There's also seating outside, where you can watch the locals making their way between the two major campi (squares).
A perennial favorite with locals (Murano and otherwise) and a welcome respite for travelers, La Perla offers a relaxed, local atmosphere and lots of delectably prepared standard Venetian fare. Don't even think of arriving late in the lunch hour, or plan on waiting, as everyone else will have reserved or come early.
Getting off the beaten track to find good, basic local cuisine isn't easy in Venice, but La Trattoria ai Tosi (aka Ai Tosi Piccoli) fits the bill with its somewhat remote, tranquil location, homey atmosphere, and variety of fine traditional fare at prices that make it worth the walk from anywhere in the city. The baccalà mantecato (whipped salted cod) "sanwicini" are excellent, as are the classic frittura mista and the traditional Venetian bigoli in salsa (thick, homemade spaghetti with an anchovy-onion sauce). The fixed-price lunch menu, created for local workers with limited time, is another good deal, and there's even decent pizza.
On Campo Santo Stefano across from Paolin, Le Café has see-and-be-seen tables outside year-round. It also has bar service, light lunches, and a variety of hot chocolate drinks and desserts.
With an enviable terrace on the Zattere, Nico is the city's gelateria with a view. The house specialty is the gianduiotto, a brick of dark chocolate ice cream flung into a tall glass filled with freshly whipped cream. There's the more economic bar service if you'd prefer to saunter down the sunny promenade.
It wasn't long after this lovely little wine bar (not a restaurant) appeared across from Squero San Trovaso that it became a neighborhood—and citywide—favorite. The Venetian owner has created a personal vision of what a good bar should offer: a variety of sumptuous cicheti, panini, and cheeses to be accompanied by just the right regional wines (ask for his recommendation). You can linger along the fondamenta outdoors, and there are places to perch and even sit inside, in front of a sunny picture window that brings the outside view in.
This is the only place in town that still bakes traditional Venetian-Jewish pastry and delicious pane azimo (matzo bread) year-round, though days of operation give away that the shop is not kosher.
You can see straight into the kitchen that churns out delectable pastries at Targa every morning. Beside the ever-present croissants are Venice's best kipferl (here pronounced kee-fer); their version of the Austrian cookie is reimagined as a flaky croissant filled with marzipan and dusted with powdered sugar. During Carnival, Targa turns out thousands of Venetian frittelle and shards of crisp galani. Targa always has a wide choice of cookies and assorted savory little pizzas to munch while sipping your spritz.
Nono ("grandfather" in Venetian) Colussi starts every day at 4 am in the pastry shop he began in 1956. Working with granddaughter Marina in the kitchen and daughter Linda at the counter, he turns out classic Venetian delicacies such as fugassa, a soft and sweet raised cake, and krapfen, a sweet roll filled with pastry cream. Each item is made fresh every morning. He uses his own decades-old sourdough for leavening, and is now also making some gluten- and lactose-free products. Take away a bag of his classic Venetian cookies such as zaletti or baicoli, made from scratch over some 30 hours from start to finish, or jar of natural fruit jam.
At this long-established, family-run locale, you'll find excellent pastries, including delicious filled cannoli, as well as good-value savory bites. You can enjoy a primo (first course) at lunchtime outside at one of the campo-side tables, although it's much cheaper to stand at the bar or take out.
Since 1958, Venetians have been making the trip to the Lido even in bad weather for celebrated, custom-made fruit tarts (to be ordered one day ahead; no bar service). They also make pizzas, available by the slice, plus focaccia, pretzels, and other savory baked goods.
Besides the usual selection of small pastries and drinks, you can enjoy a piece of crostata di marroni (chestnut tart) or spicy cookies made with chili at one of the tables along a quiet canal.
This is not only the tiniest and prettiest pastry shop in Venice, it's also the oldest, being in almost continuous operation since 1742. It's most famous for its Venetian classics such as frittelle during Carnival, or baicoli and other cookies. Try the Zurigo (light, flaky apple pastry) and pastine di riso (pastry with a creamy rice filling); you'll also find salatine (pastry with ham or cheese and vegetables) by 10 am. Unusual for being open on Monday, unlike most pastry shops (but closed on Tuesday).
Monica Gozzi runs this tiny pastry shop on one of Venice's busiest streets, between Campo San Barnaba and the Accademia. Delectable croissants and other breakfast pastries are fresh every morning, and her cakes and assorted sweets are among the best in Venice. It says a lot that many regulars claim the sfogliatelle are as good as in their native Naples. Also a rarity is that they are open on Monday, a day in which most pastry shops are closed.
Join students and profs from nearby Università di Ca' Foscari at the counter here, which makes for a sweet break while traversing the Frari district. Known for some of the best pastries in the city—try the krapfen, which are fresh, cream-filled donuts—Tonolo has been in operation for more than 120 years.
One of Venice's premier confectioneries has been in operation since 1886. During Carnevale it's still one of the best places in town for frittelle, or fried doughnuts (traditional raisin or cream-filled), and at Christmas and Easter, this is where Venetians order their focaccia veneziana, the traditional raised cake—well in advance.
There are several branches to this venerable pasticceria in town; the headquarters is a small shop on Calle Fiubera in San Marco. Rosa Salva features a wide selection of pastry and savory snacks as well as bar service at the counter.
A fine variety of excellent tramezzini (sandwiches made of untoasted white bread triangles) lines the display cases at this busy tavola calda (roughly the Italian equivalent of a cafeteria) on the main thoroughfare from the Rialto to Santi Apostoli; inexpensive salad plates and daily pasta specials are also served. This is a great place for a light meal or snack before a performance at the nearby Teatro Malibran. Whether you choose to sit or stand, it's a handy—and popular—spot for a quick meal or a snack at very modest prices. Service is efficient, if occasionally grumpy.
Nibble on a selection of cicheti or a cheese or meat plate at this cozy wine bar on Campo San Severo, near the Basilica dei Frari. You can either dine inside the brick-walled, Murano glass–chandeliered space, or watch the gondolas sail by at a table outdoors next to the quiet adjacent Severno canal.
