112 Best Restaurants in Venice, Italy

A short walk from the Ponte di Rialto, this bar has been around since 1936, and the satisfying cicheti and primi have a lot to do with its staying power. Grab a table out front, or take refuge in one of the two small, dark rooms with a ceiling plastered with wine labels that provide a classic backdrop for simple fare, including a delicious risotto that is served daily from noon, plus a solid wine list of both Italian and foreign vintages. If you stick to a panino or some cicheti at the bar, you'll eat well for relatively little. If you take a table and opt for one of the day's exceptional primi, the price category goes up a notch; however, this is still a good bargain for San Marco. There are, of course, traditional secondi, such as a very good seppie in nero. Al Volto is open every day of the year but Christmas (and closes a bit early on Christmas Eve).

Venetians from the neighborhood frequent this friendly bacaro, not just for a glass of very drinkable wine, but also because of its bountiful selection of traditional Venetian cicheti for lunch. There's a large assortment of sandwiches and panini, as well as luscious tidbits like grilled vegetables, breaded and fried sardines and shrimp, and a decent version of baccalà mantecato, along with Venetian working-class specialties, such as musetto (a sausage made from pigs' snouts served warm with polenta) and nervetti (veal tendons with lemon and parsley). These dishes are worth trying at least once when in Venice.

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.

For a break from traditional Venetian cuisine, head to this charming eatery featuring two menus: one with innovative Italian dishes, and one with well-prepared sushi and sashimi. Michela Cafarchia, who started Glamy in the garden of her family home, aims to use sustainable, local ingredients as much as possible.

If you'd like to attend happy hour with the ghosts of Ernest Hemingway, Aristotle Onassis, and Orson Welles, head to Harry's Bar. Despite astronomical prices, undistinguished 1930s-1950s decor, and some rather brash foreign clientele, Harry's is nevertheless a Venetian institution, and is still patronized by those Venetians who want to see and be seen. Many still remember proprietor Arrigo Cipriani's courageous stand— in contrast to the acquiescence and even profiteering of many Venetian hoteliers and bar owners— during the Nazi occupaton; Jewish patrons were still welcome at Harry's. Although you'll have to use your imagination to conjure up images of the bar's former glory, Harry's still boasts Venice's driest martinis, and makes a Bellini according the original recipe (invented at Harry's). The food, while outrageously expensive and conventional, is nevertheless quite good.

With tables offering a spectacular view of the Zattere outside and an elegant room inside, Harry's (of Cipriani fame) makes for a very indulgent pit stop. While you can linger for an expensive lunch or dinner, those wanting to visit once should opt for the light bites, sandwiches, and sweet goodies, such as cake and gelato.

Despite its name "the devil and holy water" (a common way of describing a person whose personality swings between these two extremes), this small bar and restaurant has a reliable kitchen and a homey, neighborhood atmosphere. Go on Saturday morning, when old friends tend to stop for an ombra (small glass of wine) and a cicheto. Try the breaded fried baccalà, meat or tuna meatballs, cubes of frittata, and in cold weather, sometimes musetto (sausage) or testina (meat from the head of a pig). At lunch or dinner, apart from standard favorites, such as spaghetti carbonara and fegato alla veneziana (Venetian-style liver with onions), try some Venetian classics, such as bigoli in salsa (spaghetti with onions and anchovies), tripe soup, mixed boiled meat, or cuttlefish in sauce made from their ink, and sometimes even eel risotto.

Longtime restaurateur Gianni Bonaccorsi has established an eatery where he can pamper a limited number of lucky patrons with his imaginative cuisine and impeccable taste in wine. Ridotto means “small, private place,” which this very much is, evoking an atmosphere of secrecy and intimacy; the innovative menus tend toward lighter but wonderfully tasty versions of classic dishes. Ask them to recommend a wine from the excellent cantina.

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).

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.

The candlelit tables on this romantic campo are inviting enough, but it's the intimate restaurant's imaginative kitchen that's likely to win you over; you can order consistently excellent pasta, fish, or meat dishes à la carte or opt for one of the rewarding tasting menus. The wine list is ample and well thought out, and the service is gracious, warm, and professional.

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.

Simple place settings, wood lattice walls, and a mélange of languages make La Zucca (The Pumpkin) feel much like a typical, somewhat sophisticated vegetarian restaurant that you could find in any European city. What makes La Zucca special is simply great cooking and the use of fresh, local ingredients—many of which, like the particularly sweet zucca itself, aren't normally found outside northern Italy. Although the menu has superb meat dishes, more attention is paid to dishes from the garden; don't miss the house's signature dish—the flan di zucca, a luscious, naturally sweet, pumpkin pudding topped with slivered, aged ricotta cheese.

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.

In a simple yet charming setting with beamed ceilings and terrazzo floors, a sister and brother team oversee their "new Venetian cuisine," where local ingredients are used to prepare reinvented traditional dishes, often with Japanese influences. It's tasting-menu only, with seven or nine courses (or a less expensive four-course option at weekday lunch), and wine pairings from their extensive list are a recommended treat.

If you're hungry but don't know what you want, head to this bar, café, restaurant, and pizzeria for a bite. Here you can sample all types of southern Italian specialties from the Salento area of Puglia, the "heel" of the Italian "boot." Divided into two locations across the street from each other on Calle San Pantalon, the café has some tables inside, while the bakery focuses on takeout. Discover the puccia (POOCH-a), a delicious cross between a pizza and a sandwich that you order by ticking the options on a list of ingredients, or try the homemade pasta dishes, especially the orecchiette ("little ears"), the most famous pasta from the Puglia region. Skip the usual croissant with your cappuccino and try the pasticciotto pastry filled with lemon custard. "Mamafe'" refers to Mamma Federica.

Don't let the name pizzeria con cucina fool you: Muro offers its mostly youthful clientele a varied menu and uses high-quality ingredients, taking its cue from its more refined sister restaurant, Muro Rialto. Select from excellent Venetian fare and pizza in classic and innovative forms—try the arrotolata amoretesoro (a rolled pizza) with bresaola (thinly sliced air-cured beef), scamorza (a delicately flavored melting cheese made from cow's milk), and radicchio. Chef Francesco adds dimension to the menu with classic Italian selections, along with the piatti unici, a single course fancifully combining elements of first and second courses. A wide selection of beer is on tap.

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.

This friendly neighborhood restaurant named for the old well nearby offers a wide selection of favorite Italian dishes. The pizza is made with locally milled flour that is left to mature for two days, and the pasta is handmade every day. Recipes use seasonal ingredients; this could be your only chance to try a pizza with pumpkin cream or with truffles in the fall. There are lots of meat and vegetarian dishes, and very little fish.

This small trattoria in Campo Santa Margherita hides a historic secret: indoors are the visible underground remains of three medieval brick vats that were used for dying cloth, discovered during renovation work years ago. A menu for the whole family varies from cicheti (appetizers) to pasta to dessert. It's a fine place for a coffee or spritz under the umbrellas outside. It stays open continuously till 1:00 am, a rarity in Venice, perfect for early or late dinner, or good-night drinks or dessert.

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.

Far from the madding San Marco crowds, this tiny eatery nestled under a grapevine on a remote campiello charms before you even taste the seafood (think: grilled seppie [cuttlefish], canoce [mantis shrimp], excellent baccalà mantecato, or sarde in saor [sweet-and-sour sardines]). Wines are an important part of the meal here; ask for a recommendation from the ample list of predominantly regional selections. With limited indoor seating, La Frasca encloses and heats their outdoor terrace to accommodate winter diners.

The name refers to the intimate garden where co-owner Larisa will welcome you warmly, once you've wound your way from the Rialto or San Stae down the narrow calle to this romantic locale. (There's an indoor dining room as well, but the garden is covered and heated in winter.) Larisa's husband, Virgilio, mans the kitchen, where he prepares such dishes as sea bass in salt crust and a grilled fish platter. Be sure to try the homemade gnocchi or pasta—perhaps the tagliolini (thin spaghetti) with scallops and artichokes. You'll also find some fine meat options here. Desserts, like the chocolate mousse or crème caramel, are homemade as well. The wine list features some excellent regional selections.

"The best polpette in town," you'll hear fans of the venerable Vedova say, and that explains why it's an obligatory stop on any giro d'ombra (bacaro tour); the polpette are always hot and crunchy—and also gluten-free, as they're made with polenta. Ca' d'Oro is a full-fledged trattoria as well, but make sure to reserve ahead: it's no secret to those seeking traditional Venetian fare at reasonable prices, locals and travelers alike. Vedova is one of the few places that still serves house wine in tiny, traditional palline glasses (never fear: if you order a bottle you'll get fancier glassware).

This small corner bar-café is a vibrant spot full of personality with a remarkable menu, thanks to the highly enterprising Simone Lazzari and his nephew, Devis. Along with a selection of tempting, original cicheti, it serves more classic Venetian bites, such as sarde in saor (marinated sardines), baccalà mantecato (salt cod), seppie (cuttlefish), and nervetti (boiled beef cartilage with raw onions). There are also more substantial plates of food that will fill you up, even if you are seated on one of the high stools at the small tables. Their specialty is boiled octopus. It's not cheap when you add up the cost of all those delectable bites, but flavor and originality make it worthwhile. (The "pulperia" is the Venetian term for place serving octopus, or polpo.)