Venice - eating out

The main speciality in Venice is fish, but it is very important to check out the prices of restaurants, which can be very high without guaranteeing good quality food.

A very nice little restaurant that offers fish at accessible prices is "Anice Stellato", which is in Fondamenta della Sensa (Cannaregio): they serve very original dishes, which are generally great (including desserts), but avoid going there on weekends if you haven’t booked beforehand. If you don’t find a free table, you can still have a glass of wine and eat some "cicheti" standing at the bar. They have a wide choice, and they’re all very good and unusual.

If you want to fill your stomach without spending too much, you can always resort to the typical Venetian snacks (cicheti): meatballs, fried squids, usually accompanied by a glass of wine or an appetizer drink. The traditional appetizer drink in Venice is the "spritz", which you should try at least once: it is a mixture of prosecco (sparkling white wine), seltz and Campari or Aperol, depending if you want it to be more bitter (Campari) or sweet (Aperol). Amongst the places which offer a great variety of cicheti are the "Antica Cicheteria Veneziana", and the "Trattoria Pontini", which are both near the "Ponte delle Guglie". Both places are a good place to have lunch or dinner spending less than elsewhere.

If you feel like having a pizza, a good place is "Trattoria alle Lanternine", in Strada Nuova, behind the Church of Santa Fosca; the pizza is of the traditional Neapolitan type (i.e., good). Another option is the pizzeria "Birraria La Corte", in beautiful Campo San Polo, where you will find, beside good pizza, very original "sorbetti" (which is a type of ice cream with alcohol, usually served to help digestion after dinner).

If you want to eat good takeaway pizza, the place to go is "L’arte della pizza", a very small place in Calle dell’Aseo (near Teatro Italia, after Rio Terrà San Leonardo); the owner, Franco Barbato, is a master who has received several prizes, and does his job with great love and care.

Venetians usually have breakfast in bars/patisseries where they can have coffee or cappuccino and "corasan" (Venetian word which is a literal translation of the French "croissant"). There are several good such bars all over the city, but one of the most recommended is "Tonolo" near Campo dei Frari (just ask people where it is: everyone knows it): they make great pastry and cakes. Not far away, in Campo Santa Margherita, there’s "Pasticceria Gobetti", which is famous for its mousse. If you are in Venice for Carnival, you must try the typical "frittelle", filled with raisins and pine nuts, or with egg-nog or cream. Tonolo is definitely the best place for frittelle.

The real gluttons will appreciate the great artisan ice cream of "Gelateria Alaska" in Calle Larga dei Bari, between the station and Campo San Giacomo dell’Orio. Here fruit ice cream tastes of real fruit, and there’s a wide choice of unusual ice cream flavours, from ginger to basil!