Venice Travel Guide
Eating in Venice
How to eat well in Venice — the bacaro and cicchetti culture, the spritz and the ombra, the lagoon's seafood and classic dishes, the Rialto Market, and the simple rules that keep you out of tourist traps.
Venice has a reputation for mediocre, overpriced food, and around San Marco it is often deserved. But the city has one of the most distinctive food cultures in Italy, shaped by the lagoon, by centuries of trade with the East, and by the habit of eating small plates standing at a bar. Learn how Venetians eat and you will eat very well indeed, often for less than you feared.
The bacaro and cicchetti. The heart of Venetian eating is the bacaro, a small, usually old wine bar where locals stand at the counter for an ombra — literally a shadow, a small glass of wine — and a few cicchetti, the Venetian answer to tapas. The counter is laid out with them: crostini of baccalà mantecato, salt cod whipped with olive oil into a creamy mousse; sarde in saor, fried sardines marinated with sweet-and-sour onions, pine nuts and raisins, a dish from the days of long sea voyages; polpette, fried meatballs; tiny sandwiches called tramezzini; boiled eggs with anchovy; marinated vegetables; and slices of salami or cheese. You point, pay as you go, and eat standing or perched on a stool outside by the canal. A giro di ombre, a bacaro crawl, is the classic way to spend an early evening, and it can easily replace dinner.
Where to find good bacari. The greatest concentration is around the Rialto Market in San Polo, where some bars have served traders for centuries, and in Cannaregio, along the Fondamenta della Misericordia and the Fondamenta degli Ormesini, where evenings are lively and full of young Venetians. Dorsoduro has good options around Campo Santa Margherita and San Pantalon, and Castello's quieter lanes hide neighbourhood bars. As a rule, the further from San Marco and the busier with locals, the better.
The spritz and other drinks. The spritz was born in the Veneto, and in Venice it is the default aperitif: white wine, soda water and a bitter liqueur, with an olive or a slice of orange. Ask for it with Select, the Venetian bitter, for a local twist, or with Aperol or Campari. Local wines include Prosecco from the hills north of Venice, and the whites and reds of the Veneto and Friuli. The Bellini, white peach purée and Prosecco, was created at Harry's Bar, the famous bar near San Marco, which still serves it, at a price.
The lagoon on your plate. Venetian cooking is built on seafood. Look for seppie al nero, cuttlefish cooked in its own ink and served with soft white polenta; bigoli in salsa, thick wholewheat pasta with an anchovy and onion sauce; risotto di go, made with a small lagoon fish that Burano is famous for; schie, tiny grey shrimps served with polenta; and, in spring and autumn, moeche, the soft-shell crabs of the lagoon, fried whole. Fritto misto, a plate of mixed fried fish and seafood, is a favourite, and many restaurants serve a grand seafood antipasto. Meat lovers should try fegato alla veneziana, calf's liver with slowly cooked onions, and in spring, risi e bisi, a soupy rice with fresh peas.
Sweets and coffee. Venetian pastry shops sell fritole, small fried doughnuts with raisins, around Carnival; buranelli, the ring-shaped butter biscuits of Burano; and zaleti, cornmeal biscuits. Tiramisù comes from the Veneto, and the city has excellent gelaterie. Coffee is cheapest and most authentic standing at the bar; at the historic cafés in Piazza San Marco, table service is a theatrical splurge.
The Rialto Market. Visit the Rialto Market in the morning to see the produce and fish that end up on Venetian plates: artichokes from the lagoon island of Sant'Erasmo, including the tiny castraure in spring; radicchio from Treviso in winter; and the morning's catch laid out on ice in the Pescheria, which closes on Sundays and Mondays. Food tours and market tours, some ending with a meal in a local home, are a good way to learn what to look for.
Avoiding tourist traps. A few simple rules help. Be wary of restaurants with touts outside, multilingual picture menus and set tourist menus near San Marco and the Rialto. Check the menu and prices before sitting down, and note the coperto, the cover charge, and any service charge. Fish is often priced by weight, so ask for the price of your portion before ordering. Be aware that frozen seafood must be marked on Italian menus, often with an asterisk. Book ahead for well-regarded restaurants, especially at weekends, as Venetian restaurants are small. And remember that Venetians eat lunch from about half past twelve and dinner from about half past seven; many kitchens close early by Italian standards.
Eating on a budget. Cicchetti and an ombra or two make a cheap and delicious meal. Pizza by the slice, tramezzini and pastries are inexpensive lunches. Supermarkets, including several in the historic centre, are good for picnic supplies, though remember that picnicking is banned in Piazza San Marco and on monument steps; the Zattere, the Giardini and the campi of Castello are better. Tap water is safe, and public fountains are free.
Special occasions. Venice has a handful of acclaimed fine-dining restaurants, some in the grand hotels and on the islands; hotel terraces such as the Gritti's on the Grand Canal or the Danieli's rooftop make a memorable setting. For a long seafood lunch, Burano and the Giudecca are classic choices. Whatever your budget, the best Venetian meals often come with a view of the water and no hurry.