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$ | Dorsoduro |
A mainstay for anyone living or working in the area, this beautiful, family-run, 19th-century bacaro across from the squero (gondola boatyard) of San Trovaso has original furnishings and one of the city's best wine cellars, and the walls are covered floor to ceiling with bottles for purchase. The cicheti here are some of the most inventive—and freshest—in Venice (feel free to compliment the signora, who makes them up to twice a day); everything's eaten standing up, as there's no seating. Try the crostini-style layers of bread, smoked swordfish, and slivers of raw zucchini, or pungent slices of Parmesan, fig, pistachio, and toast. They also have a creamy version of baccalà mantecato spiced with herbs, and there are nearly a dozen open bottles of wine for experimenting at the bar. You'll have no trouble spotting the Cantinone as you approach; it's the one with throngs of chatty patrons enjoying themselves. Avoid the temptation to sit on the bridge's steps -- this is a common touristic behavior that inconveniences, and thus annoys, anybody who needs to pass.
Dorsoduro 992, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Excellent quality cicheti
- Plenty of wine choices
- Boisterous local atmosphere
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and 3 wks in Aug.
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$$$$ | Dorsoduro |
Wine lovers shouldn't miss this cozy and compact eatery run by the Spezzamonte brothers, which offers a fantastic selection of organic wines along with modern takes on classic Venetian dishes, such as scampi in saor (marinated langoustines) and grilled local amberjack. If you can't choose, let the helpful servers suggest the perfect vino from their list of more than 700 bottles to pair with your à la carte dishes or tasting menu. Snacks are available at aperitivo (aperitif) hour.
Dorsoduro 3778, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Extensive natural wine list
- Ambitious local cuisine
- Vibrant atmosphere
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Tues.
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$$$ | Dorsoduro |
For a break from all the fish and seafood options in Venice, this is your place; the meat- and veggie-focused menu (inspired by the cuisine of the Venetian mainland) presents a new temptation at every course, and market availability keeps the dishes changing almost every day. The homemade desserts are all luscious (it's been said that La Bitta serves the best panna cotta in town), and you can trust the owner's selections from her excellent wine and grappa lists, which tend to favor small local producers.
Dorsoduro 2753/A, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Meat dishes (no seafood)
- Seasonally inspired menus
- Friendly and efficient service
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No lunch, Reservations essential
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$$ | Dorsoduro |
A beautiful and atmospheric bacaro, Alla Bifora has such ample, satisfying fare that most Venetians consider it a full-fledged restaurant. Offerings include overflowing trays of cold, sliced meats and cheeses; various preparations of baccalà (cod); and Venetian classics, such as polpette (croquettes), sarde in saor, and marinated anchovies. La Bifora also serves up a couple of excellent hot dishes; the seppie in nero (cuttlefish stewed in a sauce made with its ink) is among the best in the city. Owner and barman Franco Bernardi and his sister Mirella are warm and friendly—after a few visits, you'll be greeted like a member of the family.
Dorsoduro 2930, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Good selection of regional wines by the glass
- Seppie in nero con polenta (cuttlefish in ink with polenta)
- Warm and friendly owners
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Jan. and Aug., Reservations essential
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$$$ | Dorsoduro |
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.
Dorsoduro 1169a, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Delicious pasta and seafood offerings
- Superlative tiramisu
- Truly helpful service
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon., Reservations essential
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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$ | Dorsoduro |
Caffè Ai Artisti gives locals, students, and travelers alike good reason to pause and refuel. The location is central, pleasant, and sunny—perfect for people-watching and taking a break before the next destination—and the hours are long. You can come here for a morning cappuccino, or drop by late for an after-dinner spritz. The panini are composed on site from fresh, seasonal ingredients, and there's a varied selection of wines by the glass.
Dorsoduro 2771, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Relaxing with a coffee
- Evening Aperol spritz or wine
- Chilling with the locals
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$ | Dorsoduro |
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 23 Italian cities and eight 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.
Campo San Barnaba, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- International following
- Flavor-packed gelato and sorbet
- Seasonal menu
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$ | Dorsoduro |
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.
Dorsoduro 3058/A, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Late hours
- Gelato
- Granitas
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Nov.–Feb.
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$ | Dorsoduro |
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.
Dorsoduro 922, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Abundant seating
- Divine hazelnut ice cream
- Waterfront location
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$ | Dorsoduro |
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 (sandwiches) 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).
Dorsoduro 3126, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Tasty sandwiches and salads
- Good wines and cocktails
- Pleasant outdoor seating
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$$$ | Dorsoduro |
This sleek café is a favorite lunchtime haunt for professors from the nearby university and local businesspeople, when you can easily have a beautifully prepared primo (first course) or secondo (second course), plus a glass of wine, for a reasonable price; there's also a good selection of sandwiches and salads. Unlike most local eateries, this spot is open from breakfast through late dinner, and you can dine well in the evening on imaginative pasta, seafood, and meat dishes. An unusual option is the one-plate "composed" dish that may include boiled and grilled vegetables with marinated salmon and tuna with citrus sauce, or crunchy sauteed vegetables with calamari, shrimp, and octopus.
Dorsoduro 3815, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Imaginative dishes
- Contemporary decor
- All-day dining
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and 2 wks in Aug.
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$$ | Dorsoduro |
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.
Dorsoduro 3743 and 3755, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Cappuccino
- Puccia (cross between a sandwich and pizza)
- Takeout snacks and pastries
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$ | Dorsoduro |
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.
Dorsoduro 922, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Thurs. and Dec. 21–Jan. 8
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$$ | Dorsoduro |
This small eatery hides a historic secret: indoors are the visible underground remains of three medieval brick vats that were used for dying cloth, discovered during renovation work years ago. A menu for the whole family varies from cicheti (appetizers) to pasta to dessert. It's a fine place for a coffee or spritz under the umbrellas outside.
Dorsoduro 3426, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Historic past
- Fine setting for a coffee or spritz
- Umbrella-covered outdoor seating
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$$ | Dorsoduro |
It wasn't long after this lovely little wine bar (not, as its name implies, 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.
Dorsoduro 943/944, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Tasty cicheti
- Good veggie options
- Pretty canal views
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
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$$$$ | Dorsoduro |
Outstanding fish, from the simplest steamed sea bass to decadent swordfish ravioli, is served at Bakan, its name a reference to the part of the lagoon near Sant'Erasmo that's popular for swimming and clamming. You'll see more students and locals than tourists here, and there are tables outside. Classic Venetian dishes such as bigoli in salsa (spaghetti with an anchovy-onion sauce) and baccalà mantecato (creamy, whipped salt cod), are well prepared, but there are also dishes like fegato alla veneziana for those who prefer calf liver and onions.
Dorsoduro 2314/A, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Seafood classics like baccalà mantecato
- Local patrons
- Outdoor seating
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. and Tues.
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$ | Dorsoduro |
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.
Dorsoduro 2864/A, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Zaletti cookies
- Family business
- Fresh pastries, made with love
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon.
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$ | Dorsoduro |
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.
Dorsoduro 1192, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Bustling location
- Sfogliatelle (lobster tail pastry)
- Memorable pastries
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$ | Dorsoduro |
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.
Dorsoduro 3764, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. and Aug., No credit cards
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$ | Dorsoduro |
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.
Dorsoduro 3764, Venice, Veneto, 30123, Italy
Known For
- Arguably the best pastries in Venice
- Excellent coffee
- Can't-miss doughnuts
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon.
