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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.
On the Lido, strategically located on the main drag between the vaporetto stop and the most central beaches, Titta is one of the oldest gelaterie (gelato shops) in Venice. Get your receipt at the cassa (register) for a cone to go, or enjoy one of the special combinations while lolling in a swinging chair under the trees that line the Gran Viale.
This popular breakfast spot close to the Rialto attracts a mix of locals and tourists. Enjoy your pastry and coffee inside the old-time pastry shop or, if you’re lucky, snag a seat outside.
This 19th-century chocolate shop serves up delicious (what else?) chocolate ice creams, along with refreshing sorbets. For the ultimate experience, add seasonal sprinkles, such as Piedmont hazelnuts, to your sweet treat.
This friendly trattoria popular with the locals is only a short walk from the Rialto markets. The pizza—not a Venetian specialty, generally speaking—is pretty good here, but the star attractions are the generous appetizers and excellent shellfish pastas. In good weather, you can enjoy your meal in the pergola-covered courtyard (do reserve if you want to snag a table there). There's no English menu, but a server can usually help you out. The house wine is quite drinkable.
Here you'll find the usual array of gelato flavors, which change with the seasons, plus more unusual ones like licorice. You can also enjoy a granita (regular and Sicilian), panna in ghiaccio (a brick of frozen cream between wafers), 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 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.
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.
Try this fun shop for gelato that’s out of the ordinary: think walnut cream with caramelized fig, or vanilla with rum raisins and Malaga wine. Sorbets and milkshakes are also on offer.
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. The frittura is not a rare dish in Venice, but you won't find a better one—and certainly not at a better price.
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.
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.
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.
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, and they claim to be the only shop that makes mammaluchi, an extraordinary deep-fried cylinder of moist dough loaded with raisins and rolled in sugar. Targa always has a wide choice of cookies and assorted savory little pizzas to munch while sipping your spritz.
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 wide choice of Venetian dishes served in robust portions, economical fixed-price menus, pizzas, and house wine by the glass or pitcher keep this two-floor, no-nonsense, reliable tavern abuzz with young locals and budget-conscious visitors. It's always packed, and table turnover is fast, so it's not for lingering. Not far from the Gallerie dell'Accademia, this is a good place to slip into while sightseeing in Dorsoduro.
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