Where We Ate & Drank In Venice, Italy
One of the main things I was looking forward to on our vacation was eating my body weight in pizza and pasta … let’s just say this trip did not disappoint. Every place we ate at while in Venice was fantastic. The list below are my recommendations of where to go depending on what you are in the mood for. From there, you can get additional details and pictures about each spot!
Download a map of all the places I ate and drank: Here
Pasticceria dal Mas- Click Here To Learn More
Muro Frari- Click To Learn More
Antico Forno- Click To Learn More
Ristorante Principessa- Click To Learn More
Londra Bar- Click To Learn More
Ristorante La Terrazza- Click To Learn More
Trattoria- Pizzeria “Al Campanile” – Click Here To Learn More
Al Buso- Click To Learn More
Ristorante Casin dei Nobili- Click Here To Learn More
La Colombina- Click Here To Learn More
Traverna Scalinetto- Click Here To Learn More
Gelateria Nico: Click To Learn More
This was a fantastic lunch spot outside of St. Mark’s Square, great for relaxing outside and people watching. What we ordered: Club Sandwich, Veggie Club Sandwich (both came with fries) a beer and an Aperol Sprtiz.
This pizza was AWESOME. We split a piece one day for lunch because the slices are huge and we didn’t want to be too full while walking around. The pizza itself is made on a focaccia bread, which I’ve never seen another pizza quite like it. I was expecting it to be super bread dense, but honestly, the focaccia was light, airy and full of flavor. We tried a slice of the 4 cheese, which uniquely enough, one of the cheeses on it was a bleu cheese…at the time, it sounded weird. But it was seriously so good. Highly recommend checking it out!
This is where we ate during night one of our trip in Italy. It was a recommendation from our hotel and it did not disappoint. This easily earned my vote for the best overall restaurant in Venice! Their menu included a variety of great Italian dishes to choose from including appetizers, pasta dishes, meat/seafood entrees, pizza and of course dessert. We ordered the prosciutto with brie, the carbonara, gnocchi, and veal. My favorite part was probably the prosciutto with brie appetizer. Don’t get me wrong, everything was great. But that appetizer literally melted in your mouth. It’s funny because prior to this trip, I didn’t really see myself as a big prosciutto fan. But pay close attention because you’ll begin to notice the further along we get with the list of restaurant recommendations, the more we see prosciutto surface and make an appearance.
This place is a vibe. If you’re looking to do a nicer dinner in Venice, I would 10/10 recommend Al Buso. I found it crazy that when I looked it up online it only got 3.9 stars from yelp, so don’t let that stop you from giving it a try. Painted into a corner, I would have to say I enjoyed the food slightly more at Trattoria- Pizzeria “Al Campanile” . However, I found the atmosphere of this place to be unmatched. We ordered salad, prosciutto, salmon, bolognese, and bistecca (steak). We followed up dinner with a sipper of limoncello…but only after my husband asked for the bill and the waiter refused, did we also receive glasses of Sherry wine for each of us to enjoy paired with a dessert. So naturally, we followed up our after dinner cocktail with another after. dinner. cocktail. But before we knew it, 3 hours had past. We obviously didn’t find it difficult to get absolutely lost in the magic of the evening.
*Pro Tip* make a dinner reservation to sit outside this place. Our lovely hotel had called and scheduled our reservation for us and it paid off! The outside dining area is right along Rialto Bridge and the view at dusk is phenomenal. Service (and the staff’s jokes) were also a 10/10
Fantastic pizza joint! I’m sure the other items on their menu are as good as their pizza, but it was a pizza night for the two of us, so that’s all we had!… Oh, and of course, dessert. I ordered pepperoni pizza. Where Adam, my husband, had prosciutto pizza. (See I told you the prosciutto makes multiple appearances.) Our game plan was to split our pizzas in half to try each others. Well, we each tried one slice of each others and never swapped again. That’s how good they were (and greedy we became)! For dessert we tried the Italian Chocolate Salami. Personally, I had no idea what to expect when we placed the order. It was tempting to google what the desert was before it arrived, but it was more fun just waiting to see what appeared. For those feeling adventurous, this is what it is: Click Here
In all transparency, this place was good, but not anything out of this world like Al Buso, or Trattoria- Pizzeria “Al Campanile”. The inside/outside area was adorable. And don’t get me wrong, my risotto and the beef tartar was vey good…it just wasn’t “OMG I need to go back” good. Which, once you start eating one amazing meal after the next, you really start to get picky on what classifies as a “you must go there meal” . But don’t hesitate to scope it out if you’ve been in town for a couple days and have already visited the spots listed above.
After writing this post, I almost deleted the location because of my description. But I had a moment of clarity and realized this meal was better than half the dinners I’ve had in the states over the last year…no offense America…Ristorante Casin dei Nobili remains.
Nico’s ended up on our radar because this place was a recommendation from our walking tour guide. Just accept that when a true Venetian says “this the best gelato in all of Venice”, you don’t ask questions – you just go immediately! Full transparency, we went back 3 times because it was THAT GOOD. If you want gelato in Venice, this is the spot! In my opinion, the strawberry is a must. It’s difficult to go wrong though because every flavor (caffe, limon, banana, etc.) we tried was fantastic. My mouth is watering just typing this…
This cute and eclectic restaurant is off a quiet little alley. With very limited seating, I’d recommend making a reservation if you want to sit outside. They offer a variety of unique appetizers daily. We ordered 4 pieces of chefs choice and all of them were AWESOME! One thing I noticed while there was they do a full tasting menu experience. I would love to try it if we ever went back. The tasting is priced out per person where they bring multiple courses table-side for you to try. Because we were eating throughout the entire day, we didn’t quite have the appetite to do something this expansive. But based on the quality of the food and what we ordered, I have no doubt that it would be an amazing experience!
Taverna Scalinetto might be the dark horse pick of Venice! It had a naval / ship yard feel on the inside, along with a little hidden courtyard buried toward the rear. We ordered the charcuterie board and the picture doesn’t it do it justice. Everything was so fresh and flavorful. Our plan for the day was to stop into random spots to grab a light bite to eat and continue pursuing new foods vs. springing for a full meal. However, based on the board alone, Scalinetto’s is a 10/10 must!
The Londra bar, attached to a hotel, is right around the corner from St. Mark’s Square. We ambushed this place one afternoon for drinks looking to unwind for a bit. They have a very relaxing outdoor set-up, which is also in a prime area for people watching. If you are in the area and looking for a cute/relaxing place to grab a drink, I would recommend the Londra Bar to cool off.
Tip of the cap to our Airbnb host that recommended this cafe. Our accommodations for the first half of our Venice trip were at a hotel, which included an amazing breakfast. And because of this, we didn’t venture too much in the morning into any nearby cafes. But we knew it take this recommendation seriously based on how passionate our host was while she was explaining its location to us. You know a spot is awesome when you arrive and it’s packed wall-to-wall with locals! 2 Caffe Americanos, per favore! Paired that with a croissant, and it was heavenly. We made an attempt to go back our last morning before heading to the airport, but there was a sign on the door that they were going to be closed for the next 3 weeks – Lol. I’m just glad we got the opportunity to try it!
The final dinner of our trip was at Ristorante La Terrazza. The restaurant was in a more tourist area of the city, but it has a gorgeous outdoor bar and table set up. The dishes here were true venetian cuisine, which we had on our list to try while in Venice. For an appetizer, we ordered beef tartar and it was awesome. My main entree was ravioli and despite the portion size being a bit on the smaller side, it managed to be the perfect amount to fill you up. My husband had ordered a true Venetian meal of mixed fried seafood. Unanimous decision (between both my husband and I) that his dish was alright at best. It tasted similar to something battered in shrimp tempura without a ton of flavor. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend that dish, but if you are looking for a place that offers authentic Venetian cuisine, then it’s worth giving La Terrazza a shot!
