Venice Restaurants
by Philip Greenspun; revised December 2007
Venice is famous for bad restaurants. You can find some good meals in
Venice, but expect to pay at least 20-50 percent more than on the
mainland and don't expect to be pleasantly surprised by guidebook
recommendations. Even the Michelin Red Guide folks could not find a
restaurant worthy of more than 1 star here. You will pay $20 for a
bowl of soup or a plate of pasta and it often won't taste any better
than what you'd get at a Cheesecake Factory (though it will be one
third the size). You might try pigging out at the hotel buffet and
then subsisting on pizza for the rest of the day, but wood-burning
ovens are banned in Venice and therefore even the pizza is
substandard.
Do not expect to get a restaurant meal after 2:30 or 3 pm anywhere in the city. You will probably have bad luck trying to get an after-theater dinner as well. Nor will will you find restaurants open when museums close. Nor will you find many restaurants extending their dinner hours on Friday and Saturday nights. One cheerful note for Americans is that, starting in January 2005, Italy banned smoking in its restaurants.
When the city is crowded and you're tired of slamming into other tourists, you can escape the crowds by eating at hotel restaurants, which are typically about 20 percent higher in price but vastly more spacious. Canova, inside the Luna Hotel Baglioni (calle larga dell'Ascensione 1243, tel 528 9840), is about 20 meters from Piazza San Marco, on the same street as Harry's Bar and the vaporetto stop. Do Leoni, inside the Hotel Londra, on the water around the corner from the Doges Palace, is another peaceful choice with excellent service and good food.
For a longer escape from the crowds, hop the Hotel Cipriani's private launch, sit down on the terrace to watch the lagoon, and eat some of the best food available on the Adriatic. Telephone 520-7744.
You will pay a small fortune for mediocre snacks at various bars, so why not pay a slightly larger fortune and snack in style at Florian's, serving loyal Venetians since 1720, or Quadri, which has seamlessly transitioned from serving occupying Austrian officers to occupying tourists. Two people enjoying coffee and sandwiches might get change back from a 50 euro bill.
Giuseppe Cipriani opened Harry's Bar in 1931 with financing from a Bostonian
named Harry. Sit at the bar and drink a Bellini, invented here, and then think
about the fact that Hemingway probably sat in exactly the same spot and drank
exactly the same drink. Then remind yourself that Hemingway was a real man who
wouldn't have been caught dead drinking a sissy drink like peach juice and
sparkling wine. The food at Harry's Bar gets one star (as high as it gets in
Venice) from the Michelin Red Guide and it is deserved. Service in the upstairs
restaurant is superb. If you're lucky, none other than Harry Cipriani (Giuseppe's
son, born one year after the bar) will come out and ask you how you're enjoying
dinner. An old American Express Guide to Venice described the end of a visit to
Harry's as "being presented with a shocking bill." Budget $200 per person. Right across from the
San Marco vaporetto stop.
Di Francesca e Vincenzo Osteria/Enoteca is a good simple restaurant halfway between the Accademia and the Ca' Rezzonico: Fondamental della Toletta, Dorsoduro 1169, (041) 523-8944. Stays open until 4 pm for lunch.
Another one-star (Michelin) choice is La Caravella. About half the price of Harry's Bar with a good selection. La Caravella is inside the Hotel Saturnia, about five minutes on foot from Piazza San Marco, tel 520-8901.
As of 2007, my favorite restaurant in Venice was Osteria da Alberto, Calle Giacinto Gallina, Cannaregio (near Santa Maria dei Miracoli), 041 523-8153. Prices are about the same as other basic restaurants (50-70 euro for a light lunch for two, with house wine), but quality is higher. My second choice is Vini Da Arturo, near La Fenice, which specializes in meat and has excellent house wine. No credit cards. 041 528-6974.
The best wine that we had was an Amarone (heavy red) at the Londra Palace.
Be very wary of the restaurants near San Marco, particularly in the
Calla Larga San Marco. You could easily be presented with a frozen
pizza topped with canned mushrooms (50 euro for two, including a Coke
or two). Do not be encouraged by the tourists who've already been
sucked into the net; popularity is no sign of quality in Venice.
Follow a guidebook, ask a local shopkeeper, and, when in doubt, just get
snack in a bar or a bakery.
There are plenty of reasons to visit Venice, but the quality of the cuisine isn't one of the them. There are plenty of shopping malls in the U.S. where you could get a better Italian meal than at a typical Venetian restaurant, at half the price and with better wine (one quarter the price if you adjust for portion size).