Where to Eat in Venice: 10 Best Restaurants and Bacari

This guide is part of our Venice Travel Guide — start there for the overview, itineraries and costs.

For a sit-down Venetian meal, the most reliable picks are Antiche Carampane and Trattoria alla Madonna near Rialto, with Trattoria Dalla Marisa in Cannaregio for a fixed-menu local lunch. For cicchetti and a glass of wine, start with the bàcari around the Rialto market (All'Arco, Cantina Do Mori, Cantina Do Spade) and Cantinone Già Schiavi in Dorsoduro.

Where to Eat in Venice at a Glance

Price guide: € = cicchetti and a drink for under about €15; €€ = a two-course trattoria meal; €€€ = €70+ per person with wine; €€€€ = tasting menus well above €150. Hours change seasonally and many places close for holidays in January and August, so check before crossing the city.

1. Antiche Carampane

Hidden in the lanes between the Rialto fish market and Campo San Polo, just over the Ponte de le Tette, Antiche Carampane is one of the best-known seafood trattorias in Venice and is listed in the Michelin Guide. The room is small (around ten tables) and the menu is built on lagoon fish and traditional Venetian cooking.

• What to order: start with fried seafood, then a seafood pasta or a whole grilled fish. Vegetables come from the Osti in Orto growers' collective on Sant'Erasmo; finish with gianduiotto.
• Price: the restaurant's own menu page lists antipasti at €23–27, primi at €22, secondi at €23–25 and desserts at €8–12.
• Address: Rio Terà de le Carampane, San Polo 1911.
• Closed: Sunday and Monday.
• Booking: recommended, through the restaurant's website or by phone. Late cancellations and no-shows are charged €35 per booked cover, and tables on the 7:30pm first sitting must be free by 9:30pm.

2. Trattoria alla Madonna

Open since 1954 and run by the same family, Trattoria alla Madonna is a large, busy, old-school trattoria a few steps from the Rialto Bridge. The menu is almost entirely fish, cooked simply in the Venetian way, which makes it a dependable choice for a first night in the city.

• What to order: Venetian seafood classics such as fritto misto, seafood risotto and grilled fish of the day.
• Price: mid-range; OpenTable places it in its lowest price band (€30 and under).
• Address: Calle della Madonna, San Polo 594.
• Closed: Wednesday.
• Booking: recommended for dinner, by phone (+39 041 522 3824) or online.

3. All'Arco

All'Arco is a tiny standing-room cicchetti bar in the calli around the Rialto market. It keeps market hours, opening in the morning and closing in the early afternoon, and its counter is stocked with snacks made from what the stalls are selling that day.

• What to order: baccalà mantecato (whipped salt cod) on bread or polenta, plus whatever seafood cicchetti are on the counter, with an ombra of house wine.
• Price: budget; a few cicchetti and a glass of wine make a cheap lunch.
• Address: Calle dell'Occhialer, San Polo 436.
• Hours and closed: Monday to Saturday, about 8am–2:30pm; closed Sunday.
• Booking: not possible. Arrive between 11:30am and 1pm, when the market cicchetti are at their best, and expect a crowd.

4. Cantina Do Mori

Usually described as the oldest bàcaro in Venice, with a history traced back to 1462, Cantina Do Mori is a small wine bar tucked into the lanes beside the Rialto market. Locals and visitors drink standing at the counter.

• What to order: its small square sandwiches (francobolli, "postage stamps"), sarde in saor and baccalà mantecato, with a glass from the long wine list.
• Price: budget; cicchetti are priced individually.
• Address: San Polo 429, near the Rialto market.
• Hours and closed: Monday to Saturday, about 8am–7:30pm; closed Sunday.
• Booking: not needed; there is little seating.

5. Cantina Do Spade

Cantina Do Spade claims to have served Rialto since 1448 and works both as a bàcaro, with cicchetti at the bar, and as an osteria with tables for a full meal of traditional Venetian dishes. It is one of the few historic bàcari open seven days a week.

• What to order: fried cicchetti such as sarde fritte and fried mackerel bites, then baked canestrelli (small scallops) or capesante gratinate if sitting down.
• Price: cicchetti at bar prices; the osteria menu is mid-range.
• Address: Calle do Spade, San Polo 859.
• Hours: every day, 10am–3pm and 6pm–10pm (per the official website).
• Booking: to reserve a table, phone +39 041 521 0583; no booking needed for the bar.

6. Trattoria Dalla Marisa

On the Fondamenta di San Giobbe in Cannaregio, a short walk from the train station but well away from the crowds, Dalla Marisa has served home-style Venetian food since 1965. There is no long menu: guests choose a set meal of either meat or fish and eat what the kitchen is cooking that day.

• What to order: the set menu, meat or fish. Dishes change daily.
• Price: Dissapore reports a fixed menu of about €20 at lunch and €45 at dinner, including drinks and dessert. Confirm when booking.
• Address: Fondamenta di San Giobbe, Cannaregio 652.
• Hours and closed: lunch daily; dinner only on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
• Booking: recommended, as the room is small (+39 041 720 211).

7. CoVino

CoVino is a tiny modern osteria in Castello with only about a dozen seats. It cooks a short, frequently changing menu using Slow Food Presidia products and local produce where possible, paired with natural and small-producer wines.

• What to order: the set menus. Dishes change with the market and the season; Dissapore notes that paccheri with ragù is a fixture.
• Price: Dissapore's review lists lunch menus from €27, a three-course dinner at €40 and a four-course "Fa Ti" (chef's choice) menu at €45, drinks extra. Prices may have risen since.
• Address: Calle del Pestrin, Castello 3829.
• Closed: Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Booking: essential, and well in advance; reservations through the restaurant's website or +39 041 241 2705.

8. Trattoria ai Cugnai

Trattoria ai Cugnai has been run by the same family since 1911 on a quiet street in Dorsoduro, near the Accademia. It is a casual, unchanged neighbourhood trattoria with a strong list of seafood pastas, and is handy for lunch around the Peggy Guggenheim Collection or the Salute.

• What to order: spaghetti alle vongole, spaghetti al nero di seppia (squid ink) and scampi alla busara, langoustines in a rich tomato sauce.
• Price: mid-range trattoria prices.
• Address: Piscina del Forner / Calle Nuova Sant'Agnese, Dorsoduro 857.
• Hours and closed: lunch 12pm–2:30pm and dinner 6pm–9:30pm; closed Monday.
• Booking: advisable for dinner (+39 041 528 9238); arrive early for lunch.

9. Cantinone Già Schiavi

Also known as Al Bottegon, the Cantine del Vino già Schiavi sits on the Fondamenta Nani opposite the Squero di San Trovaso, one of the city's last working gondola boatyards. It is a wine shop lined with more than 500 labels and a standing-only bàcaro, with cicchetti made fresh every day.

• What to order: the cicchetti on the counter, especially the tuna-based ones, or a sandwich made to order at lunchtime, with a spritz, prosecco or ombra.
• Price: budget; Dissapore reported cicchetti at around €1.50 each.
• Address: Fondamenta Nani, Dorsoduro 992 (by the Ponte San Trovaso).
• Hours and closed: Monday to Saturday, 8:30am–8:30pm; closed Sunday (per the official website).
• Booking: not possible; there are no seats, and drinkers spill onto the fondamenta at aperitivo time.

10. Ristorante Quadri

For one formal dinner, Quadri is the Alajmo family's restaurant on the upper floor of the historic Gran Caffè Quadri, overlooking Piazza San Marco. It holds one Michelin star in the 2026 guide, with chef Sergio Preziosa in the kitchen, and its creative cooking reinterprets Venetian and lagoon traditions. It is the exception to the rule of not eating on the Piazza.

• What to order: one of the tasting menus, which change with the season.
• Price: fine-dining prices; Dissapore reported tasting menus from €185 to €250 per person, wine excluded. Check current prices when booking.
• Address: Piazza San Marco 121, San Marco.
• Hours and closed: closed Monday and Tuesday; dinner only Wednesday to Friday; lunch and dinner Saturday and Sunday.
• Booking: essential, via the Alajmo or Relais & Châteaux booking pages. Children are welcome from age 8.

How to Eat Well in Venice

Cicchetti and the ombra

The most Venetian way to eat is a giro di ombre: moving between bàcari, eating one or two cicchetti standing at the counter, and drinking an ombra, a small glass of house wine. Typical cicchetti include baccalà mantecato, sarde in saor (sardines in sweet-and-sour onions with pine nuts and raisins), polpette (meatballs) and small sandwiches. Order by pointing at the counter and pay at the end. The Rialto bàcari are busiest from late morning to lunch, while the market is trading.

Coperto, servizio and tipping

• Coperto: a per-person cover charge for bread and the table, typically €1–4. It is legal only if it is shown on the menu before ordering.
• Servizio: a service charge, usually 10–15%, more common in tourist areas and for groups. It must also be shown on the menu, and when it is applied no extra tip is expected.
• Tipping: optional. Rounding up or leaving a euro or two per person for good service is appreciated but not expected.
• Standing vs sitting: in cafés and bars, coffee and drinks cost less taken at the counter (al banco) than at a table (al tavolo), and the difference is largest around San Marco.

Avoiding tourist traps near San Marco

• Read the posted menu before sitting down, and check that coperto and servizio are listed. If a charge appears on the bill without having been on the menu, ask for it to be removed.
• Be wary of multilingual picture menus, staff touting for customers in the street, and "tourist menus" that do not list what the courses are.
• Fish priced "per etto" (per 100g) can be expensive: ask for the weight and total before it is cooked.
• Walk ten minutes away from Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge steps. Most places in this guide are in San Polo, Cannaregio, Castello and Dorsoduro.
• Book ahead. Small, well-known trattorias fill up, particularly for dinner from spring to autumn.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best area of Venice for restaurants?

San Polo, around the Rialto market, has the densest cluster of good bàcari and trattorias. Cannaregio, Castello and Dorsoduro are quieter and generally better value than the streets around Piazza San Marco.

What are cicchetti?

Cicchetti are small Venetian bar snacks, such as baccalà mantecato on bread, sarde in saor or meatballs, eaten standing at a bàcaro (wine bar) with an ombra, a small glass of wine.

Where can you eat cheaply in Venice?

A cicchetti lunch at a bàcaro such as All'Arco, Cantina Do Mori or Cantinone Già Schiavi is the cheapest way to eat well. Trattoria Dalla Marisa's set lunch is another good-value sit-down option.

Do you need to book restaurants in Venice?

For dinner at popular trattorias, yes. Antiche Carampane, CoVino and Quadri should be booked ahead, and CoVino has only about a dozen seats. Bàcari generally do not take reservations.

Is there a cover charge in Venice restaurants?

Many restaurants charge a coperto of around €1–4 per person, and some add a 10–15% servizio. Both are legal only if shown on the menu before ordering.

Do you tip in Venice?

Tipping is not expected. If servizio has already been added, nothing more is needed; otherwise rounding up or leaving €1–2 per person for good service is common.

What Venetian dishes should you try?

Sarde in saor, baccalà mantecato, bigoli in salsa (thick pasta with an anchovy and onion sauce), risotto or spaghetti al nero di seppia, fegato alla veneziana (calf's liver with onions) and fritto misto of lagoon seafood.