19 Best Restaurants in Venice, Italy

In a small dining room made warm and cozy by its pleasing and unpretentious decor, proprietor Giordano makes all diners feel like honored guests. Unlike many elegant restaurants, Al Paradiso serves generous portions, and many of the delicious antipasti and primi are quite satisfying; you may want to follow the traditional Italian way of ordering and wait until you've finished your antipasto or your primo before you order your secondo. Pappardelle "al Paradiso" takes pasta with seafood sauce to new heights, while risotto with shrimp, Champagne, and grapefruit puts a delectable twist on a traditional dish. The inspired and original array of entrées includes meat and fish selections, such as salmon with honey and balsamic vinegar in a stunning presentation.

Judging by its rather modest and unremarkable appearance, you wouldn't guess that Piera Bortoluzzi Librai's trattoria is among the finest fish restaurants in the city both because of the quality of the ingredients and because of the chef's creative magic. You can choose from a selection of classic dishes with a modern and creative touch. The perfectly grilled fish is always freshly caught; in spring try the fried local soft-shell crabs ("moeche" in Venetian).

The understated atmosphere, simple decor, and quiet elegance featured alongside Da Fiore's modern take on traditional Venetian cuisine certainly merit its international reputation. With such beautifully prepared cuisine, you would expect the kitchen to be run by a chef with a household name; however, the kitchen is headed by owner Maurizio Martin's wife, Mara, who learned to cook from her grandmother. The other surprise is that, while this restaurant is in a higher price category, it is hardly among the priciest in Venice. The menu is constantly changing, but generally fritto misto or Da Fiore's tender, aromatic version of seppie in nero (cuttlefish in ink) is almost always available. Reservations, made a few days in advance in high season, are essential for dinner, but you can try just dropping in for lunch. Da Fiore is consistently awarded a Michelin star, although—unlike many other honored restaurants—it does not publicize the fact. Do not confuse it with Trattoria da Fiore, which is in Campo Santo Stefano (San Marco).

Even if this café/wine bar wasn't at one of the city's busiest intersections, on the corner between the Frari and the Scuola of San Rocco, it would be worth the trip. It's small but with an amazing variety of drinks, cicheti, and pastries, plus an energetic and welcoming atmosphere. There's room for only a very few seats inside, but you'll want to be at a table outside anyway, watching tourists, students, commuters, and locals stream past.

It's easy to spot this tiny bacaro shoved into a corner of the campo adjoining Campo San Giacometto just beyond the Rialto markets: it's the one mobbed with chatty patrons—dressed in suits, jeans, or travel wear, shouldering messenger bags or backpacks, with strollers or carts loaded with market acquisitions—each with a glowing spritz or glass of wine in hand. Step up to the banco (counter, or bar), scan the chalkboards for the lists of wines (whites on the left, reds on the right), then choose from the myriad cicheti (meat, tuna, or eggplant croquettes; crostini and panini with imaginative combos of radicchio, artichokes, fish, sopressa (premium salami), ossocollo (cured pork), and more) in the glass case.

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. (The "reborn nono" refers to a small lagoon sea snail, a Venetian favorite.) In good weather, you can enjoy your meal in the pergola-covered courtyard (do reserve if you want to snag a table there). Try the classic Venetian "bigoi in salsa," not always easy to find (pasta with anchovy/onion sauce), but there are also good options for the carnivores. The house wine is quite drinkable.

Just because it's noon and you only have enough time between sights for a sandwich doesn't mean that it can't be a satisfying, even an exceptional, one. There's no menu at All'Arco, but a scan of what's behind the glass counter is all you need; order what entices you, or have Roberto or Matteo (father and son) suggest a cicheto or panino. Options here are broad enough to satisfy both conservative and adventurous eaters. Wine choices are well suited to the food. Arrive early or at the tail end of lunchtime to snag one of the few tables set out in the calle.

"The Madonna" used to be world-famous as the classic Venetian trattoria, but in recent decades has settled into middle age. Owned and operated by the Rado family since 1954, this Venetian institution looks like one, with wood beams, stained-glass windows, and a panoply of paintings on white walls. Folks still head here to savor the classic Venetian repertoire, reliable if not inspired, with a strong focus on seafood.

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Santa Croce, with a few tables under an ivy shelter, the Antica Besseta dates from the 19th century, and it retains some of its old feel. The menu focuses on vegetables and fish, according to what's at the market, with some pasta and meat dishes, too. The fish is not all local, but it is served with a tasty sauce and is well prepared. The menu tends toward the elegant and original; speck made from goose, for example, or cheese foam, are not to be found everywhere.

Just over the bridge in front of the Frari church is this old-fashioned place where you'll find an assortment of sandwiches and snacks, but it is the atmosphere, and not the food, that is the main attraction. Established in 1870, it's one of the last Venetian tearooms with its original decor, and while prices are a bit higher than in cafés in nearby Campo Santa Margherita, the vibe and the friendly "retro" atmosphere make the added cost worthwhile.

This is the original bacaro, in business continually since 1462; cramped but warm and cozy under hanging antique copper pots, it has served generations of workers from the Rialto markets. In addition to young local whites and reds, the well-stocked cellar offers reserve labels, many available by the glass; between sips you can choose to munch the wide range of cicheti on offer, or a few tiny well-stuffed tramezzini, appropriately called francobolli (postage stamps). Don't leave without tasting the delicious baccalà mantecato, with or without garlic and parsley. If you choose to create a light lunch, snag one of the few stools at the bar that line the wall across from the banco. Atmosphere comes at a price; the cost is higher than comparable bacari.

Loads of travelers happily "discover" this relatively new arrival on the bacaro scene traversing west from the Rialto markets, and a fortunate find it is. It's easy to make a light meal of the inspired bites offered here; the difficult part is choosing among crostini and panini of lardo e rucola, radicchio and alici (fresh anchovy), spicy Neapolitan sausage, and duck breast with truffle oil. It's an optimum locale for Tre-Venezie wine tasting, too: from regional reds like Raboso and Refosco to the aromatics of Trentino–Alto Adige; if you're lucky you can grab one of the outdoor tables. See if you can spot the zemei (gemelli, or twins, in Venetian) Giovanni and Franco, for whom this spot is named.

Despite its name "the devil and holy water" (a common way of describing a person whose personality swings between these two extremes), this small bar and restaurant has a reliable kitchen and a homey, neighborhood atmosphere. Go on Saturday morning, when old friends tend to stop for an ombra (small glass of wine) and cicheto. Try the breaded fried baccalà, meat or tuna meatballs, cubes of frittata, and in cold weather, sometimes musetto (sausage) or testina (meat from the head of a pig). At lunch or dinner, apart from standard favorites, such as spaghetti carbonara and fegato alla veneziana (Venetian-style liver with onions), try some Venetian classics, such as bigoli in salsa (spaghetti with onions and anchovies), tripe soup, mixed boiled meat, or cuttlefish in sauce made from their ink, and sometimes even eel risotto.

Simple place settings, wood lattice walls, and a mélange of languages make La Zucca (The Pumpkin) feel much like a typical, somewhat sophisticated vegetarian restaurant that you could find in any European city. What makes La Zucca special is simply great cooking and the use of fresh, local ingredients—many of which, like the particularly sweet zucca itself, aren't normally found outside northern Italy. Although the menu has superb meat dishes, more attention is paid to dishes from the garden; don't miss the house's signature dish—the flan di zucca, a luscious, naturally sweet, pumpkin pudding topped with slivered, aged ricotta cheese.

This small corner bar/café is a vibrant spot full of personality with a remarkable menu, thanks to the highly enterprising Simone Lazzari and his nephew, Devis. Along with a selection of tempting, original cicheti, it serves more classic Venetian bites, such as sarde in saor (marinated sardines), baccalà mantecato (salt cod), seppie (cuttlefish), and nervetti (boiled beef cartilage with raw onions). There are also more substantial plates of food that will fill you up, even if you are seated on one of the high stools at the small tables. Their specialty is boiled octopus. It's not cheap when you add up the cost of all those delectable bites, but flavor and originality make it worthwhile.

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.

This is not only the tiniest and prettiest pastry shop in Venice, it's also the oldest, being in almost continuous operation since 1742. It's most famous for its Venetian classics such as frittelle during Carnival, or baicoli and other cookies. Try the Zurigo (light, flaky apple pastry) and pastine di riso (pastry with a creamy rice filling); you'll also find salatine (pastry with ham or cheese and vegetables) by 10 am.

One of several shops in Venice belonging to this internationally famous luxury chocolatier, Venchi was founded in Turin in 1878. Once purveyor to the royal Italian household, Venchi has now created 90 flavors of gelato and countless types of chocolates, boxed or loose, from truffles and spreads to chocolate cigars and baking products. Ask them to coat your ice cream cone with chocolate.  

Ideal for those whose perfect meal is "lots of appetizers," this little place in the fish market is a one-stop shop for tasting many Venetian recipes. It's set up primarily for takeout, but there are a few tables with high stools. Their claim to fame is the hot and crunchy mixed fried fish, but there are also more substantial dishes such as baked tuna and fish lasagna, and a good selection for vegetarians, such as pumpkin in saor (marinated). They close at 3 pm, so plan ahead if you want to get something for dinner. If you're staying in an apartment, consider ordering for delivery at no extra charge.