Where to eat in Venice: delicious addresses you'll love (best restaurants and bacari)

Our guide to where to eat in Venice: our list of the best restaurants in Venice for a family meal, best bacari for cicchetti, best gelato and bakeries in Venice, based on our own experience.

Finding good food in Venice can sometimes feel like an impossible task.

The city has plenty of restaurants everywhere, so you’ll hardly go hungry here.

However, the prices are sensibly higher than in other cities, the menus tend to focus heavily on seafood (great if you love it, not so great if you want variety) and we found the quality to be often a little lacking, especially at a price point that, in another city, would go a long way towards an outstanding meal.

That said, after many meals in Venice and with the help of local friends who gave us all their tips and helped us refine our go-tos, we now have a list of places we genuinely feel we recommend!

Of course, the list is not exhaustive and you will find many more nice places, including some pretty impressive Michelin star ones.

However, these are our most recent favorites.

I have included places that focus on traditional Venetian dishes but also some that have more variety and even some international ones.

We travel with kids and while these restaurants are not ‘for kids’ as such, the need for a relaxed atmosphere reflects in our choices.

Price is mid-range (for Venice) but I added a couple of more upscale addresses. I am not listing the Michelin starred restaurants which you’ll instead find at source here.

Please note: this post contains affiliate links (to Tripadvisor). Should you make a purchase, we might make a small commission. We receive no compensation of any sort from the establishments on this post and the list reflects our selection and taste only. We pay in full for all our meals.

Where to eat in Venice Map

Best Restaurants in Venice – our shortlist

I vini da Gigio – Sestiere Cannaregio, 3628A, 30121 Venezia – beautiful, delicious restaurant in Cannaregio, with food that is a good step up from probably any other we have tried.

The food is traditional Venetian with a more elegant twist and very much fish and seafood based. As the name suggests, the wine list is one of the highlights here! Booking pretty much essential as the places is sough after (deservedly so)

Web: https://vinidagigio.it Photos and reviews on Tripadvisor / Vini da Gigio

La Conchiglia, Fondamenta San Lorenzo, 4990/91 Castello Venezia

Lovely family friendly restaurant along a canal, lovely if you want to have a meal near water.

As the the name suggests (Conchiglia means shell), this restaurant specializes in seafood – kids may like their fried selection! Booking recommended and available on their website.

Web: https://ristoranteallaconchiglia.com/ Reviews and photos: Tripadvisor / La Conchiglia

La Colonna, Campiello Widmann già Biri, 53/29, 30121 Venezia

La Colonna is a nice restaurant on a small road / Campo in Cannaregio.

We stumbled upon it on our way to Row Venice and it was a perfect find: the restaurant has outdoor and indoor seating, an informal atmosphere, a good selection of local and more standard Italian dishes (I had lasagne and scaloppina) and we liked both the service and the price point.

Good to know! We noticed this restaurant has a New Years’ Eve Menu. Handy to know if here during the holidays!

Web: https://lacolonnaristorante.com/ Reviews and more photos on Tripadvisor / La Colonna

Antico Gatoleto, Campiello Widmann già Biri, 6055, 30121 Venezia VE

In the same area as the previous establishment, Antico Gatoledo is a nice eatery able to cater to a variety of cravings: as well as traditional Venetian dishes, her you have burgers and even pizza. It can get very busy to booking is recommended.

Web: https://antico-gatoleto.res-menu.com/ Reviews and photos on Tripadvisor / Antico Gatoledo

Al Mariner, 30121, Fondamenta dei Ormesini, 2679, Venezia

This was one of out most successful dinners in Venice lately, a random find during a walk in Cannaregio that quickly became a family favorite!

As the name suggests, this restaurants is mostly about the seafood but we had no difficulties ordering a simple pasta for out non-in-the-mood-for-seafood daughter.

The restaurant is on a canal but you are indoors so not on water as such.

Web: Reviews and photos on Tripadvisor / Al Mariner

La Zucca, Sestiere Santa Croce 1762, 30135 Venezia

Extremely popular spot and well known to international tourism as well as local, this is a nice restaurants particularly loved by vegetarians or those who need a change from the most traditional Venetian offering as this place has both.

Booking basically mandatory as the place is (deservedly) well known.

Web: https://www.lazucca.it/ Reviews and photos on Tripadvisor / La Zucca

Da Mamo Trattoria Pizzeria, Calle dei Stagneri 5251, 30124 Venezia

This is a bit of a find in the busy and touristy Rialto area, and a restaurant that works great when you want to satisfy different wishes as they have seafood but also meat dishes and pizza! Booking recommended.

Web: https://www.damamo.it/ | Reviews and photos on Tripadvisor / Da Mamo

Orto Dei Mori – Campo de’ Mori 3386, 30121 Venezia.

This is nice, traditional, well presented restaurant restaurant on lovely Campo de’ Mori (one of the places I recommend to see in Cannaregio, one of my favorite places in Venice for a walk!), along a canal (you don’t sit near water though, it’s indoors).

The restaurant specializes in Venetian dishes so it has mostly seafood but also veal and beef dishes and some vegetarian options. Booking recommended, by email or phone (on their website)

Web: https://osteriaortodeimori.com Photos and Reviews on Tripadvisor / Orto de’ Mori

Da Alberto – Calle Giacinto Gallina 5401, 30121 Venezia

This is a great places if you are looking for both: cicchetti and a meal! the menu is heavily fish and seafood based but they also have some meat based (beef) dishes in the ‘secondi’ section of the menu. Booking/ equiries by phone or email.

Web: https://www.osteriadaalberto.it Photos and revires on Tripadvisor / Da Alberto

Best Cicchetti / best bacari in Venice

Cicchetti are small serving of food typical of Venice, traditionally served to accompany a drink, traditionally a glass of wine (un’ombra, as they call it here – lit ‘a shadow’) or spritz.

If you are familiar with Spanish tapas, they are very much the Venetian version of them or you can think of them as finger food.

The places serving Cicchetti are called Bacari (one bacaro, two bacari) and they are informal, often very small, busy places with a bar and a handful of tables.

Despite the busy feel, bacari are kid friendly so you can go with children and they are great places for a quick bite, especially if you have fish lovers. Many have tables along the canals or you’ll see people standing outside too.

Great bacari are (link leads to map and exact location)

Osteria Ai Pugni Fondamenta Gherardini, 2836, Dorsoduro 30125 Venezia
Cantina Do Spade, San Polo 859, 30125 Venezia
Cantine del Vino gia’ Schiavi, Fondamenta Nani, 992, Dorsoduro, 30123 Venezia
Bar All’arco, San Polo, 436, 30125 Venezia
Dai Zemei, San Polo 1045, 30125 Venezia
Osteria al Squero, Dorsoduro 943/944, 30123 Venezia
Taverna San Trovaso, Calle Cantarini Corfu, 1016, 30123 Dorsoduro Venezia
Vino Vero, Fondamenta de La Misericordia 2497, Cannaregio 30100 Venezia

Where to eat in Venice on water

Apologies, I do not remember the exact name of this, it is in Cannaregio, between Campo de’ Mori and Bacaro del Gelato.

La Conchiglia (see above) on a small, cute canal Web: https://ristoranteallaconchiglia.com/ | Reviews and photos: Tripadvisor / La Conchiglia

La Palanca (Giudecca) Great traditional restaurants with indoor and outdoor searing right on the water (not a small and quaint canal: it’s one the large and scenic Giudecca canal which is wide but wonderful). Photos and reviews on TripAdvisor / La Palanca

Lineadombra (upscale) A great place for a special occasion, with expansive views over the Giudecca Canal Web: http://www.ristorantelineadombra.com/ Photos and reviews on TripAdvisor / Lineadombra

Terrazza dei Nobili Zattere, Dorsoduro, 924, 30123 Venezia on the Giudecca Canal. Photos and reviews on TripAdvisor / Terrazza dei Nobili

Gam Gam Kosher Restaurant, 1122 Ghetto Vecchio Cannaregio, 30121 Venezia Web: http://www.gamgamkosher.com/ Photos and reviews on TripAdvisor / Gam Gam

Al Timon, Fondamenta Dei Ormesini, 2754, Cannaregio 30121 Venice Italy Cicchetti and bigger dishes Web: https://www.altimon.it/ Photos and reviews on TripAdvisor / Al Timon