Location, location, location. Especially when I am travelling by myself, I like to be central. I also have been trying to be better and better about money these days and not spending an arm and a leg on hotels, even if they do offer slippers, fluffy pillows, and nice sheets. I’ve been trying to stick with a sub-$250 USD per night budget. #FirstWorldProblems, I know. But $250 a night doesn’t go very far in a lot of cities these days. In Venice, it got me Hotel dell’Opera, a centrally located sweet but slightly worn hotel, with no restaurant, no bar, and no communal areas. Although there was a tiny rooftop terrace with a honesty bar — 4 euros for prosecco — so that was nice.

The bed was firm, the pillows were thin, and I couldn’t figure out how to take a shower in the low-ceiling bathroom without sitting down or hitting my head while standing up. The wifi was the type that forces you to login each time you want to use it, which is my least favorite kind of wifi.

But the view from the front door of the hotel was pretty enchanting…right on a canal…and all day long, singing gondoliers and accordion-playing gondoliers would go floating by. I don’t care how touristy you may think that is…it’s pretty amazing. Also, there was a serviceable breakfast with friendly service (when you could find the gal) all included in the price. And,well, the hotel was about a 4 minute walk from Piazza San Marco, so there was that…

I think I mentioned in a previous post that next time I’m in Venice — because there will be a next time — I think I will stay on the mainland, where I’m sure my dollar will go further and where there will be fewer tourists and better, more local food. So until next time, Venice…

Book a Venice Tour

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Where to eat in Venice, Italy: The spaghetti vongole at San Giorgio by Arsenale

Where to Eat in Venice, Italy

I knew eating in Venice was going to be tough. There are only 55,000 residents left in Venice — experts predict there will be none left in another twenty years — and the island (grouping of islands?) gets 30 million visitors a year. So…everyone is catering to the tourism trade, many of which are cruise ship day trippers. And if what I observed is any indication, tourists just want to eat pizza and hamburgers and gelato. GAH. What is wrong with people?

I was fairly booked with tours and other plans while I was in Venice, so it wasn’t always possible to go out of my way to find good food. In many situations, I just selected the closest/best option to whatever it was that I needed to do next. Here’s where to eat in Venice, roughly in order of preference. I have not provided addresses because these are all Googleable and then you can read other people’s opinions too…

Ai Mercanti: After I checked into my hotel, I was in need of sustenance, and the little local place the hotel concierge sent me to was packed with mid-afternoon revelers. So I wandered around for a while google’ing “Where to eat in Venice” until I found Ai Mercanti. The place was empty — except for a German family eating hamburgers! — so I was a little nervous. But my server was so helpful and sweet and I loved that the menu wasn’t packed with five thousand different options. I had the typical Venetian starter — sarde in saor — which was a hysterically large portion. Four very plump — and very delicious — sardines. After this, I made room for tripe and octopus pasta, which was very, very good. (If only the plate had been hotter.) All in all, I liked my food here and I really liked the service. The dining room was a bit dark for an afternoon meal, but I can see it being very cozy in the evening. Also, I loved the location in a quiet courtyard. I considered going back here for a 2nd meal but never really had the time.

San Giorgio: On the day I was heading to Murano and Burano, I knew I had to be down at the waterfront for my water taxi. San Giorgio is right in front of the Aresnale vaporetto stop, so it worked out perfectly for a quick lunch. Despite the touristy location and menu, my garlicky spaghetti vongole hit the spot. Service was a little awkward — Q: “Where is the white wine from?” A: “It is white.” —  and the outdoor seat covers needed a good power washing, but the view was nice.

Quadri: Quadri is a one Michelin star restaurant on San Marco’s Square. As I told them when I left — sorry, it’s the New Yorker in me — they better do something about their service and staff if they expect to keep that Michelin star. I was ignored, ignored, and ignored further once my main — a luscious bowl of spaghetti with smoked razor clams — was delivered. Yes, yes I know this is Italy and I need to relax but it was still weird. Luckily, the decadent amberjack tartare with white truffle starter helped assuage my annoyance. (Which was further compounded when I passed the host stand on my departure, only to spy a plate of half-eaten food stashed there by a member of staff. Kids, this is not The Ponderosa!) The dining room at Quadri is over-the-top beautiful with red velvet wallpaper and glittering chandeliers, and the glassware is astoundingly gorgeous. I want to buy it all! And I would have (the sell their glassware)…had they not ignored me.

Bistro de Venise: I popped into Bistro de Venise in between tours and I didn’t have a booking. Don’t do this. Make a booking because this place is on all the “Where to eat in Venice” lists. I knew immediately that I would like Bistro de Venise. It has that clubby, wood-paneled old school thing going on that I am kinda a sucker for. An off-duty staff member in plain clothes — perhaps one of the co-owners because he looks just like Sergio in the first photo here — immediately saw me hovering at the entrance and ushered me into the bar to wait for my table, where I was promptly brought a bellini. After about 15 minutes, I had a table in the dining room, surrounded by mostly Americans. While I wished my seafood risotto was  hotter, my extremely capable server — the omniscient Walter — deserves his own Michelin star. This was a very good experience, except for the loo which is located right off the dining room and regales you with hand dryer noise every time someone exits.

La Caravella: Charming Italian waiters, kitschy old-school sailing decor…I kinda loved it here. (It reminds me of that seafood restaurant in the Drake Hotel in Chicago.) La Caravella specializes in spider crab, particularly, so after a small plate of sarde in saor (nowhere near as good as the ones at Ai Mercanti), I had some thin spaghetti with spider crab. It was nice. I wanted it to be nicer. But it was nice and my servers were nice and well, I just liked it here even though the food wasn’t all that. There is something to be said for a charming Italian waiter of a certain age in an old school waiter outfit, flirting with you incessantly.

Vino Vino: Don’t go here. It’s a tourist trap. I only went here out of desperation. It was late on a Friday night and I was tired and the recommended restaurants I had tried to get into were all full. I knew just by looking at the menu at Vino Vino — a mishmash of what every tourist imagines Italian food to be — that it was going to be terrible and it was. Service though was super nice to me and gave me a free glass of wine! They totally ignored the two tables next to me though. Have you ever realized that the tables next to you hate you? That’s how I felt at Vino Vino! Very odd. This is definitely not where to eat in Venice.

So while I had some nice food in Venice, I’m just not sure…next time I go, I might stay in Castello or in Maestre on the mainland, where the locals live. I bet prices will be cheaper and food will be better as well.

You Might Enjoy These Other Posts

• Walking Tours in Venice
• My Hotel Stay at Hotel dell’Opera in Venice

Venice Tours

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Venice Walking Tours

Venice Walking Tours

You might know I’m a little obsessed with Viator. It’s like Uber for tours when traveling! Lots and lots of tours for most cities you can imagine, all in  one place. So when I booked my trip to Venice, the first place I turned for help with Venice walking tours was Viator. And really, all three tours I booked really delivered.

Venice Walking Tour & Grand Canal Cruise

This was a great little combo pack of tours and while I was a little nervous about the gap in between sections — three hours — it worked out just perfectly. See, first we did a two hour Venice walking tour, which started at 11 am and ended at 1 pm. As part of the tour, we skipped the queue at St. Mark’s, which was handy. We also got to visit during the short part of the afternoon when St. Mark’s is actually lit up, which was nice. Then, I was free until 4 pm to wander the city and uh, eat. At 4 pm, I met a subgroup of the original group for a one hour private water taxi tour of the Grand Canal, which was honestly my favorite part of the trip. This was a very well-executed tour which I very much recommend. Book this tour.

Cicchetti & Wine Tour

One of my all-time favorite Venice walking tours hands down! Our wonderful tour guide, Simona, took us to FIVE cicchetti bars in central Venice which I totally probably wouldn’t have gone to on my own. We had a little snack at each — some whipped bacalao at one, some ham and tomatoes at another, some fried sandwiches and olives at yet another — AND a glass of wine at each stop! I totally thought there were only four stops on this tour, so I was super sad when I thought the tour was over. BUT IT WASN’T OVER! Which was amazing. We made a fifth stop for more wine, more snacks, even more wine and then dessert. I highly, highly, highly recommend this Venice walking tour. Book this tour.

Beautiful Burano, Italy during one of my Venice walking tours

Murano & Burano Tour

This tour was an extremely good value, given the mode of transport and the length of the tour — five hours. We traveled by spacious private water taxi to both Murano and Burano and had time to explore each. In Murano, I admired many a set of Murano drinking glasses, but ultimately decided I didn’t have the space for anything in my suitcase. In Burano, I downed some gelato before snapping pics of all the colorful houses. I wish I actually had more time on Burano — even if just an hour more — because the place is so darn cute. The only bad part of this tour is that the ride back from Burano is about an hour. If only they had provided snacks and drinks! Book this tour.

This is the view across the canal from inside the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

Peggy Guggenheim Museum

Not a Venice walking tour per se and not booked on Viator either, but on the last morning of my visit, I braved the traghetto — the larger gondolas that only go from one side of the canal to the other — all by myself and roamed the compact museum and gardens, imagining what it would be like to have a gazillion dollars and be a Guggenheim. I then hoofed it over to the Ponte Accademia and crossed back over to the main part of town. If you are into modern art like I am, this is the museum for you. (Also, check out Abstract Expressionism at the Royal Academy in London which is running through January 2nd, 2017.)

Check out my other post on where I ate and drank in Venice and my review of Hotel dell’Opera in Venice.

More Venice Walking Tours

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