This hideaway is stylish and popular with both locals and visitors. Located in one of the prettiest squares in Venice with lots of tables outside on the terrace, this is the place to dine alfresco in fine weather, though the interior is nice also. The food is from the Campania and Amalfi Coast. The pizza, made by Antonio, is arguably the best in Venice.

Moderate prices

This unpretentious, family-owned osteria enoteca is one of the best dining experiences in Venice, with a menu that changes daily according to what’s available at the market(because the fish market is closed on Monday, no fish is served that day). 

Closed: Sunday and Monday | Guest can choose between two dining times, 19.00 or 21.30 | Moderate prices.

A refined "bacaro", which has wooden tables, simple facilities and nice informal atmosphere; only fish dishes, well prepared and imaginative. Only seats about 25, so be sure to reserve (at least a month in advance in the summer) 

Closed: Sunday and Monday | Reservations open 60 days prior to visit and can only be made by email (info@osterialletestiere.it) | Upper moderate prices.

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Delicious fried fish and vegetables, as well as other tasty seafood specialties are served in this restaurant, which is slightly off the beaten track and always full of Venetians. The wine bottles on display add to the attractive and informal ambience.

Moderate prices

2 Michelin  stars.  Located 11 miles from central Venice, on the mainland. Wonderfully and simply prepared seafood. This is about as good as seafood gets.

Expensive at dinner, but almost moderate at lunch.

A typical trattoria, very highly regarded by locals, in business for over a century, with a friendly, convivial atmosphere and a menu announced at your table. This restaurant has seen an increase in quality over recent years, while still remaining faithful to the same Venetian fish dishes, including the house speciality, spaghetti in cassopipa (spaghetti in a spicy shellfish sauce).

Upper Moderate.

The restaurant is located on the second floor of the beautiful 16th building which houses the Aman Hotel. It’s a destination in itself, though a well-kept secret among hotel guests (the wonderful views of the palazzo and the ‘hidden’ garden terrace makes this a very special place). The restaurant serves inventive Italian cooking, using locally-sourced ingredients. Beautiful ornate decor details (such as the ceiling) with Rococo gilding, mirrors and frescoes – all of which create a general feeling of grandeur and understated opulence. The tables are well-spaced. Executive chef Dario Ossola and consultant chef Davide Oldani have brought a new dining concept to Arva. Using only local ingredients and the freshest seafood, the ethos here is seasonal, sociable and sustainably sourced. The pasta dishes are second to none. The tables directly overlooking the Grand Canal are unbeatable. There are only a few of these, so be sure to reserve well in advance.

Open for lunch and dinner | Expensive to Very Expensive

airly new Italian Bistrot. Very stylish design. Sophisticated like a fine dining restaurant, comfy like a bistro, jazzy like a cocktail bar. Very extensive wine list with some true rarities, though mark-up is quite high for Italy. Champagne list is amazing.

Upper moderate to expensive 

Included in most Venetians short list of top restaurants. It's always a pleasure to return to this flag bearer of Venetian seafood cuisine in the residential lanes of eastern Castello, not far from the Arsenale. Part of the attraction is the vine-covered inner courtyard – one of the nicest places in town for an al fresco meal – but I also really enjoy the formula. The best part of a Venetian meal are often the starters, and here they've turned these antipasti into the star turn, bringing plate after plate of seafood nibbles like schie (small grey shrimps) with polenta, granseola (spider crab), canoce (mantis prawns) and other Adriatic delights. These will arrive of their own accord if you opt for the antipasti tasting menu. My advice is to wait until the endless procession has come to an end before ordering anything else, as you may not be able to fit in a pasta dish (like gnocchetti with angler fish and fresh peas), let alone a secondo. I generally skip straight to a dessert of zabaglione and Venetian biscuits.

Expensive

Tiny CoVino has only 14 seats but demonstrates bags of ambition with its inventive, seasonal menu inspired by the Venetian terroir. Specialty products are selected from Slow Food Foundation producers, and the charming waiters make enthusiastic recommendations from the interesting wine list. Only the set menu is available at dinner, but there's an à la carte selection at lunch.

Moderate prices

One Michelin star.  One of the leading restaurants in Venice. Venetian seafood specialties  For all its style (no shorts or tank tops, please), this is still a family-run place, with chef Mara Martin turning out perfectly gauged gourmet creations anchored in local ingredients and traditions – like wild sea bass in balsamic vinegar with Emperor apples. The wine list is as stellar as you would expect. There are evening taster menus beginning at €120, and a lunch time deal at €50 which includes a glass of wine. To bag one of the two highly sought-after tables with a canal view at the end of the dining room, book well in advance. 

Closed Sundays & Mondays | Very expensive.

They serve excellent Venetian seafood specialties in two dining rooms, one of which is nicer than the other. It is often frequented by Venetians.

It can be a little pricey but worth it!

A wonderful wine bar and restaurant, set in a welcoming informal space, beautifully designed, serving really good food and wine. This is an exciting foodie destination which is not heaving with tourists. Note that it is open for snacks and sandwiches too. There are two rooms to the restaurant as well as an original sandwich section at the front. Sit in the main restaurant area near to the wine selection. A lively and fun place to be. It is open all day from 11:30 AM. This being a wine bar, the wine is excellent – and all the bottles are presented on the restaurant floor in a sort of ‘shop’ style exhibition. The sommelier will happily guide you through all the quality labels, which have been selected by the producers. We especially like that they will open any bottle of wine for two glasses.

Closed Tuesday. Moderate pricing

Chef Bartolini's creative cuisine has arrived in Venice and just won a Michelin Star, The restaurant is showcased in a splendid period palazzo with an elegant dining room for the winter and an unforgettable garden with magnolia trees and a view of the Grand Canal for the summer. Richly imaginative, the cuisine focuses on fresh market produce with an emphasis on fish specialties. Regional recipes reinterpreted as only the master knows how!

Expensive, but still probably the most reasonable Michelin starred restaurant in Venice.

ne of Venice’s unique restaurants. Don’t expect white tablecloths and candles at this more hip and cool place with a very local feel. A seat at the long table inside or at one of the tables outside along the canal is highly coveted and reservations are recommended. It’s buzzy and raucous and chaotic, and the proprietor, Maurizio, is a local legend. Some evenings feature live music. The real star is the cacio e pepe pasta which is made on a trolley by your table. Macaroni-like tubes of spaghetti are added to a 40kg wheel of Pecorino until the pasta becomes coated with the cheese. The waiter then crushes whole peppercorns in a big pestle and mortar, all right under your nose. Follow that up with a dish of mixed fried seafood and you have a quite a meal.

Lower moderate pricing

One Michelin Star. This gourmet restaurant is housed in a simple, minimalist dining room and is a far cry from the usual tourist clichés. It focuses all its attention on the quality of its cuisine and serves reinterpretations of classic Venetian dishes with an emphasis on fish. Seats only 18 diners. Chefs come and go (it seems to act as something of a boot camp for Michelin-star-chasing talents) but the quality stays high. The menu is ever-changing but you might find creations such as roast scallops on a bed of creamed carrot or delicate, flavorsome variations on the humble baccalà (salt cod). The two five-course evening tasting menus, one seafood-only and the other alternating fish with meat (both €85), are among Venice's great dining bargains.

Expensive

Had about as much fish and seafood as you can take? Then head for this attractive Dorsoduro trattoria, which swims against the Venetian tide in offering only meat and vegetable dishes in the Veneto regional tradition. These might include potato gnocchi with pumpkin and smoked ricotta (a good vegetarian option), or pork fillet roasted with plums. They have an excellent cheese board, and in winter and early spring do great things with a vegetable that reaches its apotheosis in this part of the world, radicchio di Treviso. Wine is another strong point: ask co-host Debora to recommend a good bottle from the list, which also includes several by-the-glass options. Very informal with paper napkins.  It's a popular place so book ahead, preferably a day or so in advance.

One of the cheapest meals-with-a-view in Venice is on offer at this hugely friendly bar- trattoria on the Giudecca quay. It’s a lunch-only place: the rest of the day (7am-9pm) it operates as a bar. Sit at a quayside table and order from a good-value menu that includes some surprisingly gourmet options: tagliatelle with prawns and funghi porcini, or tuna steaks in balsamic and sesame. Finish up with a delicious chocolate mousse with candied fruit.

La Zucca's name means ‘pumpkin’ in Italian, and of course that is the main ingredient for many of their dishes. It is a small yet charming restaurant located in the Santa Croce district and serves many innovative Venetian dishes at affordable prices. It has a great variety of vegetarian options, something that is quite rare in Italy. La Zucca prides itself on its fresh and natural ingredients. Visitors to the area should definitely head over to this restaurant, which is one of the best in Venice.

Moderate prices

Primarily Venetian food and specializing in historical recipes from the 14th to 18th century. Beautiful traditional decor and service. Great wine list(many wines by the glass) From the outside you might think it looks touristy, but the food is amazing.

Upper moderate to expensive.

This classy inn is managed by young professionals who serve seafood and traditional dishes, but they also offer some interesting culinary innovations. 

Upper moderate to Expensive. 

One Michelin Star.  At the Hotel Metropole. Very creative cuisine, based on Venetian traditions,  served, in fair weather in the hotels beautiful garden.

Very Expensive

Gorgeous food, in a gorgeous room, with a gorgeous view. Chef Davide Bisetto, the only Italian chef to win two Michelin stars in France is now cooking a creative and sophisticated version of Venetian cuisine at Oro restaurant in the Cipriani Hotel. He has added some signature dishes, conceived for the venue, utilizing fresh fish from the lagoon, organic herbs and vegetables from the hotel’s gardens and organic meats from local producers, and has already earned one Michelin Star here. The service is beyond professional, and the wine selection is superb. Great for a special occasion.

Very expensive.

Four Venetian friends with a passion for travelling came across this old trattoria from the ’40s. With these premises, in 2002 Carlo, Fabio, Luca and Massimo gave birth to a cool wine restaurant with an international flair and sophisticated interior design.The cuisine is international, in the most typically Venetian way. With its rich trade routes, Venice was, in fact, the first Western metropolis offering a “cosmopolitan” cuisine made of a solid base of local ingredients mixed with the best products and spices from other countries. This is what Osteria San Marco is about: always pushing for quality and unique, never predictable, flavors. Located just a few steps from Piazza San Marco.

Upper moderate to Expensive.

A small, very pretty restaurant in Cannaregio, one of those wonderful, quiet and authentic areas of Venice, located in the former shop of Giovanni Battista Robusti, the father of Tintoretto, one of the greatest painters of 16th-century, who was born just two doors away in 1519. Book a table by the golden wall inside, or in summer in the adjacent Campo dei Mori square.

Upper moderate pricing

Beautiful space in the Palazzina G Hotel designed by Philippe Starck and loved by the globe “elite”. After admiring the decor, take a seat, either at the counter overlooking the kitchen or at one of the polished, wooden tables with leather sofas and armchairs (there are even a few rocking chairs). If you feel like a nightcap, go to the inviting cocktail bar and perch on one of the high stools to watch the excellent mixologists at work. Open until after midnight, this is one of Venice’s very few late-night spots. Also, Brunch: every Sunday from 12.30 with DJ Set (set menu 45 euro including a glass of Moët & Chandon champagne. During summertime, enjoy dinner on the exclusive Krug Terrace. The menu is a contemporary take on traditional, classic dishes. A brief but eclectic menu of pasta, meat and fish. 

Expensive

The luxurious dining room is perfect for an elegant soirée or a elegant lunch, and visitors can expect to enjoy a lovely meal with excellent service. 

Trip Advisor readers are currently rating this as the best fine dining restaurant in the city. I wouldn’t go that far, though it is quite good. It has a seasonal menu, which provides freshness and exquisite taste all year round, along with an incredible wine selection. Its dishes are based on Venetian classics but they are made in a particularly sophisticated way, giving them a special touch, so even visitors who are very familiar with Venetian cuisine will discover something new. Make sure to book a table in advance

Expensive.

Owned and operated by chef Cesare Benelli and his American wife, Diane (who handles desserts), this civilized gourmet refuge is a foodie treat. In dishes like seafood-sauced pastas and fish and meat mains, the restaurant combines perfectly sourced ingredients with consummate skill: Slow Food since before the term existed. Has been on a number of best restaurants in Italy lists. It has only a few outside tables, but, in summer especially, its air-conditioned rooms are a welcome retreat.

Expensive

rom a small bar to a charming and romantic restaurant with its elegant and refined design, attention to every detail is a "must" for the welcoming staff of the Giubagiò Restaurant. Warm and intimate, located along the water on the north side of the lagoon facing toward the Islands of Murano and Burano, during summer you can take advantage of the attractive terrace with great views of Venice Lagoon. Nice wine list and tasting menus.

Upper Moderate prices

Fine Dining in a chic atmosphere with very good service. Set on the canal, it is the perfect location for sunset drinks and alfresco dining. Should the weather force you inside, the interior is equally impressive. The menu is predominately fish, with the option to choose your own live lobster. Suggested dishes include Adriatic fish soup, squid stuffed with asparagus, trio of fish tartare, sea bass in a salt crust, almond tart and blueberry tiramisu.

Very extensive wine list | Upper moderate to expensive pricing.

Newly opened restaurant run by and made for lovers of good food, traditions and for everything that's local. The dishes will represent the seasons, the farmers and the ecosystem of the Venetian lagoon. The wines will express the perfect imperfections of the terroir and the soul of the winemakers. 

Upper moderate pricing  

Above Quadri Cafe on St Mark's Square. One Michelin star. Now run by the Alajmo family - renowned restaurant owners from Padua(earned three Michelin stars there) - the Quadri is one of Venice's 'gastronomic monuments'. It is housed in one of the most photographed palazzi in the city and adorned with stucco decor, Murano glass and fine fabrics. Beautifully presented, creative cuisine made from the best quality ingredients. Modern interpretations of Venetian classics. Almost perfect service. This is one of Venice's best. Get dressed up and go for the great food, atmosphere and experience, but beware if you're on a budget. The cafe downstairs, though touristy, now serves probably the best cocktails in Venice.

Very expensive, but if you plan in advance, you can sometimes reserve to have one of their tasting menus for lunch, at half price, by visiting their web page.

A true passion for food meets expertise in this classy restaurant with pavement tables overlooking the Giudecca canal. There can be few more romantic places for a meal. A fantastic choice for lunch with its expansive canal-side setting. Riviera is hugely popular with anyone who values cuisine which manages to be excellent and very refined without tipping over into pretension. The menu is dictated by what's fresh and seasonal. The raw seafood antipasti melt in the mouth, the fish is cooked to perfection. They do mouth-watering things with meat and game too, but options for vegetarians are limited. If you're looking to push the boat out, the seven-course Venezia seafood tasting menu (€105 a head without wine) is a real treat. To top it all off, the service from owner GP Cremonini and his team is friendly but extremely professional and the wine list contains some gems. A former musician, GP arranges occasional live music in the small, homely interior: check the restaurant's Facebook page or call for details.

Creative seafood preparations. They also keep up the tradition of offering "scartosso di pesse", a paper cone full of hot, freshly fried fish. For only 10 Euro to go.  Restaurant in the expensive range.

Paolo and Laura, a brother-sister team, run this refined trattoria as if they've invited you to dinner in their home, while keeping the service professional. Deservedly popular with Venetians and visitors alike, it's one of the best values in the city. Indulge in pastas such as rigatoni with duck sauce and arugula-stuffed ravioli. The seafood risotto, made to order, has the patrons raving. Fish is well represented—try the sesame-encrusted tuna—but the meat dishes steal the show. The steak with red-pepper sauce and the tagliata di agnello (sautéed lamb fillet with a light, crusty coating) are both superb, and you'll never enjoy a better fegato alla veneziana (Venetian-style liver with onions). This is a place for wine connoisseurs, as the cellar is one of the best in the city. Come at lunch or for the second sitting in the evening for more relaxed service.

Moderate prices

The restaurant claims to introduce a new concept; the elegant Osteria, where the liveliness of a typical Venetian restaurant is combined with sophisticated cuisine.  And I think they may have succeeded; sophisticated local food meets an informal cozy, friendly Venetian atmosphere. Well worth a try.

There are nice tasting menus starting at 50 Euro. Good wine pairings are also available. Lunch menus from 25 Euro.