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Venice Restaurants
Al Gatto Nero Da Ruggero On the island of Burano. Our favorite seafood restaurant. We had the big family lunch here in 2013 and returned in 2014. Also ate here in 2017 with Joyce & Joe.
Bistrot De Venise – My favorite restaurant in Venice. there is a lengthy wine list and “historical” cuisine at this restaurant in a location known for its atmosphere near Piazza San Marco. Expensive $$$
Osteria La Zucca – This is a fun, hard to find restaurant. La Zucca is in Santa Croce, and you should run across it as you approach the Campo San Giacamo dell’Orio from the Grand Canal. Almost vegetarian, but there are some meat option. Worth looking for.
Al Gondolieri – Near the Peggy Guggenheim museum. Old style Venice with rigid service. It is not for everyone, but I enjoyed it. Ate bere again in 2017. I had the liver and onions with polenta it was very good. However very touristy vibe tonight. I will say they get an A for the wines they carry by the glass.
Hostaria Ai Coristi – Seafood restaurant near La Fenice. Elsa took us there. It was a locals only restaurant that served a great seafood appetizer.
L’Osteria Di Santa Maria – Located in Campo Santa Marina, in the Sestiere of Castello, the oldest Sestiere of the city. Wonderful dinner in 2017 with Joyce & Joe. We ate outside and the dishes were artistically prepared and delicious. We ate the suckling pig and it was one best I ever had.
Antiche Carampane – This was not easy to find, but well worth it. This restaurant is a local gem that is on all the best of lists. We ate here in 2017 with Joyce and Joe. This is a family run business and they were very welcoming. The food focuses on seafood, but we ate guanciale and manzo and everything was delicious. They also have an extensive wine list.
La Palanca -The is on the Giudecca, 448, great atmosphere in front of the grand canal with outside seating and one of the best views of Venice. We ate lunch the with Joyce, Joe, Kevin & Jayne in 2017. Fresh pastas and very affordable wine.
Osteria Da Rioba -In Canareggio located at Fondamenta della Misericordia 2553 near the Jewish Ghetto. The place gives great attention to detail, characterized by old beams and exposed brick with the typical Venetian floor. We had lunch there in 2017 with Joyce and Joe. I had homemade pastas with bolognese sauce, Joanne had the agnoletti. They were both artfully prepared. Worth another visit.
Notes: If you have a chance have lunch on the Giudecca it is a little quieter and great views of St. Mark’s plaza. After lunch take the vaporetto one or two stops to San Giorgio Maggiore, don’t go for the church, but pay the 6 Euro to take the elevator to the bell tower. The view is speculator and there are not too many tourists.
The other nice thing in Venice is the happy hour. They call it Cicchetti. It’s the Italian vision of tapas and wine. Some people go from place to place and do it as dinner. They are really popular and a simple search of best cicchetti bars will give you many options. We like Enotecca al Volto and Al Portago.
Other Restaurants we have visited:
Ristorante San Trovaso – Near the American Dinesen hotel. Lovely outside seating area. +39 0415230835
Ca’ Pisani in Dorsoduro near the Accadamia. We had a real nice luch there. Sat outside on a wide strada.
RISTORANTE AL STORICO – on the Isola Della Giudecca. Nice setting.
La Bitta – restaurant known for serving just meat. We were not impressed. Loud table of college girls, very annoying.
Osteria al Duomo – on isola Murano, Fondamenta Maschio – nice courtyard.
Ristoteca Oniga -Campo San Barbarba. Good wine bar with outside seating. We ate dinner there but food was only fair.
Ristorante Al Covo – in Castello. Lots of hype. It was expensive. Texas woman married to an Italian. Over priced fancy food.
Il Cantone Storico – Right outside the hotel We have passed it for years, but there for the first time in 2017. Nothing Special.
Taverna del Campiello Remer in Cannaregio – worst meal in Venice, but very good cecchetti.
Riviera, Dorsoduro 1473, Venice +39 041-5227621 – need to try
Verona 2014/2019
Ristorante 12 Apostoli – Best restaurant in Verona and maybe all of Italy. 12 Apostoli gained its name from twelve tradesmen who worked in this area in 1750. People from the city used to call them the “12 Apostoli.” We returned in 2019 to a different restaurant, same location. It now carries a Michelin Star. The experience was very nice, but I think the charm of the old restaurant was lost. We had 4 menu choices and we picked the Sguardi (glances) menu and there were two delicious and separate main courses – sturgeon and pork belly. They did an excellent job of matching Italian wines to the various courses.
Trattoria Al Pompiere Best of the 2014 trip. This is a classic Verona restaurant with delicious slice cured meats to start your meal. Great selection of wines, and regional food that is prepared authentically and served in non fussy, efficient way. We returned in 2019 and the food was still good, but I felt cramped in the restaurant and it was overly hot. We had a bit of an uncoordinated meal. Joanne’s antipasto was the grilled vegetable contorno and seemed out of place. I had the pork shank (stinco di maiale), and it was the largest shank I have ever seen. It was good but a little too salty.
Antica Bottega del Vino – Have eaten their twice and both time were good. Mauro recommendation. We tried to get in 2019, but I screwed up the reservation. Since our last time in Verona, the restaurant has really become a hang out for drinking wine. there were lost of you people in the street outside the restaurant drinking wine. The inside seemed crowded and noisy to me.
La Taverna di Via Stella – Good experience. This a recommendation from Adrian. Hard to find.
Ristorante Greppia – Have eaten here twice. I would not go back. Big, loud place where the specialty is bollitto.
Piazzetta La Piazzetta was recommended to us by our AirBnB host, Georgia, and after we could not get in to Antica Bottega del Vino, we were lucky to find La Piazzetta. It has very nice outdoor seating and a non smoking outdoor area which was the first I had seen in Italy. We liked the restaurant so much we ate there twice. The first night we shared eggplant millefoglie sliced steak. They had Amorone by the glass and good service. The second night we went for a light meal, but instead had had Tagliatelle withe mushrooms and black truffles, which was out of this world good. We then shared a rich plate for fegato (liver) and onions in a wine reduced sauce, which was equally delicious.
Antica Trattoria dall’Amelia After taking the funicular on Sunday morning to the other side of the Arno we walked along the river to this well reviewed restaurant. We had Sunday lunch here and were very pleased with the food. Their specialty is polpette and they were light and tasty accompanied by a salsa verde. We then shared Gnochetti with smoked ricotta in a butter and sage sauce, followed by the candied lemon chicken for the main entree. It is rare find for us in Italy to eat a well prepared chicken dish. It was delicious. We liked the restaurant so much we went back our last night in Verona. This time we started with codfish version of the polpette which were great, then spaghettone with rabbit ragu and we had the lemon chicken again, because it was that good.
Cafe Monte Baldo – this was aperitivo and snack place on tyhe 2019 trip. They have small plates that are sold like the cicchetti in Venice. They also have dinner service, which we should try next time.
Impero – is the best place for pizza in Verona. We ate there in 2014 and 2019. Beautiful setting in the Piazza dei Signori. Great place to watch people.
Nearby Verona
Enoteca Della Valapolicella in Fumane, Valpolicella. Via Osan 45, Fumane
Antica Trattoria Da Bepi in Marano di Valpolicella. Went there after the tour of the Lonardi winery. Owned by Lonardi’s sister.
de Tarczal – Marano D’Isera. Winery and restaurant recommended by Doumina. We stoped on our way to Verona the day we left the Dolomites on the 2019 trip. We met with Elena Dell’Adami and tasted wine, which was ok, but we ere more impressed with the lunch. I had pasta with Luccio (fish similar to Pike) with Polenta Gnochette and Joanne had the Orechetti with broccoli. We enjoyed the lunch.
Trattoria Due Cavallini in Mantova – we had lunch here in 2019, after a trip to the museum outside of town which was the Gonzaga summer residence. We shared Agnoletti in sugo dei pomodori, and the slicedRoasted Veal. We also tried the Sbrisolona,which originated in Mantova, a crumbly almond cake that can be dipped in chocolate sauce. They serve horse and donkey – so beware.
Verona 2019 trip – we had a very nice AirBnb on a quiet street right outside the Porta Borsari. We had a nice host named Georgia, who was very helpful with local restaurants. She recommended La Piazzetta, where we ate twice, and she also recommended La Molinara, Da Ugo, Osteria Sottoriva (tavern), and Il Ciotolo. Pizza recommendations were; Impero, Leon D’Oro, Du De Cope. Aperitivo recommendatios were Cafe Monte Baldo, Terrazza Al Ponte, and Osteria Bugiardo.
We spent 5 nights in Verona, and as usual it started with some tension as we were looking for the place to park the car out side the zone limitata. We ended up in the Arsenale parking lot, which was a seven minute walk to the apartment. Our second day was a walk on our own to get a feel once afgain for the city. We had lunch at Impero in the Piazza dei Signori, and then met Marta (Douhmina’s guide). We had a good walking tour covering the history and architecture of Verona. We learned about the Porta Borsari the ancient Roman gate built in the first century AD during the imperial age. Porta Dei Borsari was named Porta Dei Borsari because it was the point of tax payment from travelers entering and leaving the city. Dinner that night was at 12 Apostili.
The next day was Sunday and we took the new funicular to the Castel San Pietro. I cost 1 Euro and takes a little more than a minute to the viewpoint at the top of Colle San Pietro, offering its visitors one of the most wonderful and romantic views over the city. From the panoramic Terrace you can see the Adige river that flows under the Ponte Pietra and the historic centre, with its bell towers and its architecture reflecting every era. After that we walked alond the Adige to Antica Trattoria Dall’Amelia for Sunday lunch. After lunch we explored the Chiesa Di San Fermo Maggiore. It had a wonderfiul wooded roof which looked like the reverse of a boat hull. It was a real thing of beauty and church was interesting 0- 2 levels with interesting art and a good audio tour.
The following day we caught the bus to the train station and got on the train to Padova. We immediately went to the Cappella Degli Scrovegni –
Giovanni Pisano designed three marble sculptures for the altar (The Virgin Mary with Child and Two Angels). However, the chapel became famous because of the magnificent frescoes by Giotto di Bondone, who painted a total of 38 pictures in two years on the inside walls of the Cappella degli Scrovegni. The frescoes by Giotto, which are considered to be precursors of the Renaissance, show scenes of the life of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Last Judgement is depicted above the entrance portal and symbolic representations of virtues and vices adorn the side walls. On the triumphal arch over the altar you can see God, who instructed the archangel Gabriel to announce the birth of Jesus. With his frescos, Giotto broke the prevailing rules of painting and breathed life and a real vitality into his characters.
After a simple lunch (worst meal of the trip) we went to the Basilica of St. Anthony, which has been on my list for a number of years. The 13th century church itself is an incredible sprawl of architectural styles topped by some Byzantine domes. Inside, in addition to the relics, are stunning sculptures by Donatello and a famous 14th century fresco by Giotto. However, most come to venerate St. Anthony, who is the patron saint of lost things, in the hopes he might help them find what they’re looking for. My grandmother always had a soft spot for St. Anthony and it was moving to be in his final resting place.
The next day we did another road trip, this time taking the car and going to Bardolino on Largo di Garda. It was about 45 minutes away and we had a beautiful sunny day to enjoy a walk and lunch on the water at the Hotel Catullo.
Our time in Verona was relaxed and found there are still parts of the city we need to explore. It is always good to to leave a little something unexplored.