Restaurants in Venice, Italy
Two questions:
(1) Is Master Card generally accepted at restaurants in Venice, Italy?
(2) Anyone have suggestions for great (moderately priced) restaurants in Venice?
Thanks for your help.
George
George
Huntsville, TX USA 9/10/12
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We really like La Zucca. A little hard to find, but worth the effort. Be sure to make reservations several days in advance. (Seriously. Before you leave the U.S is a good idea.)
We always pay cash, but most places take Visa and MC. Amex is disdained by many Italian merchants.
We had good luck around Piazza San Barnaba in Dorsoduro. We didn't try the one right on the piazza, but there are a number just down the street past it that we found to be quite good and inexpensive. I had made a list of recommendations, and then it turned out that our apartment was right there in the middle of most of them. Pure dumb luck. The vaporetto stop is Ca' Rezzonico, and there is only one way to go from there, actually a straight street.
Here's one, have a Bellini at Harry's Bar, then decide if you can afford to eat some very, very, very, good food (expensive).
Wander around Castello for good cheap food.
Mastercard is usally accepted but watch out for American Express.
I found the restaruants in Venice to be very disappointing. The best ones we found were the ones in the Rick Steves venice book that he recommended. There was a good balance between the food and ambiance.
Hi George,
We took the advice of our guide on the Venice, Florence, Rome RS tour and tried Rosa Rossa not too far from Sans Marco on a side street. It was very cozy, reasonably priced, nice company and the food was great! Johnny Depp (actor) likes to go there when he is in Venice, as they proudly display some of his memoribilia. We loved that place!
Also, for a light meal, try a chicati bar! We loved the one that was recommended to us by Roberto at Pension Guerrato. It is close by Pensione Guerrato and not far from the Rialto Bridge on s side street. It is small and very friendly with many choices of toppings on French bread with a nice glass of wine. You can eat outside if you want. Locals frequent that place.
Have a wonderful trip!
Ruth
We enjoyed Trattoria Storico in the Cannaregio district. I think we spent 200 euros for six people, including wine.
1. Yes.
2. Venice tends to be expensive, including restaurants. The best option in Venice is to find a "bacaro" (plural: bacari) which is a typical Venetian 'working class' osteria where they serve wine and food for very reasonable prices. That's where Venetian workers go. Nothing fancy, so don't expect to find any of these in Conde Nast magazine.
Two choices:
A. Approach a worker (blue collar type) with a thick Venetian accent and ask him to suggest a good bacaro nearby.
If you don't speak Italian and can't tell a Venetian accent from a Romanian or Albanian then use option B below.
B. use this website below run by some Venetian penny less students and go for a bacari tour. Sorry no English version:
http://venicewiki.org/wiki/Mappa_delle_Osterie_e_bacari
Some are cheaper than others. The farther from the main tourist spots, the better. Make sure they are full of Venetian workers ( gondolieri, boat workers, construction workers etc.)
We liked Cantina do Spade near the Rialto Bridge. In addition to full meals they serve cicchetti, small plates. We filled up on those and they were delicious and inexpensive. It was so good we ate there 4 out of the 5 nights we were in Venice. You can check the reviews at VirtualTourist.com.
Roberto, that is an outstanding reference and I've bookmarked it for our trip back to Venice in the spring. May I ask how you know about it?
Spent a week in Venice in early September this year and found reasonable places to eat in RS Venice Guide Book plus lots of other useful information.