Both within and outside of Italy, Venice has a bad rap for overpriced, underwhelming food. And truthfully, I can see why… it’s pretty easy to have a disappointing meal, especially as a tourist.
The main driver is the volume of tourists that pass through the city daily. Before the pandemic, Venice saw about 55 thousand tourists per day on average, 80% of which were day-trippers. As a restaurant, this means you don’t need to rely on repeat business. You can get away with serving expensive, low quality food, and still have a full house every night.
The effects of over-tourism are compounded by the cost of goods due to the nature of Venice’s geography and urban landscape as a pedestrian island. Restaurant licenses are limited and transport costs for goods are high because everything has to be brought in by boat and then trolleyed to its final destination.
With Venice as my first stop in a month-long Italian adventure, my inner foodie refused to surrender to the popular opinion. Huzai and I were determined to have a satisfying food experience. So, over the course of our 5 days in the city, we set out to find the best local restaurants that Venice had to offer.
Besides a couple of mild let downs during the beginning of our stay, our journey led us to mostly really delicious meals, and even a couple of exceptional ones that we still remember fondly.
We learned a few things along the way that would probably be helpful to any fellow foodie visiting Venice.
So, below is my advice for finding the best food that Venice has to offer. I’d love to hear your feedback and tips in the comments too!
1. Steer clear of San Marco
If there is only one tip you take away from this blog post, let it be this one.
San Marco is the most visited neighbourhood in Venice by far, with day trippers from cruise ships and coach bus tours stopping in to check out Doge’s palace, St. Mark’s Basilica and the Campanile.
Needless to say, the food scene in this area is lacking.
Instead, try Cannaregio, Arsenale, Dosduro and the Rialto market areas, whose restaurants are more likely to cater to locals and be focussed on the quality of their food.
2. Be weary of taking recommendations from locals
Ok, so this may be a controversial one, but hear me out.
Consider this: with the severe overtourism that Venice faces, the local Venetians are even more frustrated than tourists by how difficult it is to find a satisfying, reasonably priced meal in the city. Naturally, they will be hard-pressed to tell a tourist about their favourite, undiscovered local trattoria and risk having it be ruined.
What they will likely do instead is send you to a place owned or managed by someone from their network that is designed to cater to tourists.
If you do ask for recommendations from a local, use your best judgement, and at minimum, cross reference their suggestions with other sources.
3. Stick to local Venetian dishes
This is a basic principal that applies to having a good food experience anywhere you travel. However, many travellers end up being surprised when they learn what traditional Venetian dishes entail.
When you think of local dishes in Venice, you might imagine the staples of “Italian” cuisine – pasta and pizza.
However, I was surprised to learn that these dishes are relative newcomers to the Venetian kitchen, having entered the scene following the Veneto region’s unification with the Kingdom of Italy in the late 1800s. Traditional Venetian cuisine is actually quite different from that of other regions in Italy.
Staple dishes involve a combination of inputs local to the region (seafood, wheat) as well as exotic ingredients from lands near and far that were historically involved as trade partners (meat, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and rice, among others).
So, what are some local Venetian dishes you should try?
I’ve listed some of my favourites below:
 | Grilled whole branzino (sea bass) Common in the Venetian lagoon, sea bass is delicate, buttery and sweet, and is availably year-round. You can't go wrong with a fresh branzino grilled to perfection and sprinkled with some aromatics - sweet and simple - my favourite dish in Venice!. Make sure to clarify the cost before you order though, as some restaurants price the fish by weight. |
 | Seppie al nero (cuttlefish in black ink sauce) If you’re looking for a dish that’s theatric, savoury, and ostentatiously carries the taste of the sea, you won’t be disappointed by this Venetian specialty. The rich flavours of the cuttlefish and black ink sauce really shine through when served with polenta which I thoroughly enjoyed, but you can choose to have it with spaghetti instead for a mellower version. |
 | Sarde in saor Originally developed and used as a preservation tactic by fisherman, for this dish, sardines are fried, covered in sautéed onions, raisins and pine nuts, and marinated in vinegar for at least 1 day. The perfect balance of salty, sweet and sour for a snack or appetizer – yum! |
 | Baccalà Mantecato The base of this dish is creamed, dried and salted cod, combined with various ingredients like olive oil, garlic, milk, tomato sauce among others to create different flavours. |
 | Gnocchi Across northern Italy, including Venice, it’s tough to go wrong with gnocchi. While we tried it served several different ways, our favourites were the classics: with a arugula, cherry tomatoes and shrimp (left) and gorgonzola sauce (right) – *chef’s kiss*. |
 | Pizza While pizza doesn’t quite count as traditional Venetian cuisine and Venice actually has a ban on wood-burning ovens (except for a few restaurants that have been grandfathered in), we had it several times from various restaurants, both sit-down and takeout, and we were delighted every time. If you’re looking for a safe and easy meal in Venice, pizza is a good bet. |
 | Cicchetti And of course, the beloved cicchetti, which typically refers to small open-faced sandwiches with various cheese, meat, seafood and vegetable toppings sold at bacari (wine bars) and other restaurants. We found these to be the perfect mid-day snack with some spritz or wine and had fun trying the different versions. |
4. Keep in mind that Venice isn’t a low-cost destination
Venice is one of the most expensive cities in Italy and options for cheap eats can be somewhat limited. However, this doesn’t mean you should settle for low quality food. If you look in the right places, you’ll find plenty of osterias offering fantastic price / quality ratios.
5. Avoid restaurants advertising photos of the food
Food photos and menus translated into multiple languages are generally a red flag for tourist traps. Unless you have good reason to believe otherwise, you can bet that the restaurant panders heavily to tourists and is likely to disappoint.
6. Do your research ahead of time
Don’t wait until you’re hungry to pick where you’re going to eat, rather try to do your research beforehand and keep a couple of pre-vetted places in your back pocket.
Ratings and reviews on Google and Yelp, as well as blogs make a good starting point. While online rating systems certainly have their pitfalls, they tend to be my go-to source and I’ve found them to be useful, at least in avoiding the the worst of tourist traps.
7. Observe the crowd
Before sitting down at a restaurant, take a moment to observe the crowd. If the place is buzzing with locals and the food they’re eating looks appetizing, it’s probably worth checking out.
8. Be flexible about the seating
Some of our best meals in Venice were eaten sitting on a small stool or standing at a bar, so don’t shy away from a buzzing local joint because of the lack of seating options.
Bonus: My favourite restaurants in Venice
Below are the best restaurants in Venice we visited – check them out and let me know what you thought!
