What to Eat in Venice: Local Dishes, Where Locals Eat & the Best Food Tours

The short version: in Venice, eat standing up. Do a round of cicchetti, the small bar snacks, with an ombra (a small glass of wine) at the bacari around the Rialto market, starting at All’Arco and Cantina Do Spade. Look for the lagoon classics: sarde in saor, baccalà mantecato, bigoli in salsa and fegato alla veneziana. For a sit-down dinner, book a Michelin-listed osteria such as Antiche Carampane or Vini da Gigio. Drink a spritz with Select, a glass of Prosecco or a Soave. On a short visit, a cicchetti tour is the quickest way to find the right bars. Below: what to eat, exactly where to eat it, what to drink, and the food experiences worth booking.

What to eat in Venice, and where to eat it

Where to eat in Venice

Venice rewards anyone who eats like a Venetian: a few cicchetti and an ombra at the bar of a bacaro, the traditional wine bar, at lunchtime or before dinner, and a booked table at an osteria for a proper meal. Standing at the bar also saves the coperto, the cover charge of a few euros that sit-down places add. Many bacari close by mid-afternoon or early evening, and small ones are often quicker with cash. Walk ten minutes away from San Marco and the choice gets better.

San Polo and the Rialto

This is the heart of bacaro Venice, around the market. All’Arco is the one to start with: a small, mostly standing bacaro open in the daytime, known for crostini of baccalà mantecato and sarde in saor made with fish from the market next door. Go mid-morning or at lunch, as it closes in the afternoon. A few steps away, Cantina Do Mori, often called the oldest bacaro in Venice, pours wine under hanging copper pots and serves small square sandwiches at the counter, and Al Mercà, a tiny kiosk by the market, sells ombre and mini panini to a standing crowd in the campo. Cantina Do Spade on Calle Do Spade serves cicchetti at the counter and a full Venetian menu at the tables, with sarde in saor, fegato alla veneziana, bigoli in salsa and a fried seafood platter, every day at lunch and dinner. For a proper dinner, Antiche Carampane is in the Michelin Guide (Michelin listing): sarde in saor, baccalà mantecato, cuttlefish in its ink and, in spring and autumn, fried moeche. It closes Sunday and Monday and you must book, often weeks ahead. Nearby, Trattoria alla Madonna is a long-running trattoria for fish and Venetian specialities; it closes on Wednesdays.

Cannaregio

Cannaregio is where many Venetians still live, and the Fondamenta della Misericordia and Ormesini canals are the evening bacaro crawl. Osteria Ca’ D’Oro alla Vedova is famous for its polpette, fried meatballs that are crisp outside and soft inside, which you can eat standing at the bar; for a table, book ahead. Further along the Misericordia, Osteria Paradiso Perduto is a relaxed osteria known for its cloud-light baccalà mantecato. Vino Vero on the Misericordia pours natural wines with cicchetti at the counter (no spritz here). Al Timon on the Ormesini is the lively one, serving wine and food from aperitivo through dinner. Cantina Aziende Agricole on Rio Terà Farsetti is an old-fashioned bacaro: an ombra of wine with cicheti such as meatballs, cheese and crostini at the counter. For dinner, Vini da Gigio is in the Michelin Guide (Michelin listing) for traditional Venetian fish and meat at a mid price, closed Monday and Tuesday. Osteria Giorgione da Masa, near Campo Santi Apostoli, is also in the Michelin Guide (Michelin listing) and pairs Venetian cicchetti with Japanese home cooking.

Castello

The largest sestiere runs from behind San Marco to the gardens, and the further east you go, the more local it gets. Osteria alle Testiere is a tiny room in the Michelin Guide (Michelin listing) with a market-led menu and vegetables from the island of Sant’Erasmo; book well in advance. Corte Sconta is in the Michelin Guide (Michelin listing) for traditional Venetian fish and seafood (closed Mondays), and Al Covo, also listed (Michelin listing), is the special-occasion choice for seafood. On Via Garibaldi, the neighbourhood high street, Salvmeria is a modern osteria with Venetian and Sicilian cooking and bread baked in-house each morning (closed Mondays). Start the day at Rosa Salva on Campo Santi Giovanni e Paolo, a Venetian pastry house since 1876, with a coffee and a bignè or, at Carnival, frittelle.

Dorsoduro

The student quarter around Campo Santa Margherita and the Zattere waterfront is good for cheap eating. Cantine del Vino già Schiavi on Fondamenta Nani, opposite the San Trovaso gondola yard, is the classic, with cicchetti made fresh every day at the counter; it opens Monday to Saturday from 8:30 to 20:30 and is busiest at lunch and aperitivo time. For a sit-down meal, Estro is in the Michelin Guide (Michelin listing), with a list of about 700 wines from sustainable producers; the room is small, so book. Sweet stops: Pasticceria Tonolo, a family pastry shop since 1953, for bignè and cestini di crema, and Gelateria Nico on the Zattere for the gianduiotto, hazelnut gelato sunk in whipped cream.

Giudecca

Across the wide Giudecca canal from the Zattere, the island is quieter and residential. On Thursday mornings, the women’s prison garden market on Fondamenta delle Convertite sells the organic vegetables and herbs grown inside; go early, as it sells out. For a special night, the Hotel Cipriani holds two Michelin-listed restaurants: Oro Restaurant, with one Michelin star (Michelin listing) and lagoon-facing windows, and Cip’s Club (Michelin listing), for classic Venetian dishes on the water. Both are at the top price level.

Quick picks

• Classic dinner: Antiche Carampane in San Polo or Vini da Gigio in Cannaregio, booked ahead.
• Cheap and fast: cicchetti at Cantine del Vino già Schiavi, polpette at the bar of Osteria Ca’ D’Oro alla Vedova, or an ombra and cicheti at Cantina Aziende Agricole.
• Special night: Oro Restaurant on Giudecca, or Al Covo in Castello.
• Best cicchetti crawl: All’Arco and Cantina Do Spade around the Rialto at lunch; the Misericordia in Cannaregio in the evening.

Names link to Google Maps for directions. We checked these places in October 2026. Opening days change, especially out of season, so check before you go.

The markets

The Rialto Market is the one market every visitor should see. The Pescheria, the fish market in its neo-Gothic hall, runs from early morning to early afternoon, Tuesday to Saturday: spider crab (granseola), lagoon shrimp, cuttlefish and, in spring and autumn, moeche. The Erberia next door sells fruit and lagoon vegetables Monday to Saturday, including radicchio, peeled artichoke bottoms kept in lemon water and, in late April and May, the castraure, the first tiny artichokes from Sant’Erasmo. Go early in the morning, before the tour groups, then walk to All’Arco for a cicchetto. In Castello, the Via Garibaldi market is the neighbourhood’s own morning market, with fruit, vegetables and fish.

What to drink in Venice

The Venetian aperitivo is the spritz: white wine, soda and a bitter, and locals often choose Select, the Venetian bitter, over Aperol. The everyday glass is an ombra, a small pour of house wine. From the Veneto hills come Prosecco (the best from Conegliano Valdobbiadene), Soave for white, and Valpolicella and Amarone for red. For natural wines, Vino Vero in Cannaregio and Estro in Dorsoduro are the places, and Estro’s orange wines from the Veneto are worth asking for. For a spritz by the water, Al Timon on the Ormesini canal is the evening favourite. To taste Prosecco where it is made, see our Prosecco wine tours from Venice.

Food experiences to book in Venice

Venice is easy to eat badly in, because the obvious places are on the busiest routes. A cicchetti tour with a local guide takes you to the right bacari in a few hours, tells you what to order at each counter and explains the lagoon dishes, which is the fastest way to eat well on a short stay. A cooking class is the other option, often with a Rialto market visit first.

Our pick: the Food Tasting Tour with Cicchetti and Wine, rated 4.9 (603) on GetYourGuide.

Ratings as shown on GetYourGuide in October 2026. Check the listing for live prices and availability.

Food day trips from Venice

The Prosecco hills between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene lie north of Venice, an easy day trip, with steep vineyards, family wineries and tastings of the sparkling wine you have been drinking in the bacari. Our guide to Prosecco wine tours from Venice compares the options, and our Prosecco tours from Venice page lists them.

Frequently asked questions

What is the one dish to eat in Venice?

Sarde in saor, the sweet-and-sour sardines, eaten as a cicchetto with a glass of white wine. All’Arco, Antiche Carampane and Cantina Do Spade all do it well.

Where do locals eat in Venice?

At the bacari: around the Rialto market at lunch, on the Misericordia and Ormesini canals in Cannaregio in the evening, and on Via Garibaldi in Castello. For dinner they book small osterie such as Osteria alle Testiere and Vini da Gigio.

Where can I eat cheaply in Venice?

Standing at the bar. Cicchetti cost a few euros each at Cantine del Vino già Schiavi, at All’Arco and at Cantina Aziende Agricole, and a polpetta at the bar of Osteria Ca’ D’Oro alla Vedova makes a cheap snack with a glass of wine.

Do I need to book restaurants in Venice?

For dinner at the good osterie, yes, and often well ahead: Antiche Carampane, Osteria alle Testiere and Estro all advise it. Bacari never take bookings; you just walk in and order at the counter.

When do Venetians eat cicchetti?

Mid-morning to lunch around the Rialto, when All’Arco is busiest, and again from about 18:00 for the aperitivo. Many traditional bacari close early, so do not leave it too late.

Is a Venice food tour worth it?

Yes, especially on a first visit or a short stay: in a few hours you learn how bacari work, taste the classics and know where to go for the rest of the trip. Compare them above or on our Venice food tours page.

Plan your Venice food trip

Venice food tours · Venice cooking classes · Prosecco tours from Venice · Food experiences in Venice · Venice cicchetti and bacari guide · Prosecco wine tours from Venice