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 Mori. 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: standing room only, open in the daytime, with cicchetti at about 2.50 to 6 euros and a hot boiled-beef sandwich (panino con lesso). Arrive by 11:30 and do not ask for a table. A block away, Cantina Do Mori has poured wine since the fifteenth century; order an ombra and a francobollo, a tiny layered sandwich. Al Mercà is a kiosk-style bar on Campo Bella Vienna with spritz at about 4 euros and mini-panini, no seats. Cantina Do Spade on Calle Do Spade serves cicchetti and Venetian classics such as fried sardines. For fried seafood in a paper cone over white polenta, Acqua e Mais charges about 6 to 10 euros. 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 the address for fegato alla veneziana.

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 polpetta, a fried meatball, at about 2 euros at the bar; tables for dinner need booking well ahead, and it closes on Thursdays. Vino Vero on the Misericordia pours natural wines with crostini at about 3 to 8 euros (no spritz here). Al Timon on the Ormesini is the lively one, with beef crostini and seats on a moored boat if you arrive before 18:00. Cantina Aziende Agricole on Rio Terà Farsetti keeps the old-fashioned one-euro ombra and cicchetti from 1.50 euros; bring coins. 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, El Refolo is a standing-room bacaro with panini and an ombra from about 2 euros, and Salvmeria does modern cicchetti. Start the day at Pasticceria Alla Bragora with a coffee and pastry at the bar for about 2 to 4 euros.

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: standing only, cicchetti at about 1.50 to 3 euros, closed Sundays, and crowded at 13:00 and 18:00. A few steps away, Osteria Al Squero is known for its sarde in saor; eat it on the canal wall facing the gondola workshop. Bar alla Toletta makes tramezzini at about 2 to 3.50 euros. 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 for bignè filled with zabaglione cream, 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 its organic vegetables and herbs; go at 9:00, 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, a fried cone at Acqua e Mais, or the one-euro ombra at Cantina Aziende Agricole.
• Special night: Oro Restaurant on Giudecca, or Al Covo in Castello.
• Best cicchetti crawl: All’Arco, Cantina Do Mori and Al Mercà 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 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 mornings, 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 before 8:30, when the restaurant buyers are there and the tour groups are not, then walk to All’Arco for a cicchetto. In Castello, the fruit and vegetable barge where Via Garibaldi meets the Rio di Sant’Anna sells seasonal produce from a boat, Monday to Saturday mornings; bring cash.

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 on a lively square, Caffè Rosso on Campo Santa Margherita serves Campari or Select spritz for about 3 to 5 euros. 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 are about an hour north of Venice, 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, Cantina Do Spade and Osteria Al Squero 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 about 1.50 to 3 euros at Cantine del Vino già Schiavi, a polpetta about 2 euros at Osteria Ca’ D’Oro alla Vedova, a tramezzino 2 to 3.50 euros at Bar alla Toletta, and an ombra one euro at Cantina Aziende Agricole.

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