Venice - Stay away from Osteria San Luca - Worst meal in 2 weeks

Are you referring to Osteria DA Luca, the place that has one of the lowest Trip Advisor ratings in Venice? The 1,615th best restaurant out of 1,711 in Venice?

Hi Sam,
I just went and looked at Da Luca on Trip Advisor. San Luca is not the same. In fact, when I went to rate San Luca on TA, it doesn't show up and TA wouldn't let me post an unknown restaurant for some reason. I will try to post it again.

The two are close together
San Luca Address:
Calle Del Fabbri - San Marco 4675

My condolences , I have had some overpriced crap meals in Venice . Now you have too.

Thanks, Bry. I have read, I think, all of your restaurant ratings and commented on one. I like your ratings style, and have noted for myself several of your better recommendations. Now I 'll add this one to my "avoid" list.. ....aah,..Venice ....... but only in my dreams, for now.....

Just for future reference, neither pesto nor pasta are traditional regional dishes in Venice.

Venice is the land of polenta and fish.

Pesto comes from the Ligurian coast near Genova, and pasta is from south of the Po valley.

How did you choose to eat there? Did it look good from the outside or did you follow a recommendation?

It is on the Calle dei Fabbri which is a main tourist thoroughfare between San Marco and Rialto. I spoke with Alessandro Schezzini about this sort of thing. We found a wonderful small bistrot/cicchetti spot there in 2010, Brazilian jazz combo and everyone hanging out in the street sipping their wine and digging the music. But when we returned 2 years later, it had been replaced with a bad Venetian tourist restaurant. His reply, "This stuff goes on constantly in Venice. Rents go up, people sell out and they are replaced with commercial blandness."
I can't find the Osteria San Luca on google street view, but that was done in 2013, and no mention of it on Trip Advisor. So it is a new place bent on serving bad food to tourists who (they assume) don't know any better. Better food is often away from the main tourist's hang outs.

A few years ago I stopped in at a cafe in Venice. There was an attractive picture of a pasta dish--lasagna, I think, outside.. I ordered the pasta. It was fine. I assumed it had been frozen, but had no complaints. The cafe seemed more like a trinket store that served meals on the side. The meal described by the OP likely had just been frozen and heated in the microwave oven!

Do not know if the restaurant being panned is one that had pictures of the food on a board outside the restaurant. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but if there are pictures posted outside it is certain that locals do not frequent the place.
And as a general rule...if locals frequent the place the food is more likely to be good and authentic to the region.

This restaurant has a Facebook page, but there's virtually no information there. Someone posted a couple of photos of the food: A stack of fried onion rings and a plate of what looks very much like Chef Boyardee canned spaghetti, pale meatballs and all. I'll definitely make a note to avoid this one when we're jet-lagged, wandering and hungry in Venice next May.

We had no expectations of having any good meals when we were in Venice last Christmas. In fact, one actually needs to reduce their standards even lower the closer they get to St Marks. Finally, if you are anywhere near the main routes from the train station to St Marks, you're probably better off grabbing Mickey Ds.

That being said, we actually did score a fantastic lunch one day in the back streets near the hospital (Scuola Grande di San Marco). My wife and I are determined diners, and we'll often defer eating while we tirelessly march around checking out various restaurants. On this day, we were nearing our capitulation point when I noticed a tradesmen down a small alley standing outside having a smoke. He had taken his glass of wine with him, and was then joined by a friend who looked like a local fisherman.

With my spidey senses tingling, I mosied down the alley to have a look. I asked the guys - in badly fractured Italian - if the food was any good. They seemed to understand, and gladly said yes, but thought it might be too late for lunch as it was small & crowded. Well, I pushed the door open to reveal a micro, tiny bar/restaurant that could seat under 20 people, with maybe 8-10 jammed into the bar.

I asked the hostess if they had any room, and she said wait outside for a few minutes to let her see. I went back out to tell my wife we scored if they had room. Shortly after, the hostess (as it turns out, the wife of the owner/chef), came to get us and squeeze us into a small table for 2.

The fisherman/plumber/contractor group was comprised of around 8 guys all drinking and having fun (it was Saturday afternoon after a short 1/2 day after work). There were some French tourists along with some Italians, but we were the only Americans. We ordered the sampler plate, including such staples as sepe al nero, bigołi in salsa, sarde in saor, etc. Basically, we went hog wild.

It was sort of fun playing tourist, taking photos of each plate, hanging out and having fun. Finally, we were the last diners as the lunch period had closed, and they needed to start prepping for dinner. The chef came out and we talked about some of the dishes. I ended up getting a great photo of him and my wife - I guess I can't post a photo here, but here's a link:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/LsG55zKtY7Quqcp7IAOcMRIyfirokgBSB4M99-dm7aDsivP3-kqoDE9kzfEhCo7w7Fr9wsOYctiq=w1600-h900-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/zqnW0fU3fb8tjndxb7LvTfdXe5bFaOLrwF7LL3V5rehzATMbIK_IqFd0UeZpmAnIiy9QG1xwr97V=w1600-h900-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5MLDc3DeFLol_13pYZUHiayR4lirlQqfnimn2ugH6eA_HZV9Ltx8Go_jdUD4lrb14MZz45WQpVfk=w1600-h900-no

I won't mention the place by name, because it's tiny and will just get slammed even harder. It's just over the Calle Larga Giacinto Gallina - it currently has 4.5 stars on a number of different review sites. If you're in the area, you'll be able to find it.

Snerfling,
My husband and I are headed to Italy in April and we finish our 18 day journey in Venice. We are staying near the Hospital again and I am very intrigued in the restaurant you describe. We were in Venice two years ago and we researched and took Rick's recommendations, but sadly to say we were less than impressed with the restaurants we choose. Our Hotel we are staying at is La Condo Corte, can you give me more tips as how to find this gem? There is a small restaurant right in front of our Hotel and I am wondering if this is the one you are sharing about.
Thank you in advance.