Grand Canal Ristorante

There are a few hotel restaurants overlooking the Grand Canal near the Train Station and others further down that are associated with some of the fancy hotels. Expect to pay a lot for the experience of dining on the Grand Canal with no guarantee of good food thus making it a memorable experience for the wrong reasons! In his guidebooks Rick mentions a number of bars on the Canal near Rialto that sell cicchetti (tapas) but recommends avoiding the restaurants in the area as they are tourist traps. Are you in it for the food or the ambiance? If it has to be the Grand Canal, the Rialto is probably the best best. If you are wanting good food and a canal setting you are better looking along the smaller canals. Or, while not the Grand Canal, the Guidecca Canal - the restaurant at the Pensione Calcina is on a dock on the canal and there are other similar restaurants along the Zattere.

Harry's Bar. Best food I have had in Italy. Not really a view but great food and drink and next to San Marco. Expensive.

Harry's bar is such a tourist trap. The food is just okay but the prices are very high. 15 euros for a very small belini and 8 euros for a hot chocolate. This was a few years ago but I can't imagine the prices would go down. I would avoid this place at all costs. Donna

Harry's Bar has no view. It's informal cousin, Cip's Club is on a patio on the lagoon, but not on the Grand Canal itself.

http://naranzaria.it/eng-home.htm you can sit outside...just past the Rialto bridge. I ate there on a night in September a couple of years ago. We sat outside during a perfect night for weather. The food was ok. I had some sushi- isn't that what you are supposed to eat in Venice! lol...I did stop at an Irish pub before that for some Guinness with my then Italian girlfriend. Pub is no longer open I believe- Fiddler's Elbow. I also had some sort dish with tuna. For me the view at night was a 15 on the 1-10 scale. The best food I ate in Venice was always at my ex's house prepared by her mom!

What kind of memorable experience are you looking for? Good or bad- they are both memorable. It is not recommended to eat on the grand canal because of the high prices, pushy waiter, and mediocre food. My best memorable experience in Venice was off the beaten path. We were treated like family, the food was cooked and served by the owner, and I guarantee you it was not fancy. I have other memorable experiences that I wish to not do over, and most of them are getting caught in the "touristy" things. Check out my blog for where I ate in Venice www.bellasabroad.wordpress.com
Ciao!