Restaurants in Venice

Try the Al Archivo, immediately in front of the Frari, across the bridge.

Sandwiches, rolls, foccacia, small pizzas, soup, that sort of thing.

Hubby and I stumbled (almost literally) over this place on our last night in Venice - we poked around a few restaurants in the campos looking at menus but they seemed kinda blah. I was peeking down an alley, looking at this restaurant and the waiter (or owner?) was outside like...yes, come down here...look at the menu! It was funny. Anyhoo, if you like wine, it's a wine bar and they do sampling (we don't do alcohol). We did enjoy the nice sized meal and the moderate prices (and even Coke wasn't crazy expensive so we treated ourselves to a pop!) Even mama came out to the table (I'll say mama because she struck me as the 'mama')

My mom and I both had a nice salad and my husband enjoyed a bolognese. Portions were just right (for us). There are outside tables as well, but they were full when we ate there. When we go back to Venice, I'll be returning.

http://www.allamarone.com/

In Santa Croce, had some good sandwiches at a little place called Panini Lampo...

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187870-d2546800-Reviews-Panini_Lampo-Venice_Veneto.html

Take-away only, but there are a couple of chairs out front that you can use while you eat.

In San Polo, we had some fried seafood and polenta at Acqua & Mais...

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187870-d4560650-Reviews-Acqua_Mais-Venice_Veneto.html

Again, take away only, and be aware that the food is served piping hot. I found out the hard way how hot polenta can stick to the roof of your mouth!

Thanks Nicole. That one looks good.

No prob - we aren't hard to please tho... ;)

But the prices were average (we had some pricier not very good eats at forgettable places near Rialto and St Marks). We've eaten at another place two or three times that was near our B&B near San Toma (we've been to Venice 4 times and stayed in the same B&B 3 times), but I honestly couldn't tell you the name of it! If we were walking by, I'd be like...that's the spot! But I never learned the name...lol.

Crazy how that happens, isn't it? Like when I could not remember the name of a church, but recognized it immediately when I saw it in my guidebook. I will bring a notepad with me and write down everything.

Easier to take photos of the restaurant, the menu and the food. Really jogs the memory.

Have you figured out your flight situation?

If I really like a restaurant, I ask for a business card. I keep them in a file for future reference.

Sent you some detailed info in a PM

Zoe - that's how I rem this one - they gave us their card! And I hung on to it.

Nicole, a friend of mine takes a photo of her meal with the business card in the frame. Time/date stamp helps as well.

Gerri, taking pictures is a great idea. But I will still write the name down to include in my trip report.

Our regular travel agent knows more than the lady we saw last week. We decided not to leave the office without booking our flights. I do know there will be no time to do anything before riding a water taxi to the airport.

TC, I got your PM. Thanks for the idea.

Gerri, taking pictures is a great idea. But I will still write the
name down to include in my trip report.

Take a shot of the menu. Not only do you have the name of the place but it'll remind you of what you ate and price. Grab a biz card (if they have them) on the way out.

What are the chances English translations will be on the menu? That would help me choose the restaurant.

Zoe - I have an app now on my ipad for expenses that allows you to take photo to go along with the expense. So now I will prob do it all in the app. Surreptitiously, since I don't like taking photos of my meals unless it's particularly lovely meal...I refuse to be one of those 'meal instagramming' people...no offense to anyone who loves taking 15 photos of their food! ;)

I can take a photo, have the cost and put in the name of the restaurant. That way I can rem everything together.

And TW...we found a few that didn't have English on the menu...but we didn't get really far off the beaten track. And we know what we like (we have 'unadventurous' palates - usually chicken, pasta or pizza), so even if it was Italian, we knew pollo was chicken and most likely safe. And we like a lot of pasta, so it was easy for us to know what pasta sauce was what - carbonara, Bolognese, pesto. It may help to take an index card with some translations, or photocopy some English-Italian food word translations from a guide book.

Thanks Nicole. I automatically start looking in the pasta section first. My second-favorite cuisine is seafood. Pizza is too big for a lunch.

Don't be shy about sharing a pizza - the thin crust isn't overly filling, but hubby and I are much lighter eaters than we used to be and one thin crust between the two of us is more than enough...we'd just ask for one pizza and two plates!