Venice food favorites

One of our favorites is in the Rialto Bridge area. The name is Trattoria Da Marco Valla Fava on Calle Stagneri. Most of the seating is inside (which we prefer), but they do have some seating outside. A bit pricey, so you might want to have lunch there rather than dinner. They have some of the best sea food ever and have been around at least 50 years so they must be doing it right.

Also in the Rialto area (on the other side of the Grand Canal) when walking to Piazzale Roma is an out of the way place named Pane Vino e San Daniele on Calle Dei Boteri. Definitely a hole in the wall local place, good food, good house wine, and not expensive at all.

Canal side places in Venice are usually overpriced and under quality. There is an exception, however. You might try Trattoria Da Giorgia ai Greci. It is on a back street close to San Marco, but an easy walk to get away from the crowds. The food is really great.

You should be able to check out the locations and menus on Google.

When you need an afternoon snack, my favorite gelato is the Manet flavor at Suso Gelato - yum!

Go eat the tubular like soft candy with colors on the outside and white on the inside (the ones I remember were reddish on the outside)! It was EVERYWHERE when I went and I wanted some and realized that when we left town, it was a Venetian thing! (or we couldn't find it anywhere else, or were looking in the wrong places haha) I was sad I missed out :(

Coffee at the Rialto fish market early in the morning. I dont think American-style breakfast or brunch is a thing in Italy. Just coffee and a cornetto, so any cafe would do.

We stayed in Venice for 10 days last December (the two of us plus four family members) and here are the lunch restaurants we liked best:

My husband and I loved La Rampa in Castello for the 2nd time. Originally (and seemed like still) a worker-guy place.

Also Osteria La Zucca for the 2nd or 3rd time (pretty sure it was the 3rd time, but our first visit to Venice was 23 years ago and we didn't keep records then).

Osteria da Pampo in far eastern Castello was enjoyed by all six of us.

We all liked La Palanca on the Giudecca — worker guys ate there early when we did and then regular customers came in at 1:30pm. Too cold for canal-side that day, but the view would be great.

A canal-side place in Cannaregio unpromisingly named Very Good, was actually very good. More pizza-oriented. Watch out for seagulls! One snatched a gelato cone right out of my husband's hand!

Ca’ d’oro alla Vedova (how the restaurant spells it on Facebook) is just a few feet off the busy, busy Strada Nova —- we all ate meatballs, even semi-vegetarian me.

I should say that the choice of our restaurants (which my husband researches with great care) is heavily influenced by the grandkids and me not liking seafood, and by none of us liking fancy places. We made reservations at every restaurant so as not to risk not having a table for six and because these are small popular places (even in December).

We agree with TC…we enjoyed Trattoria Da Giorgio Ai Greci…quite a few international travelers and on a small, peaceful canal. We still talk about the sea bass (and its presentation!). We’ll be returning next month, and I’m bookmarking this thread with everyone’s great suggestions!

If you are a fan of Donna Leon’s Commissario Brunetti series, you might like to stop in for an aperitivo at Bar Greci, right by Ponte dei Greci and adjacent to Trattoria da Giorgio. My husband and I stopped in there for a glass of Prosecco on our walk from the Giardini back to our apartment at Campo San Vio, near the Accademia. We took the back streets around San Marco to avoid the crowds, and were ready for a break. We at the bar against the window looking out on the canal (you can see this on Google maps street view if you can get rid of the reflection) and enjoyed a bit of small talk with the woman behind the bar about the books and their effect on the area. The “fictional ”Questura” is just up the Fondamente to the north, usually with a few Germans. Americans, or Australians nearby taking photos. Brunetti often goes there with Vianello for a break from the office.

The bar itself, and the fictional Senegalese barman Bombola, appear in many of the novels, such as this line from “A Question of Belief”:

In the bar at Ponte dei Greci, Bambola, the Senegalese helper Sergio had hired last year, was behind the bar. Both Brunetti and Vianello were accustomed to ...”

While there we were also treated to the sight of a dispute between two gondoliers over their territory, which resulted in the police being called to settle the matter.

came across this today:

https://adventureswithsarah.net/venetian-food-guide/

ADDING: Katherine, I saw something at my grocery store yesterday that really looked like the candy you describe. Looked like flavored licorice stuffed with some kind of Peeps stuff. Yup, Peeps! No, I did not buy any. . .

And remember to try cicchetti, the Venetian small bites, a bit like tapas.
Lots of bars serve them .

https://www.italyfoodies.com/blog/cicchetti-in-venice