Venice - Inexpensive Restaurants

Best and reasonable? Well that's tough, but Rick Steves' book has some good ideas. One we tried and liked was Nono Risorto. It'a in Rick's book. They have a lovely garden setting, too.

I Googled "Top 10 Cheap Restaurants in Venice" and got a wealth of info. One of the most interesting was that if a place offers a "Turistico" menu, it should be avoided! Is that too harsh?

Well, I don't know about best, but I really liked Frary's, a Turkish-Mediterranean restaurant on the canal right opposite the I Frari church (the church is worth visiting too.) They were then offering a set lunch for 12 - 16 euros - starter, main and drink. It's recommended in Time Out's Venice city guide. Also liked Trattoria Gam Gam, in the Cannaregio district by the Ponte delle Guglie, easily spotted by its awnings with the name printed on it. It's a kosher restaurant, about 10 mins' or less walk from the train station. OK, these aren't Italian restaurants but I enjoyed the food they served!

Do NOT stop at Harry's Bar if you are looking for reasonable. We ate lunch there and between the 4 of us, we spent an obscene amount of money. It is very cool for the ambience but wow it's expensive. I would avoid the "turistco" menus as well - just walk down a side street and if you see something you like - walk in. I didnt think Venice was that hard to navigate - just remember which side the canal is on.

If you are only going to be there one day what is your plan for the day? Where do you expect to be at lunch and dinner time. Make sense to start there otherwise you could be walking and getting lost for 45 minutes to find where you are going.

There's a little hole-in-the-wall place way down at the tip of Venice Island in St Elena. Sorry I don't know the name, but there aren't THAT many places in St Elena, period. They have a few plastic tables and chairs outside on their little patio - they have THEEEEE most wonderful pizza and about the cheapest bottles of wine in Italy (that I've ever found). If you exit the vaporetto at the St Elena stop and walk straight on the paved walkway through the park with the trees and grass and kids playing and families out meandering with their neighbors - you'll run right smack into it. Don't miss St Elena if you want to see the real Venetian residents. One more thing - you'll get plenty of friendly stares and you'll find fewer English speakers there. Truly - it's a great Venetian family neighborhood to visit. On our last Venetian visit we even stayed in St Elena at the B&B Venezia. One of the cheapest places to stay in all of Venice with Roberto and his "Momma and Papa". Roberto speaks a little English and Momma and Papa don't speak of word of it, but they are as nice as can be.

We also liked Nono Risorto. It is in a non touristy area with a neat outside dining area. Steves states that they are known for pizza but we found pasta and salads were very good also.

I can also vouch for the Santa Elena neighborhood. We stumbled across it on an Eyewitness Travel walks and it's exactly as Tim described. We were the only tourists, as far we could tell. Edited - See my posting below if you only have one day.

Thank you all very much. The St. Elena area sounds just like what we are looking for!

Doreen, if you are going to be in Venice for just a day, Santa Elena is soooooooooo out of the way. What do you plan to see/do while in Venice? I would look for something closer. For me, spending one day in Venice will not include finding an out of the way place just to eat inexpensively. And we like the Santa Elena area but then we spend weeks in Venice so we have the time.

Quite honestly, I haven't planned our Venice day quite yet. We are using Florence as a home base and traveling to Siena, Cinque Terra, and Lucca. We will end our trip in Rome for 5 days. So I haven't gotten around to planning our day in Venice just yet. I will certainly take your suggestion into consideration but since you have been there so many times, maybe you have some suggestions for us since we are only spending one day there. There are four of us, including my two daughters (21 & 24). Thanks so much for your help

JustTravel is absolutely right. I missed that you would be there only one day. Santa Elena would definitely be a lower priority than checking out the major sites. It's more of a palate cleanser best saved for when you have more time. The top priorities are the unsurprising ones - St. Mark's Basilica and Piazza, the Doge's Palace, the Rialto bridge. If you're into museums, check out the Accademia and the Correr. But be sure to spend time wandering around off the main trails.