Venice Restaurant suggestion~special birthday

Worth the walk if you are seeking a non-tourist-dominated-restaurant. Small and populated with locals that serves up truly divine food. English is not the first language. Tratoria da' a Marisa. Fondamenta San Giobe A Canaregio. If you seek a more less exploratory place then Avogaria in the Dorsduro neighborhood would be very special for a birthday gathering. Besides researching Chowhound look at Food And Wine magazine online as well as checking out some of the Venice food blogs like; http://foodloversodyssey.typepad.com/ Have a fabulous trip and birthday celebration.

You might want to look on Chowhound Italy. There are lots of posts about restaurants in Venice. I will be there in October and have been watching the site for a while. Also - slowtrav.com has restaurant reviews.

And because I imagine you wouldn't want to practice an incorrect pronunciation, it's actually "Buongiorno", regardless of gender of the speaker. It's pronounced "bwohn-JOR-noh". You're saying "good day" and the word for day is "giorno". Happy travels.

How about good 'ole Harry's Bar, home of the Bellini?

Thanks to all for replying. Still looking as many are not open on Sunday (my birthday). I continually receive a failure notice re my emails to 'Da Ivo'. Does anyone know if this restaurant is open on Sundays? Thanks. Linda

http://www.hotelcipriani.com/web/ocip/fortuny_restaurant_menu.jsp "expensive" is an understatement

You could certainly do a lot worse than La Zucca, our favorite for many years. Another good one (originally recommended by our friends who live there) is Alle Madonna, just off the Rialto.

Several years ago in late May, my husband and I had a wonderful dinner at the Hotel Metropole on the Riva Degli Schiavoni. Sitting on the dining patio outside, we had an amazing view across to the Salute as the sun set. http://www.hotelmetropole.com/eng/met/ You might get some good answers by posting your specific question on the Slow Travel Italy boards. http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a/frm/f/862600685 Both Ruth Edenbaum (aka Boleskine) and Shannon Essa (GrapeHops Wine and Beer Tours) post there and have written a book: "Chow!Venice" and frequent articles on Venice cuisine. http://www.chowbellabooks.com/ (Ruth just spent a month in Venice and has a new 65 page report which includes lots of restaurants).

Linda, Forget any Rick Steve's restaurant recommendations for Venice. "Rick's Picks" as my wife and I call them are pretty weak and Rick could use "Bird Man" as his restaurant critic's nom de plum ("cheap, cheap", if you know what I mean). If I'm you, I'd take most of these recommendations ("Harry's Bar"???...c'mon, why not "Hardrock Cafe") and pick up Frommer's "Day by Day...Venice". The book is at Amazon for $10 new and for less used...I may pick one up myself for my trip to Venice in October. Generally, we use Rick mostly for his walking tours (accommodation...only in desperation and for restaurants NEVER) and the DBDs almost exclusively for their restaurant picks...in London, in Paris, in Barcelona, in Rome, they have a nice ion from Michelin star down to "locals like it" and we've never been disappointed. I'm sitting on the most recent copy of Plotkin's Gourmet Italy (or whatever it's called) and can look up Venice if what I'm saying makes sense to you. Otherwise, happy special birthday and best to you in Venice!!!

Al Giardinetto da Serverino is a wonderful restaurant, frequented by the locals, open on Sunday, food was excellent, nice wine selection, the best tiramisu we have ever eaten!! It is not easy to find but worth the effort. Our hotel recommended it and even made a reservation for us which was appreciated since when we arrived there was a line waiting to be seated.

We have been eating at RS's recommended places throughout Europe for 10 years now and rarely have any complaints about them. Some folks like the opera and some folks do not. Same goes with restaurants.