Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope you’re having a great week, and that you enjoyed my last post about things to see and do in the beautiful floating city of Venice. Because all that sightseeing can leave one hungry, today I’ll be sharing some of my favourite restaurants and cafés that we visited while there!
I’ll admit that this trip was a little different for me in terms of planning where to eat. Normally I’m that person who pre-plans all (or at least most of) the restaurants we’ll be visiting prior to a trip. Not only do I love food, but I also love finding restaurants that are beautiful, themed, famous, historic… or all of the above! Some people see restaurants just as places to eat, but to me, they’re destinations: ones just as important as museums or famous landmarks when it comes to painting the whole picture of a city.
For our Italy trip, I made a few notes about specific eateries I wanted to visit, but for the most part, I didn’t pre-plan our meals: we just decided on places to eat while we were there. I did this for a few reasons: one, I knew this would be a busy trip, with lots of sightseeing and activities planned. It was too hard to know in advance where we’d be at a given time, and if or when we’d even be hungry. (Tania and I both prefer intuitive eating, which simply means we like eating according to our own hunger cues rather than at set mealtimes.) Two, it’s hard to research restaurants in Europe! Unlike most restaurants in North America, a lot of European restaurants don’t post their menus online, and many don’t even have a website. And three, there are so many restaurants in the cities we were visiting that I knew we’d be just fine. Especially in the touristy areas, you can’t walk a block without stumbling across at least a few charming cafés or trattorias.
All that to say, only two of the spots on this list – Caffè Florian and Gelatoteca Suso – were pre-planned, and the rest we simply stumbled upon! One thing we were surprised to learn is that unlike other Italian cities, Venice is not particularly known for its food. We went to some great places… but also some not-so-great places that I won’t include on this list! The restaurants and cafés listed below are the better ones we visited, and I would recommend any of them to anyone traveling to Venice.
Caffè Al Ponte Del Lovo – We enjoyed breakfast at this cute coffee shop on our first morning in Venice. It’s located close to the Rialto Bridge and has a cozy, intimate atmosphere. We each enjoyed a cappuccino and a very delicious pistachio croissant, and the service was impeccable. I have to say that this place ruined me for the rest of the trip, as each of our cappuccinos was served with yummy little cookies on the side, which I assumed was a customary practice in Italy. How disappointing to realize I was wrong – this was the only café on our trip that offered this!
Le Campane – Located in the Cannaregio neighbourhood, a bit further from the city’s tourist hub (but close to its central train station), this is where we had breakfast our second day in Venice. It was a cool, rainy morning and this place looked cozy and cute. It’s actually a pizzeria, but is open in the mornings as well. We were the only customers in the restaurant – I’m not sure why, because the coffee was great – but perhaps because it’s known more for its pizza. Either way, it worked out because we had the place to ourselves! The cappuccinos were excellent, and the locally-themed décor – Carnevale masks, paintings of Venetian landmarks, model ships and other nautical touches – was charming.
Caffè Florian – Located in Saint Mark’s Square, this is arguably Venice’s most famous café – and the one I absolutely insisted on stopping at while we were here. It’s the oldest coffee house in all of Italy, established in 1720! Florian was a popular spot for the literary elite, and counted Lord Byron, Charles Dickens and Marcel Proust among its patrons. Notably, it was also the only café at the time that allowed female customers. The café’s Baroque-style interiors are stunning, and every detail exudes lavish old-world charm, from the impeccably dressed waitstaff (white jackets and all) to the food served on silver trays. Caffè Florian is known for its elaborate desserts and coffee drinks, but be forewarned: they don’t come cheap! A standard cappuccino or Americano will run you a whopping 11.50 Euros, and the desserts start at 16.50 Euros apiece. If you want to experience the beauty and history of Caffè Florian for yourself but are on a budget (like us!) then I recommend doing what we did: have your morning coffee somewhere else, and come here after to enjoy an exquisite breakfast pastry. At 5.50 Euros each, Caffè Florian’s croissants are the most affordable thing on their menu, and are actually priced quite reasonably by Venice standards.
One thing I loved about Italy (and quite honestly, something I wasn’t expecting) was that we never experienced any condescension or snobbery when it came to ordering cheaper menu items or sharing food, which is typically frowned upon in Canada. Here at home, I can’t tell you how many times a server has treated me with a totally different (read: rude) attitude if I just want an appetizer in lieu of a main dish, or if Tania and I order a dish to share – sometimes restaurants even have per-person or per-table spending minimums. I NEVER experienced this in Italy! Tania and I are usually light eaters, and when travelling, prefer to eat smaller meals or snacks throughout the day instead of three square meals. This way we’re never starving or uncomfortably full, and it allows us to try more different places! While in Italy, we often simply ordered a pizza, or perhaps a salad and appetizer, to share – and we were never treated differently because of it. At Caffè Florian, even though we just ordered two croissants – one plain and one almond – they were served with a smile on a silver tray. The croissants were delicious, and it was so cool to experience this legendary spot for ourselves. Caffè Florian also has an outdoor patio where a live band entertains customers and passersby in Saint Mark’s Square.
Trattoria Da Giorgio Ai Greci – This restaurant is located in Venice’s charming Castello neighbourhood, which is also where we took our gondola ride (you can read more about our gondola experience in my last post.) This neighbourhood was our favourite area of Venice because it was very pretty, but quieter and less crowded compared to other, more touristy areas of the city. Located on a small canal called the Rio Dei Greci, the trattoria’s patio is a picturesque spot for canal-side dining, which I highly recommend experiencing at least once in Venice! I enjoyed an Aperol Spritz – and Tania, a beer – and we split a mushroom pizza. My cocktail was delicious! The pizza was, admittedly, just okay – but we were hungry, and the views more than made up for it.
Trattoria Ali d’Oro – Since we’d been so charmed by the Castello neighbourhood when we had lunch at Trattoria Da Giorgio, we headed back to the same area for dinner that very night! Trattoria Ali d’Oro is located just a few steps away from Da Giorgio, and has an equally lovely view. Tania and I both agreed that Ali d’Oro was our favourite restaurant in Venice: not only did we get beautiful canal-side views yet again, but the food was excellent. Tania ordered a margherita pizza and an Aperol Spritz, and I got the pesto spaghetti with a glass of white wine. Both dishes were great, but the pesto pasta was especially yummy! The servers here were such characters, and kept all the diners entertained with their table-side cacio e pepe preparations, singing and dancing while they tossed.
La Bottega Del Caffe – I was so excited to go to Italy because it meant I’d get to indulge in two of my favourite desserts: gelato and cannoli! Located in the San Polo neighbourhood on the west side of the Rialto Bridge, this charming bakery immediately tempted me as we walked past: their window is filled with scrumptious-looking cannoli in a variety of different flavours. Tania is not a cannoli fan, but I definitely am! I got a pistachio cannoli to go, and enjoyed it by the nearby canal.
Gelatoteca SuSo – I’d heard from many sources that this is the best gelateria in Venice, so of course it was a must-visit! SuSo’s gourmet gelato comes in over two dozen flavours, from caramel toffee to mango chia seed to fig-walnut mascarpone. They also offer fancy cones, which come dipped in chocolate and rolled in your choice of peanuts or nonpareils. I got a peanut-rolled cone with a scoop of pistachio-cherry and Tania got a cup of the peanut butter cream, and I can confirm they lived up to the hype: we both rated this our favourite gelato of the trip! And, a fun(ny) anecdote that I just had to mention: Tania enjoyed her gelato so much that she took a bite of her wooden spoon, thinking it was a cookie. (It was most certainly not.)
I saved the last two spots on this list for last, because they’re not technically located in Venice but in Burano, a beautiful island near Venice that I highly recommend visiting! (See my last post to read more about our trip to the islands of Burano and Murano.)
Trattoria Café Vecio – While wandering around Burano’s Piazza Baldassarre Galuppi, we came across this inviting patio with a sign advertising Aperol Spritzes for 5 Euros – how could we say no!? Both Tania and I thought these Spritzes were among the best of the trip (and believe me, we had many!) As is customary with many Italian restaurants, our drinks were served with a complimentary side of potato chips…a custom I’m certainly missing back here in Canada!
SU e ZO Gelateria Pasticceria – This cute little gelato shop also sells a variety of colourful desserts that blend right in with Burano’s rainbow aesthetic. Tania got a meringue and I picked up a raspberry cream-filled cannoli, which I’ll willingly admit I chose just because it was pink (y’all know pink is my signature colour.) They were the perfect treats to enjoy on our vaporetto ride back to Venice!
Well, that’s all for today – I hope you enjoyed reading about some of my favourite eateries in Venice and beyond. In my next post, I’ll be taking you around the second stop on our itinerary – the beautiful and historic city of Florence – and showing you some of the most memorable things we did there. Stay tuned!
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