The 14 best Venice restaurants

The island of Burano, famed for exquisite lace-making and colourful houses, is also home to one of Venice’s most charming family restaurants. Husband and wife Ruggero and Lucia set a jovial tone for “The Black Cat” while son Massimiliano shares his passion for wine as resident sommelier. Feast on hyper-local specialties like homemade tagliolini noodles with spider crab or Burano-style risotto with small fish from the lagoon waters surrounding this canal-side gem.

Half of the experience at Venissa is the journey to Mazzorbo Island in the northern lagoon. This is where Venice really began and, today, owner Matteo Bisol is drenching his native Venice ethos onto every part of the restaurant. Smoked eel, beetroot, kombucha and sorrel or turbot with potatoes, porcini mushrooms, black summer truffle and bay leaves are just a few of the items you’ll get to enjoy when ordering the tasting menu, which you can customize to include five, eight or ten plates. While sitting outside, gaze at the restaurant’s vineyards and vegetable gardens. In the winer, when the main restaurant is closed, dine at the more casual yet just-as-delectable Osteria Venissa.

The family behind this beloved restaurant hidden within the labyrinth of San Polo proudly shares culinary traditions passed through generations. Passion for fine, fresh ingredients shines in specials like exquisitely sliced and presented raw fresh catch (carpaccio di pesce crudo), baccala prepared three ways and generous seafood platters, lightly battered and fried to perfection. Don’t expect pizza or lasagna, this is classic Venetian fare offered at the highest level (often to visiting celebrities like Bill Murray and Yoko Ono), thus reservations are essential. Moderately priced and with an impressive wine list, this is a can’t miss.

Sexy and fashionable, this Michelin-star restaurant located inside the world-famous, five-star Hotel Metropole harnesses Venice’s legacy as a once-mighty spice trading empire into a thoroughly modern menu and atmosphere. Murano glass lamps cast a glow over luxurious fabrics setting the stage for creative taste combinations in every course. Most notably, the vegetarian tasting menu infuses classic dishes with Asian elements, such as aubergines with beetroot and wasabi flavoured broccoli cream, topped with crunchy artichokes.

The small, canal-side dining room of La Zucca (meaning “the pumpkin”) offers a romantic setting and one of Venice’s most unique menus. Vegetables play the starring role – the signature pumpkin and ricotta flan is not to be missed – yet the rotating menu also includes succulent specialties like roasted rabbit with chestnuts. Reservations are essential for one of two nightly seatings and service can be rushed, even burly – but one taste of the house-made pear cake with ginger and those quirks will hardly linger.

This most famous of Venice restaurants, an institution since 1830, recently received a facelift at the hands of designer and architect Philippe Starck. The Michelin star restaurant’s beloved Murano glass chandeliers now illuminate walls upholstered in highly-original and playful fabric designed by local textile artisans. To see these opulent dining rooms overlooking St. Mark’s Square would be reason enough to visit, but seasonally-inspired three- or five-course tasting menus are the true attraction – with every bite of asparagus and green pepper risotto and accompanying beetroot foam, you will taste the promise of spring. Generous amuse-bouches are also playful and delicious. This is one of the rare Venice menus that includes gluten-free options. The staff has recently opened a small extension of the space in the new Fondaco dei Tedeschi shopping center. You’ll likely want to visit both locations.

Since 1936, Venice’s oldest wine bar has charmed locals and travellers with warm service and hearty Venetian cuisine. Not far from Rialto Bridge, look for the wooden table on Calle Cavalli and enter old-world Venice, where vintage wine labels cover the bar ceiling and wood panels adorn a cozy dining room. Reservations are essential, portions are generous and prices reasonable, especially by Venice standards. Classic fare like spaghetti with clams, followed by Venetian-style liver with polenta pair perfectly with affordable house wines.

This popular neighbourhood restaurant, located along Venice’s hippest stretch of canal in Cannaregio, is a meat lover’s paradise. Giant wood boards come loaded with perfectly seared slices of steak, surrounded by mounds of potatoes and veggies. These shareable feasts, along with lagoon-side seating, make for one of Venice’s most relaxed and lively dining scenes. You also can’t go wrong with sister restaurant, seafood-centric Timon All’Antica Mola, located next door.