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When you are traveling to a tourist Mecca such as Venice you almost always assume that your meals will be of the let’s-screw-the-tourist kind, a mediocre appetizer followed by a flavorless main course and a below average dessert, all washed down with a glass of water.

Well, think again. Even in Venice, even if you are right round the corner from St. Mark square, you can find some incredible places to enjoy a drink and some delicious food. Venetian cuisine mainly features a vast array of seafood, not surprising since the city is literally surrounded by water. Spaghetti with squid ink (yes, the sauce is black) and linguine with white clam sauce are only two of the many local specialties one can order virtually anywhere. For those who don’t like fish, Venetian chefs offer some good meat options: sliced tenderloin with arugula and Parmesan cheese or, for the adventurous, calf liver and onions.

The rule of the thumb to find good restaurants in Venice is easy to remember: avoid places that offer a “Menu Turistico” at fixed price and steer clear of establishments where none of the customers are Italian. Venice is a maze, a pretty incredible series of narrow alleys and tiny bridges, and part of the fun there is exploring, getting lost, and usually ending up in a different restaurant than the one you had in mind.



For a drink before dinner we decided to head to one of Venice’s landmarks: Harry’s Bar. Opened in 1931 by bartender Giuseppe Cipriani, this beloved watering hall is famous for inventing two great Venetian classics: the Bellini and beef carpaccio. We sat down at the small bar, the same counter where Ernest Hemingway used to sit, and ordered a Bellini (fresh peach nectar and sparkling white wine) and one of Mr. Cipriani’s famous Dry Martinis, rigorously made with gin and no garnishes.

Although very good, our drinks were ridiculously pricey (15 Euros each). At Harry’s Bar you don’t only pay for the booze: you also pay for more than 70 years of fame and glory. Located at the Vallaresso ferry stop, Harry’s is open for lunch and dinner every day.

After spending 30 Euros on drinks, we were ready for a more reasonable solution for dinner. We picked a little restaurant called “Ristorante Marco Polo”, a typical Venetian trattoria located in the San Marco quarter. Small and cozy, the Marco Polo offered everything we were dreaming of: a great selection of appetizers, an incredible assortment of pasta dishes and a nice variety of meat and seafood main courses. The wine list was very appealing as well: most local wines, white and red alike, went for 10-12 Euros, perfect for our budget after the Harry’s Bar splurge. The house red, a honest Merlot, was smooth and easy to drink.

We started our meal off with a salmon carpaccio, marinated in homemade mustard sauce: the tangy sauce complimented the delicate flavor of the fish to perfection. For our main course we decided to go for some pasta: spaghetti with clams for my friend and spaghetti with fresh tomato and basil sauce for me. Both pastas were good and tasty, and at 10 Euros each an absolute steal. We finished our meal sipping a sweet dessert wine and munching on homemade butter cookies, a rather delicious treat that gave us the energy to walk back to our hotel.

The next day, while looking for a restaurant hidden in Calle degli Assassini (literally “Assassins Alley”) we stumbled upon a small pizzeria, La Rosa Rossa, and we decided to give it a try. My pizza, with onions and crushed red pepper, was spicy and delicious; my friend’s homemade lasagna came piping hot and tasty. The house red, a carafe of local cabernet, made our lunch even more enjoyable: there’s something great about guiltlessly drink a good red while enjoying the afternoon sun in Venice.