Three great restaurants in Venice

1. Laguna Libre

The small but cozy jazz restaurant “Laguna Libre” is hidden far away from the Saint Mark’s square. The pleasant and well-kept terrace is located along one of the many canals of Venice, but the nice thing here is that there are no hordes of tourists, and that you have to share the boats and gondolas with almost nobody.

While I was looking at the dishes offered here, an enthusiastic woman came to tell me what the restaurant stands for. And I honestly liked that.
As they are not in a very touristy area, they can’t benefit from tourists just passing by. Therefore, the restaurant chooses for quality and for helping the locals. The restaurant only works with local products. In addition, they only work with healthy and fresh products that are completely bio.
Laguna Libre is thus best described as an ‘eco cultural restaurant’. Whoever thinks that these bio and local products will therefore yield an expensive price tag is wrong.
I paid almost 15 euros ($17) for a big bottle of cold water, some freshly baked bread and a lunch consisting of a starter (mushroom soup), a pasta (super delicious pasta with tomatoes and a four-cheese sauce) and a main course (parmigano chicken with vegetables).

If you are in the neighborhood of this restaurant, I would definitely recommend visiting. Not expensive, good food, friendly service and a beautiful location.

2. Dal Moro’s

Near the San Marco Square you won’t find any restaurant that is a bit decent unless you want to spend hundreds of euros. Fortunately, there is also Dal Moro’s. Within about five minutes walking of this famous square you can find this small takeaway restaurant (near the Rialto Bridge).
You can choose from different types of pasta and adapt the recipes according to your liking.
It’s not too expensive either. For a large portion of pasta you pay between eight and ten euros ($9 to $11). Each extra you add will cost you one euro extra.

Lastly, very important as well, the staff is incredibly friendly! They are happy to explain to you about the different pastas and stay enthusiastic with each customer!
A quick, tasty bite during a short city trip? Then I definitely recommend Dal Moro.

Don’t forget that you can’t sit in this little pasta bar. Fortunately, within a few minutes you can walk to more than enough places where you can relax and enjoy your delicious pasta.

3. Osteria Al Squero

Are you visiting the Peggy Guggenheim collection, or perhaps the Santa Maria della Salute Basilica? Stay in this neighborhood of Venice for a little longer!
During a holiday to Venice, you must definitely visit an osteria. This is comparable to a tiny tavern where wine and small snacks are served.
Almost always they are incredibly cozy and ooze out the real Italian atmosphere. This is no different at Osteria Al Squero.

Cheap wine (three to five euros), giant glasses of Aperol Spritz (five euros or six dollars) and of course… Delicious snacks.

Behind the glass counter, there are dozens of small pieces of baguette with all kinds of Italian delicacies smeared on top of them. From truffle tapenade to spreads with sun dried tomatoes, shrimps, mushrooms and other treats.
For each piece of bread you pay one euro fifty ($2). So be sure to take a mix of all that deliciousness!

I can honestly admit that I didn’t dislike one of the preparations. I could even say that there was not one sandwich that I didn’t find absolutely delicious!

And you can’t complain for the cheap price either!
In addition, the staff here are also extremely friendly and definitely deserve a small tip.

This osteria is very small, and there aren’t many seats unfortunately. However, you can just stand outside with your paper plate and enjoy the passing boats while sipping your Italian wine and nibbling from your delicious gourmet food. The clientele of this osteria is also very talkative. For anyone who likes to chat with a local or a spontaneous tourist: this is the place to be!

Tips on eating out in Venice

• Venice is very touristy and although the prices were alright, the cost here is a lot higher than in the rest of Italy. To eat well and (relatively) cheaply, I recommend staying away from the touristy places. These mainly can be found on the St. Mark’s Square and the businesses near the Rialto Bridge. Of course, there are also some good restaurants here, but you will have to pay a lot of money. And you may also need to book in advance.
• Don’t forget that a lot of restaurants also ask for a ‘coperto’. A mandatory tip, or cover charge. This usually fluctuates between three to six euros per person. This can make a cheap dish a lot more expensive… Just ask in advance if you’re unsure, or see if it’s written on the menu.
• Watch out for drinks! One time I went to a restaurant that I thought had cheap food. I ordered a lasagna and a coke. €7,50 for the lasagna and €5,50 for the coke… Soft drinks are almost always expensive in Venice. Water is generally the cheapest. Wine is usually not so bad either, while a pint quickly costs six euros or more

Have you been to Venice, and do you know some nice restaurants or eateries? Let me know in a message below!

Excursions in Venice

Once you’ve been enjoying one of these Venetian restaurants, it’s time to go and see things. There is a lot to see in this city by the water and you’ll need all the time you can get. Would you like to go on a few trips or guided tours? Take a look at the online offers in Venice:

» All tours and excursions in Venice

Did you like this article? Then please give it 5 stars. Thanks!  In this article you'll find a few affiliate links. When you book something with these travel organizations, I get a small commission. You don't pay anything extra for that. You can thus see it as a way to support this blog if you found the information helpful. I use all of these travel organizations myself, and I will only recommend the ones that I really like.