Sarde in saor and a glass of wine, standing at the counter. Should you head to a cozy osteria for dinner—or maybe grab another bite, perhaps a third, at the next bacaro…
But what is Venetian food like?
In Venice, you don’t have to stress about navigating the rules of Italian dining.
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Antipasto, primo, secondo, dolce… ugh, overwhelming.
If a full multi-course meal isn’t your thing, try embracing Venetian food traditions like snacking some cichéti. Or start with an aperitivo and then settle into a simple osteria to enjoy the lagoon’s bounty.
Venetian food can’t be described without starting from the very beginning, the aperitivo, of course.
So let’s go, farse un’ombra!
If you prefer to read in Finnish, continue here / Jos luet mieluummin suomeksi, jatka tänne:
Rentoa ruokailua bacaroissa ja muita venetsialaisia ruokaperinteitä
Farse un’ombra – let’s “grab a shadow”
Once upon a time, before souvenir stalls took over St. Mark’s Square, wine vendors had their stands there.
On hot summer days, they’d wheel their carts around the cathedral’s bell tower, chasing the shade.
Wine would spoil in the sun—who wants a warm glass of wine?
(Okay, in the Nordic countries, we sometimes do, but spoiled in the sun, please don’t even try.)
Venetians used to invite their friends for a drink by saying, “Andemo a farse un’ombra”—let’s go to throw some shadows. Over time, the saying became synonymous with grabbing a drink.
These days, locals head to a bacaro, a small neighborhood bar, but the call still stands: farse un’ombra.
And when ordering wine, Venetians don’t ask for un bicchiere di vino like many Italians do. They ask for un’ombra di vino—a small, affordable glass. And with that glass comes a little bite to eat: the cichéti.
Cichéti – The laid-back tapas of La Serenissima
If you’ve ever strolled through Venice, you’ve surely seen the tiny bars tucked into side alleys, people standing outside with wine glasses in hand.
It’s the aperitivo hour: time for a drink and a nibble before heading home or out to dinner.
Aperitivo culture is big across Italy—drinks and snacks before dinner.
But in Venice, you might skip the dinner altogether and keep andar a ombra—hopping from one bacaro to the next.
While Spanish tapas are well-known, Venice’s version often flies under the radar.
Luckily, young Venetians have revived the tradition, and travelers are catching on—finding an authentic way to eat in a city overrun by tourists.
So go ahead, step inside a bacaro, order a drink, and grab whatever delicious snack catches your eye at the counter.
Once the place gets crowded, move on.
Walk off what you’ve eaten, duck into the next spot that looks promising, and repeat.
Eating cichéti is a smart way to dine—especially if you’re not super hungry. But even bigger appetites will be satisfied, since you can order as many little dishes as you like.
The most common cichéti resemble the Basque pintxos: a slice of bread topped with, say, fish.
Or they might be small plates, more like Andalusian tapas.
The most classic choice? Sarde in saor—sardines marinated in vinegar.
This dish goes way back to the days before refrigeration: fried sardines were preserved in a sweet-and-sour mix of vinegar, onions, raisins, and pine nuts.
Even today, it’s not served until it’s had at least 24 hours to soak up all that flavor.
You’ll find sarde in saor as a popular antipasto on nearly every Venetian menu.
Yes, you can eat pasta in the risotto area
If bar-hopping isn’t your thing and you’d rather sit down for a long, traditional dinner, Venice has you covered.
Sure, pizza and pasta are Italy’s culinary calling cards.
But in a country where even the tiniest villages have their specialties, pastas vary wildly, too.
Veneto is known for polenta and rice, but yes, there’s pasta as well.
If you really have to eat pasta in Northern Italy, at least make it local.
Ordering Roman pasta in Venice is a surefire way to end up with a tourist trap meal.
(Don’t even try to make me preach about ordering pizza in Venice.)
Veneto’s pasta of choice is often bigoli—similar in shape to spaghetti but thicker and rougher.
Traditionally made with buckwheat flour, nowadays you’ll more often see whole wheat versions.
This pasta dates back to the 1600s and was originally eggless—just flour, salt, and water.
Back then, eggs weren’t exactly lacking; in fact, the poorer households often had chickens.
Eggs were valuable—used as currency to buy things like salt or sugar.
So families used them wisely, not just in everyday meals.
Today, bigoli is again commonly made with eggs—often duck eggs.
In the Padua area, it’s served with duck or rabbit ragù.
In Venice? Anchovy sauce, naturally (bigoli in salsa).
Other versions include sausage ragù, cheese, mushrooms… you name it. This is Italy, after all.
And speaking of traditions, bigoli is also the go-to Lenten pasta in Veneto, especially on Christmas Eve and Good Friday.
So what is Venetian food like?
Culinary Riches of the Veneto
Annexed by Rome in 49 BCE, Veneto has kept much of its unique character.
Its location—between the sea, mountains, plains, and the Po River valley—makes it a culinary treasure trove.
Veneto has seven provinces, each with its specialties depending on geography.
Like everywhere in Italy, local food reigns supreme.
Naturally, mountain towns and inland cities serve very different dishes than coastal Venice.
Just as you’d expect all along the Adriatic coast.
One thing the whole region shares? A love of rice and polenta.
Despite the area’s relative wealth and refined cuisine, polenta—like pasta—has long been a staple of the working class.
Polenta is eaten all over Italy, but in the north, it’s often served grilled to a cake shape, not boiled on the side.
And even within Veneto, what it’s paired with varies.
Inland, it’s served with grilled meat. In Venice? Of course, with fish.
Venetian Food Delicacies
The Venetian lagoon serves up a wide variety of seafood—from mussels and crabs to all kinds of fish.
Besides common species like bream, anchovies, sea bass, and sprat, you’ll also find unique local fish.
Even if you’re not planning to cook, the fish market is worth a peek.
Risotto al nero di seppia—risotto dyed black with squid ink—is probably the most iconic Venetian dish.
You’ll find versions of it along the Adriatic coast, and I already mentioned it in my post on Montenegrin cuisine. (Oops, I haven’t. I see I have only written about it in Finnish, so I’ll have to get back to this later.)
Surprisingly, cod from the North Atlantic is also hugely popular in Venice.
Baccalà mantecato is made by boiling dried cod in milk, then whipping it into a pâté with olive oil.
I’m not a big fish person myself (we all folks from the Nordic countries aren’t, maybe because we already have had our share), but I’ve learned to eat a wide range of seafood fairly comfortably.
Still, I don’t always get the hype around some local favorites.
Take risi e bisi, for example—a simple pea and ham risotto once served to the Venetian doges (the city-state’s leaders, not the dogs).
These days, it’s eaten on April 25th, Venice’s national day, and praised as a delicacy.
To me, it just reminds me of the frozen-veggie rice mash-up we used to make in the ’90s when we were students too poor to buy anything better. I hated that thing already back then.
And liver? Growing up with the shoe-bottom variety liver drowned in thick brown gravy didn’t exactly endear me to it.
But once I tried liver cooked just right, I started ordering fegato alla veneziana in Venice—voluntarily. Repeatedly.
Food and Wine Next to the Church
If Venetians used to sip wine in the shadow of the cathedral, we seem to take our communion by the church steps.
Not unusual in Venice, where there’s a church on nearly every square.
Every square meter wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration. Okay, maybe that would be.
But those Venetian squares aren’t that big either.
We’re happiest in tiny local joints with simple food.
We don’t eat much during the day, so the tapas-style snacking is perfect for a light bite.
Come dinnertime, though, we love to sit down and enjoy a long, leisurely meal.
I don’t usually go by restaurant recommendations—once a place gets too popular, the quality often drops.
But before our last trip to La Serenissima, I happened to read up on Venice’s latest food scene trends.
One bar recommended by Michelin-starred chef Raf Alajmo caught my attention—and it turned out to be just around the corner from *our hotel.
When a friend of mine from Rome came to visit us in Venice, we decided to swing by that bar after dinner—it stays open surprisingly late by Venetian standards.
And guess who showed up later that night?
Let’s just say those recommendations are the real deal.
(Here’s the interview with Raf Alajmo if you’re curious.)
Where to eat Venetian food
As for dinner, we returned to one of our favorite spots—one we’ve visited on every trip to Venice.
For more than a decade.
Ristorazione Sant’Aponal
Ristorazione Sant’Aponal (Calle del Scaleter, 1251) is a simple place that sticks to traditional Venetian fare.
It’s mostly a kitchen and a terrace, but the fish is fresh, the food tasty, and the staff incredibly friendly.
Ristorante Santa Maria Formosa
We also tried out some new places this time around.
The best find? Ristorante Santa Maria Formosa (Campo Santa Maria Formosa, 5245)—right next to *our hotel. (Former palace, btw!)
While Sant’Aponal serves up rustic Venetian classics, this one leans more toward fine dining without the hefty price tag.
Dinner for two with a primi, secondi, a bottle of Valpolicella, and dessert coffee came to just 100 euros.
Venice gets a bad rap for being expensive. And it can be—especially if you eat in tourist trap restaurants.
But it’s easy to avoid them. Most tourists stick between San Marco and Rialto.
Step just a few blocks off the main path into the smaller alleyways, and you’ll still find authentic food at fair prices.
Arrivederci Venezia,
alla prossima volta
As we left Venice once again, we walked from our hotel in Castello over the Rialto Bridge toward the train station.
As we passed Ristorazione Sant’Aponal, the waiter spotted us and ran out to shake our hands goodbye.
Goodbye Venice, until Next Time.
Arrivederci Venezia, alla prossima volta!
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