10 Best Restaurants for Inexpensive Dining in Venice

If cities like Rome or Florence are already known to be expensive when it comes to eating out, Venice often surpasses them. The city of canals has countless attractions and, although food is part of them, sometimes it is very difficult to enjoy a good Italian meal without leaving a good part of the budget.

To avoid the tourist traps is interesting to book a gastronomic tour of Venice. In addition, I have made a small list of inexpensive places to eat well. In general, there are four categories:

• Trattorias (traditional home cooked restaurants).
• Bacari (similar to tapas bars and very typical of Venice).
• Osterias (offering set menus and casual dining).
• Fast food restaurants (in this case, pizzas and pasta).

Students, Venetians and tourists have agreed to consider Bacareto da Lele as one of the most popular restaurants in Venice, the place you have to include in the gastronomic tour of Venice on your trip. This unanimity explains why its small space is always crowded with people looking for a good meal for a very cheap price.

To get there you have to go a bit further away from the main monuments of Venice. Specifically, it is located on the corner of Piazza Campo del Tolentini, in the Santa Croce district. Its culinary offer, although tasty, is not too sophisticated, as it consists of various types of cicchetti and paninis.

The traditional accompaniment to the meal is a good house wine, although more and more Venetians are opting for spritz as an aperitif. In addition to the prices, the restaurant stands out for its owner's excellent service. The service is extremely efficient despite the influx of customers. Of course, you will usually have to sit down to eat on one of the benches near the canal.

Practical information

• Address: Fondamenta dei Tolentini, 183, Santa Croce.
• Hours: Monday to Friday, between 6 am and 8 pm. Saturdays only open until 2 pm.
• Main dish: it is very difficult to choose among their cicchetti, so try a few. It also highlights its authentic homemade spritz.

Bar Puppa is a classic among Venetians to include in the gastronomic tour of Venice. The place to go when they want to eat good fresh pasta at a very good price.

To get there you will have to go to the Cannaregio neighborhood, considered the least touristic and most authentic of the city. The service is outstanding and it has great homemade food. Note that this restaurant includes the so-called coperto, which could be considered as "service". It is usually charged separately in many places in Venice and represents an increase in the bill of between 10% and 15%. One of the essential tips in the city of Venice is to keep this in mind.

A large part of the menu is offered as a set menu, with a pasta or pizza dish , drink and coffee for approximately 15 €. In addition, there is also a hamburger menu for around 12 €. If you decide to come here, you may have to use one of Venice's transports, but trying some of their risottos, spaghetti carbonara or frutti di mare is really worth the trip.

Practical information

• Address: Calle della Spezier, 4800.
• Hours: between 9 am (breakfast available) and 11 pm.
• Main dish: Definitely their spaghetti al frutti di mare.

Just for its location, very close to St. Mark's Square, this place deserves to be on your gastronomic tour of Venice to eat cheaply in Venice. And if you also add the quality of their pizzas, the Pizzeria L'Angelo becomes an almost obligatory visit after touring the Doge's Palace.

With a fairly extensive menu of homemade pizzas cooked over an open fire, about 30 different kinds, their prices are very reasonable, since the cheapest ones are around 6 or 7 €. The service is very good and orders are delivered very quickly. On the negative side is that, if you arrive at rush hour, the queues can be almost 1 hour.

When ordering you should know that there are several sizes: medium (for one person) and family (for two). Unfortunately, there is no place inside to sit down to eat, so customers usually go to a square to sit quietly.

Practical information

• Address: Calle de la Mandola San Marco.
• Hours: from 11 am to 10 pm.
• Main dish: Personally I prefer their spicy peperoncino pizza, but they are all very good thanks to the quality of the dough.

In one of the most atmospheric areas of Venice, the one around the Rialto Bridge, you will find Bacarando in Corte Dell Orso, one of the most popular places in the whole city.

The only problem, apart from the difficulty of finding a place, is finding it, as it is located in a hidden alley. If you manage to overcome this difficulty, you will find a good variety of traditional Venetian food. Although it is well located with respect to some tourist attractions, most of the clientele is local, especially university students. Live music performances are sometimes organized.

The restaurant offers two dining options:

• Cicchetti (the equivalent of tapas): if you choose the first option you can choose from several of their cicchetti at a very reasonable price. The traditional way is to accompany them with their great spritz.
• A la carte seated in their lounge: those who prefer the traditional restaurant format will not be disappointed, but they should know that they will be charged for the service or coperto.

Practical information

• Address: Corte de l'Orso San Marco.
• Hours: Opens at 10:30 a.m. and does not close until midnight.
• Main dish: their lasagna of the day is great.

A loyal local clientele is the best sign that Trattoria Alle Lance offers very estimable dishes for a price below average in Venice. The restaurant is located very close to the Grand Canal, in the train station area, in a rather hidden alleyway.

In addition to a la carte, the trattoria offers two different set menus:

• The first one is around 12 €, to which you have to add the coperto.
• If you prefer, you can opt for a more expensive one, around 15 € more or less, with more elaborate dishes.

Keep in mind that the portions are very generous, to the point that many people have enough with the first course. In addition, they also have a good offer of wine at a very good price. On the other hand, the trattoria has been able to win over its customers, locals or tourists, for its excellent service. If you have any questions, just ask and the staff is always ready to help and advise.

Practical information about the trattoria

• Address: Calle Priuli Dei Cavalletti 108, Cannaregio.
• Opening hours: between 10 am and 11 pm.
• Main dish: The spaghetti with cuttlefish is unbeatable.

Osteria Al Bottegon is a true institution in the city, a traditional family-run place located just a few minutes from the Accademia Bridge, one of the most interesting bridges in Venice.

Its location off the beaten tourist track is possibly what has allowed this osteria to remain virtually immune to the passage of time. It is characterized by a friendly and relaxed atmosphere to enjoy its extensive menu, consisting of more than 60 types of cicchetti.

Each of these tapas cost around 2 € and you can accompany them with the other great specialty of the house: wine, as it offers an extraordinary selection of regional wines. The downside of this good work is that it will be quite difficult to find a free place. If you have no luck or patience, you can always order the food to take away.

Practical information

• Address: Fondamenta Nani, 992, Dorsoduro.
• Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• Main Dish: It is difficult to decide on just one dish. As they are small you can try a selection made up of the smoked tuna cicchetti with parmesan, the baccala alla vicentina and the dried tomato cicchetti.

If you come out from visiting St. Mark's Basilica and you are not convinced by the restaurants in the area near St. Mark's, very close you will find a place where you can eat the best pasta at an incredible price. We are talking about Dal Moro's.

It only serves takeaway food, but this has not prevented it from becoming one of the classics of the city and a place you cannot miss on your gastronomic tour of Venice. The reason for its fame, apart from the price, is the quality of its fresh and homemade pasta. The way it works is simple:

• First: choose what kind of pasta you want among the eight varieties they offer.
• Second: select the sauce (four cheeses, squid ink, pesto, tomato and garlic...).
• Finally, pick up the order served in a box and enjoy your meal.

The staff is very friendly. They tell you where you can sit to eat, as Venetian regulations prohibit doing so in some places. Although it is best to heed the recommendations, it is not difficult to find a bench in a square to enjoy your meal.

Practical information

• Address: Calle De La Casseleria.
• Opening hours: opens at 12 noon and closes at 5 pm.
• Main dish: The spaghetti with Genovese pesto is really delicious.

The city of Venice has countless attractions and if you are in the Dorsoduro district you have to go to Trattoria Ai Cugnai dal 1911, a picturesque place that offers great quality dishes at a very good price. The restaurant's specialty is pasta dishes with fish, although you will also find different options.

On a curious note, if you have booked a gondola ride, it is possible that you will meet your gondolier here, as this is one of the places where they go for lunch. In fact, this group has preference when it comes to receiving a table.

The atmosphere is very pleasant, the service friendly and always ready to help. The restaurant has two dining areas. If you go to Venice in summer or spring, you can enjoy an indoor terrace located in a courtyard. In bad weather, the restaurant has several tables next to the bar.

Practical information

• Address: Calle Nuova Sant'Agnese, 857
• Opening hours: from noon to 3 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• Main dish: The fish lasagna is worth a try, but leave room to order the tiramisu for dessert.

As soon as you enter Bacaro Quebrado, you will realize that it is a special place. The atmosphere inside, which is quite small, and on the terrace, is great, which is helped by the cheerful attitude and politeness of the staff.

The restaurant is located near the Santa Lucia station, a bit far from the tourist center, but it is easy to reach the area by vaporetto.

Given its size, it is difficult to find a seat, but I recommend you to be patient, as the reward is worth it. Its menu is composed of a good variety of tapas, pickled fish and pasta. All with such a pronounced homemade seal that it will seem that you are eating in any house in the city.

Practical information

• Address: 1107th Calle Larga dei Bari.
• Hours: 10:30 am to 11:30 pm.
• Main Dish: In addition to its great desserts, its lasagna and the fabulous gnoquis with salmon and shrimp sauce stand out.

Although they are not restaurants in the strict sense, no visitor should leave without trying their famous and delicious ice creams, including those traveling in winter to Venice. Among the many in the city, be sure to include in your gastronomic tour of Venice, Suso Gelatoteca, near the Rialto Bridge.

If you have returned tired from an excursion to Murano, for example, there is no better way to recover than to enter this place. Its artisan ice creams are considered among the best in the city and the prices are very reasonable.

Suso offers a wide variety of flavors and has named its creations Opera or Bellini. Keep in mind that the portions are very generous, especially in the ice creams served with cream and wafer.

Practical information

• Address: Via della Bissa, 5453.
• Opening hours: open from 11 am to 7:30 pm.
• Main dish: the walnut and fig ice creams and the nutella ice cream are great.

And if you are in Venice for several days and one day you feel like a change of food, here is another suggestion for an American food menu with a reservation at the Hard Rock Cafe in Venice, where you can enjoy various types of burgers and sandwiches from the legendary bar with live music.