We arrive hungry for our Venice food tour in the late afternoon during low-season. Rain slicks the city and there are only a few other tourists around. It’s a big change from peak season when we last visited Venice. My husband and I agree we’re happy to forgo summer’s sunny weather to enjoy Venice without having to shuffle through hordes of other people.
Venice is often described as a living museum, but it’s also one of Italy’s most rewarding food cities for those who know where to look. Don’t believe me? I’m guessing you haven’t done an Eating Europe food tour in Venice.
Away from the tourist menus clustered around St Mark’s Square, Venetians still eat the way they always have, standing at the bar, sipping wine, and snacking on small plates known as cicchetti. We couldn’t wait to experience Venice’s culinary scene.
It didn’t take long for our guide to arrive at the meeting point. We liked Giolele (Joe) Pellegrini, a Venetian local who lives less than a minute’s walk away, the moment we met him and knew we were in for a great few hours.
Like many Venetians, his connection to the city runs deep and he is passionate about where he lives. As we set off through narrow alleyways and over tiny bridges, he began showing us Venice as residents experience it, not as visitors like us usually see it.
Our first stop is Rizzo, a bakery famed for its pizzetta. Unlike the round pizzas most visitors expect, these are long, rectangular slabs cut into slices and sold by weight. Everything is made in-house. Venice banned traditional wood-fired pizza ovens years ago for environmental reasons so bakeries now use gas instead . It’s a reminder that even in a city defined by tradition, adapting is part of daily life.
Next, we squeeze into a small restaurant called Why And Not, where plates of goodies arrive alongside chilled glasses of prosecco. Venice’s cuisine is famously seafood-driven, shaped by centuries of lagoon fishing and trade, but we can’t eat it. Fortunately, we were asked if we had any food allergies or things our guide needed to be aware of when we booked and flagged our need to avoid seafood.
If you have allergies or don’t like seafood, make sure you do the same as otherwise you could either be eating a lot of it or going hungry. Making last minute substitutions is sometimes possible but most of the restaurants you’ll visit are small, authentic spots and the owners usually prepare special dishes for each Eating Europe tour group.
While our need to avoid seafood meant we missed some iconic Venetian dishes like salt cod (baccalà mantecato) and sardines, the thoughtful alternatives waiting for us at each stop were equally delicious. We loved the creamy polenta topped with seasonal vegetables that we enjoyed at Why And Not.
Between stops we cross one of Venice’s many bridges without handrails, designed centuries ago so goods could be dragged across by cart. These simple, functional bridges pre-date modern safety standards and are a striking reminder that Venice was built for commerce long before it became popular with tourists.
Our next venue, Cantina, is a classic Venetian “bàcaro”, a small wine bar where locals stop for a quick glass and a bite. Bàcari are the backbone of everyday social life in Venice, particularly in the early evening. Here we each get risotto con l’onda and a glass of elegant Italian Chardonnay (or a soft drink for the non-drinker in our group).
The name of the risotto in front of us translates to “with the wave”, referring to the looser, flowing consistency Venetians prize in a risotto. This style of risotto reflects local taste preferences and traditions, just as much a marker of authenticity as the ingredients themselves. We discover a lot of these local nuances on our tour.
Giolele explains that around 6pm is when aperitivo typically begins in Venice. He and his friends meet at somewhere like Cantina and then move on between six or seven bacari, sometimes drinking at one, sometimes just snacking at another, turning the ritual into a culinary crawl accompanied by a few drinks rather than a big night out.
However, it’s at the end of our time at this stop that my husband and I and our two fellow food lovers realise there is a problem. We’re all starting to get so full that we aren’t sure if we’ll have room for dessert! Giolele says there is no need to worry and, after we’ve finished our last sip of wine, he leads us away from the table and into Venice’s historic Jewish Ghetto which was established in 1516 and is recognised as the world’s first ghetto.
Set on a small island, the area was sealed at night, with the gates closed at dusk and reopened at dawn. There are no churches here, but Giolele points out the ordinary-looking buildings concealing former synagogues, identifiable by their beautiful upper-floor stained glass windows. Without Giolele’s insight, we would have walked straight through this area without realising the significance of what we were seeing.
After exploring the Jewish Ghetto, we’re ready for a final savoury stop of the tour at Ristorante Antica Mola. Giolele explains that the most traditional and most common cicchetti (the Venetian version of Spanish tapas) is some sort of topping on bread. My husband and I sample one toast topped with prosciutto and another with creamy strattiatella, while the seafood eaters rave about their sardines and smoked cod. We are equally thrilled with our tasty bites.
As our tour’s grand finale, there is tiramisu for dessert, which of course we now have room for thanks to Giolele’s well timed cultural exploration in the ghetto. I’m not usually a fan of this rich, creamy dessert but our tiramisu on the tour is so good that my husband and I come close to walking 45 minutes from our hotel to Pasticceria Nobile so we can both have it again the next day. The only thing that stops us is a lack of time before our tour of St Marks and the Doge’s Palace.
As we walk back to Hotel Violino D’Oro, Venice feels less like a postcard and more like a place where people still live, gather, and eat exactly as they have for generations. For a few wonderful hours, Giolele made us feel like Venetian locals instead of tourists. Excellent food tours like this Eating Europe one aren’t just about eating well, they’re about understanding a place through its stories, habits, and the local rhythms that shape it.
Disclosure: The writer joined this food tour as a guest of Eating Europe. If you found this write up helpful and would like to book a tour in Venice or anywhere else with Eating Europe, using this link means we’ll earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Want to know more about visiting Italy? Read our tips for visiting Rome and discover great things to do in Rome including some of Rome’s hidden sights, or read detailed write-ups about where to find the best view of Rome, how to tour Rome on a Vespa or in a vintage Fiat 500, and what it’s like visiting the Sistine Chapel after hours and touring the Vatican. We’ve also done three Rome food tours: a Trastevere food tour, pasta making in Rome and a classic Rome food tour. In Venice, we’ve explored Venice’s food scene, toured St Mark’s and the Doge’s Palace, and stayed near St Marks Square at the gorgeous Hotel Violino D’Oro. Pitigliano and Sorano are two of our favourite towns in Tuscany and we also love spa-ing with the locals at Terme di Saturnia Resort or Fonteverde Tuscan Resort. We have also reviewed the Four Seasons Hotel Milan and know 10 of the best things to do in Assisi.
