Cheap Eats in Venice

Eating out in Venice is expensive. A two course meal accompanied by wine can easily cost between 40 and 50 euros per person in a pretty restaurant. Not to mention a coffee in Piazza San Marco, which can easily cost 12 euros. During my last trip to the city I explored every corner and tried to find as many cheap eats in Venice as possible. You can travel to Venice on a budget, and you can enjoy some of the traditional dishes born here, even if you can’t afford to spend 50 euros for dinner.

Venice is a wonderful city, which you can either love or hate. During my first trip here on a cold weekend in February, I fell in love with it. I loved its narrow alleyways, the tiny bridges crossing small canals, the gondoliers shouting to me “Hey ragazza, let me take you on a ride in my gondola in exchange for a kiss”. Back then I was a student. I stayed in a hostel in Campo Santa Margherita, in the student quarters, and I ate cold cuts and cheese from the supermarket around the corner. Years later, I returned to Venice in June, and I hated the experience. The hoards of tourists that made it hard to move anywhere in the city, the heat, the constant noise, the tourist traps which seemed to be at every corner, and the ridiculously expensive prices ruined Venice for me.

Still, I returned, this time in mid-November. And I remembered why I first fell in love with Venice. The tourists were gone. There were still enough people to make Venice buzz, but in a nice way. The bars were crowded at night with youngsters laughing and singing. The atmosphere in Venice was so different than when I first met her. The only thing that didn’t change was how expensive the city was. This is why I decided to write this article about how to find cheap eats in Venice whilst still experiencing the flavours of the city. I want you to fall in love with Venice, just like I did! Just promise me you won’t visit in summer, during the high season.

Cheap Eats in Venice

I walked a lot of kilometers every day to find all these cheap eats in Venice. I came up with seven options that helped me save money while still enjoying dining out in a restaurant, having a drink in a bar, or tasting the traditional cuisine of the city.

Go for Cicchetti

Cicchetti are the Venetian answer to tapas. Even if they are not related, they kind of started off in the same way, as a snack to accompany your drink: beer in Spain and wine in Veneto. The legend says that the cicchetti were offered alongside a glass of wine by the merchants in San Marco Square, and to this day, if you ask for an “ombra” in Venice, you will receive a small glass of wine. “Ombra” means shadow, because the merchants were often sat in the shadow of the Bell Tower in San Marco Square.

You will find the best chicchetti in the traditional bars around Venice called “Bàcari”, which are very small with barrels as tables, and always has a joyful crowd outside, drinking wine and eating cicchetti.

But what are cicchetti, you may ask? They are small bites, from slices of bread topped with different things such as prosciutto, cured fish or the local Asiago cheese, half eggs topped with crunchy ham, fried nibbles, or even small servings of traditional Venetian dishes such as sarde in saor or baccala alla mantecato.

Cicchetti are very affordable, with prices between 1-2 euros per piece. There are plenty of places where you will find deals such as an Aperol spritz together with 2 cicchetti for 5 euros, or 5 cicchetti for 10 euros. 

Find a Menu del Giorno

Most of the restaurants in Venice will have a daily menu which usually includes a pasta starter, a fish or meat main, and a dessert. The menu of the day ranges from 13 euros at the restaurants around the train station, up to 20-24 euros at the restaurants closer to San Marco and Rialto.

One thing you should know about the menu del giorno is that even if it’s a cheap eat in Venice, the portions are much smaller than the dishes which are ordered on their own. I tried the daily menu at the Osteria Al Ponte La Patatina and the food was delicious, but the portions quite small. As a comparison, the daily menu included the classic baccala alla mantecato, and it was priced at 20 euros. In the a la carte menu, the same dish was priced at 24 euros.

Even with the smaller portions, the menu del giorno is still a great way to have an affordable dinner in Venice, whilst trying the traditional dishes of city. Most of the menus will be either fish or meat based, including dishes such as the salt cod, cuttlefish spaghetti, liver with onions or risotto made with peas and pancetta. 

Keep an eye out for the coperto, a tax that most restaurants will charge for the service. This can be anything between 2 to 5 euros, depending on the restaurant. One thing that I’ve learned in Venice is that even if you don’t eat the bread they put on the table, you will still be charged for it as part of the coperto. It’s not like in Rome, where the restaurants will charge you only if you eat the bread. So, make sure you eat all that bread, because you’ll be paying for it anyway. 

A Slice of Pizza to Go

Everywhere in Italy you can buy pizza al taglio, and Venice is no exception. There are plenty of small places where you can buy a slice of pizza and pay either per piece or per 100 grams. I found a great place with delicious pizza and affordable prices, close to Rialto.

At Farini you can pick your slice of pizza from a generous selection, for a fixed price. The slices are generous and cost less than 5 euros. This café also has tables and chairs, so you can eat your slice of pizza right there, and enjoy it on the street.

Pasta to Go

Another great place for quick eats is Bepe Bigoi, a small place that sells fresh pasta with a selection of different sauces. The prices here start at 6 euros for the classic pasta with tomato sauce, and go up to 9 euros for seafood or cuttle fish ink pasta.

There is always a queue at Bepe Bigoi and no wonder, the pasta is delicious. They use fresh bigoli, which is the typical pasta from Venice. It is a thick and long pasta traditionally made from buckwheat flour.

Another great place for pasta, as recommended by a friend of mine who loved it, is Dal Moro’s. I didn’t make it there this time, but I will when I return to Venice. Here prices start at 5.5 euros for a tube of aglio, olio and pepperoncino pasta (garlic, olive oil and chili flakes), and go up to 7.5 euros for a tube of Veneziana pasta which includes squid ink, squid meat and garlic. They also have a large selection of other toppings for 50 cents, if you fancy extra parmigiano or garlic.

Take a Stroll Around the Market

Rialto Market is the most famous food market in Venice. It is open Tuesday to Saturday between 7:30am and 12pm, and is popular with sellers bringing in locally sourced seasonal fruits and vegetables, condiments, as well as fresh fish and seafood. Usually the products you buy in this market are very fresh and of high quality; even the chefs from some of the best restaurants in Venice come to shop here in the morning.

If you are staying at a hotel where you have your own cooking facilities, it is worth coming to the market in the morning, and buying fresh ingredients to cook later for dinner.

I found some fresh vegetables and fish stalls in the Jewish neighbourhood, away from the touristic crowds, in Cannaregio.

Supermarkets Are Your Friend

When I first visited Venice years ago, there weren’t many supermarkets around the city. These days however, there are plenty. There is even one inside an old theatre, which is worth visiting just for the architecture alone, not just to buy some delicious Italian hams and cheeses.

I visited Venice on a budget and couldn’t afford to eat out for every meal. I loved going to the supermarket to buy ingredients to make a nice lunch composed of thin slices of Alto Adige speck, Asiago or Pecorino cheese, freshly baked focaccia, a couple of pizzette, and a handful of cherry tomatoes, for less than a tenner.

There Are Plenty of Bakeries in Venice

I loved that there were so many bakeries in Venice, selling the most delicious baked products, not only bread but also plenty of different cakes and pastries. You can always go to a bakery for a quick snack to go, or some traditional local biscuits such as the frittelle, the pan del doge, or the baicoli biscuits.

One of the bakeries I keep returning to every time I’m in Venice is Pasticceria Rosa Salva. Located in Campo San Pietro e Paolo, this bakery is one of the oldest in Venice, opened in 1876. They have a lovely selection of pastries for breakfast, or lunch, no-one judges you. They also sell coffee as well as the best pistachio gelato in the city. Best of all? It’s extremely affordable and makes a great cheap eat in Venice!

For more articles about Venice check out my recommendations below:

• What to eat in Venice – Traditional Venetian food
• Discover the hidden gems in Venice
• Street food in Venice
• The best gelato in Venice
• Where to eat in Venice

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