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Discover the best cicchetti in Venice! An insider’s guide to the top spots to enjoy cicchetti and a spritz in Venice, Italy.
Best Cicchetti In Venice Contents:
A History of Cicchetti
Venice is historically a city of fishermen and merchants who worked hard, but had little time for a meal and would drink frequently.
Wine would be steadily drunk at bacaros (small wine bars) throughout the day and night – even now it’s common to see locals standing outside a bacaro at 10 or 11am with a glass of wine in hand.
Given this drinking culture, bar owners started to serve small bites to eat to help soak up all the wine, and so – cicchetti was born!
Usually served on a slice of baguette, common toppings include plenty of seafood, salami, cheese and the most famous of all the Venetian cicchetti – baccala, or creamed cod. It’s my favourite; absolutely delicious!
Cicchetti Nowadays
Cicchetti is still a huge part of Venetian culture, and my favourite way to do Venice is to graze my way around the city, snacking and drinking as the locals do. It’s cheap too – most cicchetti will range between €1.50 – €3.50 a piece, and it really suits a solo jaunt if you’re a bit nervous about dining alone.
San Polo is one of the very best areas for the small wine bars serving cicchetti. Bear in mind a lot of these places will be standing only, with people drinking and eating propped at the bar along the wall or spilling out into the street – even in the winter.
Best Cicchetti in Venice: My Favourite Spots
All’Arco
San Polo, 436, 30125
Since my first visit to All’Arco, this charming cicchetti bar has been featured on Stanley Tucci’s Searching For Italy. With it, the queue was a lot bigger than my first visit, but at least it shows I know what I’m talking about!
It’s still one of my favourite spots, and if you’re lucky enough to grab one of the few tables outside it’s the perfect stop for an hour or two with a steady flow of spritz and creamed cod baccala cicchetti.
All’Arco is open from 10am to mid afternoon only, and not at all on Wednesdays. Arrive in the morning to beat the lunchtime rush and up your chances to grab one of the tables on the street around it.
Ca’ d’Oro Alla Vedova
Ramo Ca’ d’Oro, 3912, 30121
Without question the best polpette (meatballs) in Venice. Ridiculously good, plenty of people come to Alla Vedova to purely eat the polpette cicchetti with a glass of something outside the restaurant, buying extra to take away.
Standing only for cicchetti – and totally worth it; I will never visit Venice without going to Alla Vedova!
Enoteca Al Volto
C. Cavalli, 4081, 30124
Enoteca Al Volto is one of the oldest wine bars in Venice, tucked down a street just off of the Grand Canal. It’s a fantastic stop for cicchetti with both inside and outside tables, popular with locals and tourists alike.
A wide range of different cicchetti is on offer to try from just €1, but you can also grab a more substantial meal here.
Al Merca
Campo Bella Vienna, 213, 30125
Al Merca is by far one of my musts in Venice: the square outside gets absolutely packed with locals enjoying a spritz come aperitivo time, no matter if it’s high summer or everyone is wrapped in coats to fight the winter chill.
The cicchetti offering at Al Merca is much smaller than that at the likes of Osteria dai Zemei and All’Arco but nowhere feels more Venetian.
It was here that I learnt that in Venice most spritz is made with white wine and not Prosecco (it’s cheaper!) – but you can try both versions at Al Merca.
Osteria dai Zemei
San Polo 1045, b, 30125
Osteria dai Zemei is a fantastic all day and evening spot where you can easily spend hours on end drinking spritz and making your way through their wide range of delicious cicchetti.
This is a spot with a lot of tables outside this otherwise small bacaro, which is a rarity, and a much needed reprieve – ideal for spending hours over many spritzes.
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