The fastest, cheapest, frequently best food on Venice's streets.
Vendors, food trucks and stalls: the cheapest, fastest, frequently best food in Venice.
Cantina Do Mori in Venice's San Polo is the city's oldest bacaro, open since 1462 near Rialto, with a counter of francobolli sandwiches and ombre poured all day.
Try: Cicchetti and ombre at the counter
Tip: Walk-in only. Order ombre (small glass of wine) plus a francobolli sandwich. Counter pours stop hard at 19:30; arrive by 18:30 for the best cicchetti choice.
Osteria All'Arco near Rialto Pescheria in Venice's San Polo is the Francesco and Matteo Pinto father-and-son bacaro, the local benchmark for cicchetti from market fish.
Try: Cicchetti, polpette and sarde in saor
Tip: Walk-in only. Closes after lunch; arrive 11:30 to 13:00 for the fish-market cicchetti at their best. Sarde in saor and baccala mantecato are obligatory.
Cantina Do Spade in Venice's San Polo near Rialto is one of the city's oldest bacari, mentioned in Casanova's memoirs and now run with a counter of fried lagoon cicchetti.
Try: Cicchetti, fried lagoon fish
Tip: Combines a stand-up bacaro counter with a small dining room. Try the fried moeche when in season (spring) and the polpette al sugo year-round.
Bacareto Da Lele in Venice's Santa Croce near Piazzale Roma is the canal-side bacaro the students fill on the Tolentini church steps, ombre and panini under EUR 2.
Try: Mini panini and ombre
Tip: Walk-up window only; sit on the church steps with your panino and ombra. Most ombre are EUR 0.80 to EUR 1.50, panini EUR 1 to EUR 2. Cash only.
Al Merca in Venice's San Polo is the tiny walk-up window in Campo Bella Vienna near Rialto where locals stop for the canonical ombra and a mini crostino.
Try: Spritz, ombre, panini and crostini
Tip: No interior space; everyone stands on the campo with their drink. Open early evening for aperitivo, closes hard at 20:00. Spritz EUR 3.50, crostini EUR 1.50.
Osteria al Squero in Venice's Dorsoduro is the canal-side bacaro across from the Squero di San Trovaso gondola yard, where you stand outside with spritz and cicchetti.
Try: Cicchetti by the canal
Tip: Sit on the canal-side bench across the rio from the gondola workshop. Spritz EUR 3.50, cicchetti EUR 2.50. No tables, no bookings.
Al Timon in Venice's Cannaregio on Fondamenta degli Ormesini is the canal-side bacaro with a wooden barge for outdoor seating, the locals' canonical aperitivo strip stop.
Try: Cicchetti, grilled meat skewers
Tip: The moored barge in the canal is the seat to claim. Grilled meat skewers and the bar's cured-meat boards run later than the cicchetti window at most bacari.
La Cantina on Strada Nuova in Venice's Cannaregio is Francesco Zorzetto's small bar with thirty wines by the glass and freshly shucked oysters from the lagoon.
Try: Fresh oysters, cicchetti, ombre
Tip: Stand at the counter; Francesco builds your cicchetti to order. The oyster boards and the smoked-fish crostini are the moves.
Enoteca Mascareta in Venice's Castello is the late-running enoteca run by Mauro Lorenzon, an organic and northeast Italian wine list with cicchetti and cold plates.
Try: Wine flights and cicchetti, late hours
Tip: Walk-in. The bar opens at 19:00 and runs to 2am, one of the few late-night wine rooms in Venice. Daily-changing chalkboard list.
Osteria Bancogiro in San Polo runs a stand-up bacaro on the Grand Canal at the foot of Rialto, the rare canal-front cicchetti counter without tourist menus.
Try: Crostini and ombre on the Grand Canal
Tip: Stand outside on the Grand Canal with a glass of Soave and the crostini board. Upstairs needs a booking, the bacaro takes walk-ins.
Dal Moro's Fresh Pasta To Go near Campo Santa Maria Formosa is the takeaway pasta counter where you pick fresh pasta and a sauce, served hot in a box for EUR 7 to 10.
Try: Takeaway fresh pasta in a box
Tip: Lines run round the corner from 12:00; arrive at 11:00 or after 14:30. Spaghetti carbonara and squid ink with vongole are the moves.
Vecio Fritolin in Venice's Santa Croce since the 19th century is the original fritolin (fried-fish kiosk), selling cartoccio of mixed lagoon fish in a paper cone.
Try: Cartoccio of fried lagoon fish
Tip: The bacaro window does cartoccio takeaway for EUR 12. Inside dining is a separate sit-down room. Walk-in works for the fritolin.
Peak food season in Venice is year-round.
Local dining hours: lunch around 12:30, dinner from 19:30.
service is typically included; small extra is welcome but not expected.
Ask the next local you meet what they would order. Venice rewards trust.