The civic and ceremonial sestiere around Piazza San Marco, lined with Caffe Florian (since 1720), Quadri (1 star), Harry's Bar (since 1931) and the city's grand-room dining tradition.
Bistrot de Venise near San Marco is the 1993 room that cooks from manuscripts of the Anonimo Veneziano and Renaissance Venetian cookbooks, the only.
Signature: Anonimo Veneziano 14th-century recipes, Renaissance dishes, Saor of historic origin
Order: The historic-tasting carte, the Renaissance saor of sole, the medieval risi e bisi.
Tip: Two carte: contemporary and historic. The historic side is the reason to book; their Renaissance tasting needs 48 hours' notice.
Harry's Bar on Calle Vallaresso is the 1931 Cipriani family room that invented the carpaccio and the Bellini, the canonical historic-bar lunchroom in San.
Signature: Carpaccio, Risotto alla primavera, Calf's liver Venetian-style
Order: Bellini at the ground-floor bar, beef carpaccio upstairs, risotto alla primavera.
Tip: Drinking at the bar costs a fraction of upstairs dining; the Bellini is the reason to stop. Book upstairs through OpenTable a fortnight ahead.
Bacaro Jazz has run on Salizada del Fontego dei Tedeschi a hundred metres from the Rialto Bridge since 1997, with recorded and occasional live jazz.
Tip: The bar runs straight through service so you can drop in for a cicchetto at 18:00 or a cocktail at 01:00. Cocktails sit around twelve euros and the room fills past midnight on weekends.
Harry's Bar opened on Calle Vallaresso in 1931 under Giuseppe Cipriani and remains the city's most photographed cocktail room, the birthplace of the Bellini.
Tip: Stand at the bar for the Bellini at half the table price; the dress code tightens after 19:00 and bookings are for the dining room, not the cocktail counter.
Bar Longhi is the social hub of The Gritti Palace on Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, with mirrored walls of Murano crystal, eighteenth century paintings.
Tip: Cocktails are nineteen euros, bar bites from twenty two; the terrace seats a handful so book ahead for sunset. Afternoon tea is the calmer slot if the bar feels too formal.
Caffè Florian has run under the Procuratie Nuove of Piazza San Marco since 1720, the oldest continuously operating cafe in Italy, with the resident Caffè.
Tip: The orchestra surcharge is six euros per drink when the band plays; sit at an outside table for the music, the inside salon is cheaper but mute. Closed days in low winter for the orchestra.
Gran Caffè Quadri has anchored the Procuratie Vecchie side of Piazza San Marco since 1775, founded by the Corfiote merchant Giorgio Quadri, with the resident.
Tip: The terrace tables sit directly across from the basilica; the orchestra plays through aperitivo and dinner. A spritz with the music surcharge runs around twenty euros total.