Eating out can be a daunting, if not dissatisfying, experience in Venice, where the skewed ratio of locals to tourists (see our previous post) means that less conscientious restaurateurs don’t seem too concerned about providing the customers with a quality meal, since the next tourist coach will be along promptly and repeat business is not a concern. This might be why other regions in Italy tend to look down on Venice a little, food-wise.

Never fear, however! There are still a few gems to be found, as we’ll detail shortly. First, to avoid being fleeced, observe the following guidelines, which will hopefully steer you out of the more unscrupulous establishments:

1)   If the place has a ‘tourist menu’, forget about it.
2)   Someone outside the place attempting to drag custom in from the street? Avoid like the plague.
3)   Does the menu feature ‘classy’ pictures of the available dishes? You know what to do.
4)   Watch the wine prices. 5-6€ for half a litre is about right. If they’re serving bottles at over 15€ a pop, the proprietors have their eyes on your wallet.
5)   Look out for locals – a place bustling with Italians is likely to be the real deal.

Keep those in mind and you won’t go far wrong. In our next installment, we’ll give you the run down on the restaurants that turned our opinion of Venetian food right around…