Bona Ventura

Walking routes · Venice

Rialto market and bacaro crawl (food grazing walk)

The Venetian way to eat: stand-up bacari around the Rialto market, a cicchetto and an ombra at each, then pastry and fried fish in the San Polo lanes.

Best time: Start 10:00 on a Tuesday-Saturday (market days) and graze through lunch

The route, stop by stop

  1. 1
    Rialto Market

    Fish market (Pescaria) and produce stalls; 20 min.

    The fish and produce market that has fed Venice for centuries; at the Pescaria residents buy lagoon fish while the bacari around it (All'Arco, Do Mori, Al Merca) serve its catch…

  2. 2
    Bar All'Arco

    Fish cicchetti from today's market; 20 min.

    Classic stand-up bacaro by the Rialto market, known for fish-based cicchetti such as crostini with creamed cod (baccala mantecato) and good wines.

  3. 3
    Cantina Do Mori

    Historic counter under copper pots; one ombra and a tramezzino; 15 min.

    Claimed to date from 1462, the classic Rialto bacaro: copper pots overhead, a long counter of cicchetti and tramezzini, and wine by the glass (ombra).

  4. 4
    Al Merca

    Mini panino and a glass on the campo with market workers; 15 min.

    A doorway-sized bar at the Rialto market that sells mini panini and wine by the glass to a standing crowd of market workers, gondoliers and Venetians on the campo.

  5. 5
    Cantina Do Spade

    Seafood cicchetti or sit down if you need a break; 20 min.

    Wood-panelled bacaro near the Rialto fish market (dating to 1415 by its own account) with seafood cicchetti and a small sit-down menu.

  6. 6
    Ostaria dai Zemei

    Creative cicchetti from the twins; 15 min.

    Tiny bacaro run by twins (zemei in Venetian) with creative cicchetti combinations and regional wines, a few steps from the Rialto crowds but mostly locals.

  7. 7
    Antico Forno

    A slice of wood-oven pizza; 10 min.

    Pizza by the slice from a wood oven, with both thick and thin bases, a few minutes from Rialto.

  8. 8
    Pasticceria Rizzardini

    Coffee and Venetian biscuits at the 1742 pastry shop; 10 min.

    A tiny historic pastry shop (since 1742, per Wanderlog) where locals stand for a coffee and traditional Venetian biscuits; Spotted by Locals lists it for its traditional sweets.

  9. 9
    Acqua e Mais

    Finish with a paper cone of fried seafood; 15 min.

    Venetian street food in paper cones: fried seafood (scartosso de pesse), sarde in saor and grilled polenta, a few minutes from the Rialto market.

Walking directions

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