Venice is enthusiastic about drinking, even more so than other Italian cities, and accordingly there are many places to tuck in, elbow-to-elbow with locals, glass in hand. The classic Venetian bacaro is a kind of informal, standing-room-only, no-frills tavern serving inexpensive drinks like an ombra (a short pour of wine) and cold beer. Many open around 10:00am (unlike elsewhere in Italy, day drinking in Venice is popular) and some even quite a bit earlier. Here, bar snacks, called cicchetti, are taken very seriously, and can range from fried meatballs to whipped cod served on a slice of bread to a marinated sardine draped balanced on a rectangle of polenta. Venetians enjoy cicchetti as small bites to accompany a drink, but for visitors untethered by local tradition, they can certainly become a meal if ordered in abundance.
Beyond the bacaro, Venice also has its share of pan-Italian-style enoteche (wine bars) where guests can sit and linger over a glass or a bottle accompanied by cicchetti, as well as more elaborate dishes prepared to order. Plenty of enoteche serve the classic northern Italian aperitif, the Spritz, made with the local blood-red bitter liqueur called Select, Padova’s orange-tinted Aperol, or Milan’s crimson Campari. Others, especially enoteche of the natural wine persuasion, are decidedly and loudly against it, taking the perspective that the Spritz is just a low quality trend. As with any Italian drinking endeavor, it pays to hang back and observe how the locals are doing it before braving the counter to place your order. Here are seven places for testing out your Venetian drinking prowess.
Sepa
Tucked away on a backstreet near the Rialto Bridge, does a little bit of everything. The counter displays a couple dozen cicchetti, including numerous preparations of locally caught cuttlefish (“sepa” in Venetian dialect). There are a few dishes made to order from the kitchen like frittura mista (mixed fried seafood), as well as a rotating daily risotto menu with a mix of perennial and seasonal favorites. There are a few craft beers on the list, mainly from northeastern Italy, but the focus is on wine from the Veneto, which is poured from taps in the back room. This custom of vino sfuso, tap wine, is popular in Venice and still accounts for the way many locals get their daily dose. At Sepa, it’s served in volumes ranging from a glass to a magnum. Whatever you land on, you’ll be eating and drinking perched on a ledge in the alley or inside, enjoying your order alongside middle class Venetians and tourists with a good sense of direction or outstanding GPS to find their way in Venice’s labyrinth. Calle de la Bissa, 5482
Al Mercà
This small Rialto market-adjacent watering hole opens at 10am and caters to half -local, half-tourist trade. It serves spritzes and a few tap beers and offers an extensive wine-by-the glass-list (all are also available by the bottle) focused on northeastern Italy and including some natural wine options. The tiny counter displays small sandwiches and fried balls (meat, eggplant, and tuna). Al Mercà is the quintessential place to kick off a morning or afternoon of day drinking in the commercial heart of Venice and you’ll be sipping wine or Spritzes alongside Rialto market vendors and shoppers, trash collectors, shop owners, and bureaucrats from the nearby courthouse. Campo Bella Vienna 213
El Refolo
On Via Garibaldi, the long, wide avenue that slices through the Castello sestiere (district), and within striking distance of the Biennale exhibitions, is the dream local hole-in-the-wall serving wine, cocktails, beer, and snacks. From afar it might resemble the many other standard bars along Via Garibaldi, but upon closer inspection there are plates of cheeses and cured meats from small producers across Italy (or sandwiches made with the same) at the small stone counter and pair them with red bitter liqueur-based aperitifs, wines by the glass, or beer, then pull up a stool at one of the tables on the sidewalk. Via Garibaldi Castello 1580
Vino Vero
Since 2014, this bar, which means “real” or genuine wine, has championed natural wines from Italy, Slovenia, Spain, and France. It was among the first to embrace natural wine production from their wine bar on Fondamenta della Misericordia in Cannaregio. Place your order at the counter in the wine bar’s tiny space, choosing cicchetti like baccalà mantecato or mortadella with pistachio pesto and wines by the glass or bottle, which line the walls, floor to ceiling. Opt for an Italian pet-nat by the glass or a bottle of Zibibbo from Pantelleria. The bar has some canal-side seating that becomes competitive real estate in the warmer months. During the opening days of this year’s Venice Biennale, Vino Vero will be hosting a pop-up at the Navy Officer’s Club at the Arsenal.
La Sete
Just off the canal of Fondamenta della Misericordia in Cannaregio and a mere 150 meters from Vino Vero, La Sete has a handful of tables on the sidewalk and a few more in the cozy exposed-brick interior accented with old beamed ceilings and modern wooden furniture for savoring natural wines predominantly from Italy. The atmosphere is far less pretentious than the other natural wine spots in town, which makes it all the more enjoyable to hang out with a bottle and a few cicchetti of prosciutto cotto and salted anchovies. Among the satisfying bites on offer at La Sete are tramezzini, finger sandwiches on white bread filled with speck (think smoked ham salad in the best way).
Adriatico Mar
Hidden beside a bridge where Corso Crosera meets the San Pantalon canal in Dorsoduro, Adriatico states its thesis with its name, with ingredients and wine coming primarily from the regions in northeastern Italy touched by the Adriatic Sea. There are wines from the Carso and Colli Orientali in Friuli and Breganze in the Veneto and a particular emphasis on the various Malvasia grape varieties that were traded in the Adriatic since the Middle Ages. These accompany seafood like pesce crudo from the lagoon and whipped salt cod with polenta, as well as sandwiches and cheese and salumi boards made from ingredients culled from the nearby mainland. A bonus for seafaring visitors: there’s a tiny dock on the canal side where you can tie up your boat and enjoy the delights of the Adriatic by the water.
