This historic family establishment was once known as good 50 years ago!!!However we had a dining experience that will never be repeated. In the middle of moving and felt like Italian. Didn't want Olive garden as we were looking for authentic. The noodles tasted like aluminum, smelled odd, the sauce was tomato juice no flavor and no spices!!! The antipasti salad was wilted and light for $15 spent $40 for a meal that could've come out of a can of SpaghettiOs would've been better for a buck from the dollar store. seriously this place, how in the world are people ever going there more than once? Save your money and eat at home. This cannot be on repeat for anyone. How is that possible? Omg, the place was 60 degrees inside the temp outside was -16! Dirty tables, dirty silverware. My fork which was wrapped in a napkin, was covered in dried old cheese. The whole place is an invitation to Salmonella or hepatitis. read more

This cozy family-owned authentic Italian cafe has been our family favorite for years! It was started by Italian immigrants Mama & Papa Vitale decades ago in a larger, fancy venue, which my grandparents and parents enjoyed regularly. Later, the Vitale children continued the family tradition and opened this smaller, casual venue, which my family now enjoys. Even my mom, who doesn't like "red sauce," loves their marinara spaghetti sauce. It has a good flavor. Some reviews say it tastes like bottled sauce, but it is very different! No, it is not chunky, if that's what they were seeking. It is definitely homemade, fresh and they even grow their own herbs. It is our favorite spaghetti sauce. We also love their fettuccini Alfredo. Sometimes we all order it. The bread is served with butter or dipped in olive oil and parmesan. We had a party catered years ago with cheese tortellini with Alfredo sauce, which was delicious! My family often opts to go here for birthday dinners. The slices of cake are huge (enough for 2) and delicious. We also enjoy their spumoni and creme brûlée. I honestly haven't tried any other entrees, because I always crave the fettuccine or spaghetti, but everyone in my party has always been pleased with their meals. They also offer catering and sell larger quantities to-go. I encourage you to support this local family business during the pandemic! We'll be there soon for our next birthday dinner! read more

Sad to see all the negative reviews. We really liked it. I thought it would be more like the restaurant which I never made it to, but it was still good. We walked in and weren't sure where to sit. One of the servers who turned out to be ours told us how to order etc. we perused the menu for awhile and then decided on the following: Large Antipasti salad. It was delicious. The dressing was wonderful and the ingredients were plentiful. Pepperoni, salami, cheese, olives green and black, peppers, red onions etc. it tasted great. Baskets of bread. Chicken fingers and fries Italian Sausage and Peppers sandwich with a little side of spaghetti. Kind of an odd combo, but whatever.. The best part was the spamoni pie. Damn that was delicious. That cookie crust was so good and I haven't had spamoni is years. Service was great all around and our server was delightful. Lots of sweet regulars that frequent the place. read more

Little Venetian - Italian Near Me - Little Canada, Minnesota

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I'm glad I read Patti K's review on the Little Venetian, because a group and friends and I made plans to eat here on Friday night. The place closes at 8:00 PM, so we had to eat fast! The spicy Dago was the best, and I have a bib to prove it. Make sure you order the sloppy version if you want to get the full experience. I also ordered the Minestrone soup, which was loaded with veggies. I enjoyed the meal, but the reason for not giving an extra star was due to our server. I think Flo from Mel's Diner was her role model. Now, she could have been crabby because she had to serve a large group just before closing, but something tells me not. She did loosen up a bit during the course of our meal, but we all noticed her disposition. Good food though, and make sure you check into Yelp so you can take advantage of the Yelp $3.00 off coupon! (Although the lead server came out to see my phone to check out the deal, and she said she didn't know about it and she does all the marketing!) read more

Little Venetian - Lots of cheese with that meal! - Italian Near Me - Little Canada, Minnesota

Placed a to go order of Lasagna tonight. Even after the 20+ mintue drive home on icey roads, it was still the best lasagna I've had in a long time. I will definitely be back. read more

Everything was wonderful at Little Venetian. Great for a group of friends. My friend had Fried Chicken, which I tried and also loved. It was very delicious. Bonus that their service is so wonderful, they are so quick and polite. Little Venetian I'm telling all my friends to check you out. read more

Little Venetian was great! This family owned restaurant has a wonderful casual feel with delicious food. Stop by and tell Doris Sara sent you. Doris is a consummate professional. So kind and friendly. Thanks Doris for letting me cool off in the restaurant on a hot night. read more

Been here twice. I would like to give 3.5 stars. Based on the good food and value. However the deserts are worth the trip and boost the rating. Specials are about 15 to 20 and the samples looked very large. And the servings are large. I had from the menu baked penni with sausage. You get two 5 inch long sausage. I will ask for more based on the amount of pasta. Maybe two more. Sausage is very good and the pasta good. Sauce is good. We had the cannoli and spumoni pie. The pie was very very good. read more

On our first visit we weren't sure what to expect. It's in the middle of a strip mall on Rice Street. The prominent business that is seen from Rice Street is the Scandinavian Bakery. If you are looking for a fancy Italian restaurant for a nice date night you might want to keep looking, but if you are looking for a place with a large selection of good food and a very friendly and helpful staff then read on... It's a fairly small open two room place with square table covered in white paper. It's clean and adequately comfortable, but can be a bit loud when it's busy. Your order is taken at the counter below the large lighted menu. At the counter they have a display of a few menu items on covered plates so you could see how they look. We ordered the tender and delicious flat iron steak that came with a side of spaghetti - very good! Also ordering the 2 pasta combo with the baked penne and meat lasagna. Followed up with the spumoni pie for dessert. The servings were more than enough taking some home. The ladies working there were very helpful in suggesting some of the most popular items and making us comfortable. It appears a good portion of the business is take out orders. We aren't in the area often, but would come back again. I was too hungry to stop and take food and decor photos this time. read more

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This little restaurant doesn't look like much from the outside, but there were quite a few pleasant surprises. The restaurant is a cozy little place, and the owner and employees greet you warmly. We ordered broiled haddock and the portobello mushroom pasta special. The portions were generous, and the tomato sauce had a little kick of pepper. Our server offered us plastic bibs, which I gratefully took. This is not classy in the conventional sense, but only a fool who loves to do laundry would refuse. My haddock was ever so slightly overdone, but the vegetables with which it was served were fine. I was also pleasantly surprised by the salad bar. It was small, but had many tasty pasta salad options in addition to the regular greens. The one downside to our visit was that they close pretty early, so we had to rush through our meal. Most of that strip mall seems to shut down by 8. Overall, it was solidly good food for a good price. Little Venetian is better than many other small independent suburban Italian restaurants that I have visited in recent years, and I would probably go here before I go to a certain overpriced national chain Italian restaurant. read more

The food speaks for itself. I had the chicken Parm. It was excellent. The owner and his daughter were very friendly. And for a surprise she brought a bowl of spumoni for us. I'll definitely be back read more

I've been here twice and it's kind of a mixed bag. A few things were excellent. The meatballs and sauce. Antipasto, although it's iceberg lettuce, which I love, it was very plentiful and the Italian dressing was like I remembered in NY. A lot of restaurants can't get past oil and vinegar. The small salad bar is a hit or miss. The first time I enjoyed it and they offered a tomato salad. The second time I looked and they offered a pasta salad, but the lettuce was brown. I passed on that. Not sure where the bread comes from but it doesn't seem like it was at the original Venetian Inn, that I miss terribly. I always seek out fried chicken and I loved my 1/4 dark meat. Great flavor and nice and crispy. What isn't a thrill is any side of spaghetti. They use a thinner sauce that doesn't gave the flavor of the baked red sauce specials. So if you have extra sauce throw it on your spaghetti, It'll need it. I had samples of fettuccine Alfredo and chicken Marsala. Both pretty good. I wasn't a fan of the senior meat lasagne. Yes I wanted a smaller piece to sample, but there was not a good meat to cheese ratio between the noodles. Wed. night is veal and chicken parmesan. I had veal and it was average, but it had the good sauce and lots of mozzerella cheese. A nice minestrone. Good Italian comfort food complete with bibs. read more

I got take out from Little Venetian, Italian Sausage and spaghetti. It was very good. Definitely recommend.

Little Venetian never disappoints. Now in this corona virus situation, they've adapted to curbside pickup. All of the food is just as good as when we could eat it there but now they pop it in the back of our SUV and we're on our way home. Love it! read more

Not my favorite place. We came for fish fry. It was tiny fish chunks deep fried and they would keep bringing you more. Can't say it was bad but the atmosphere is like a cafeteria, food was adequate but uninspired. My friends and rob probably would rate it higher because they like deep fried and they call cod fish. read more

The Little Venetian is a quaint little Italian restaurant nestled in a strip mall north of hwy 36 on Rice Street. I'm usually a bit weary of places located at a strip mall, but surprisingly to me, it has very good food! The style is similar to Culvers where you order first, take a number, then find a seat, and they'll bring out the piping hot food out to you. Even before the food comes out they offer you a bib. And if you accept one, they'll even tie it on for you! How's that for quality service? A buddy had ordered the calamari and chicken parm and the missus and I had both ordered the half and half with a meatball/sausage which is plate with two different choices of pastas. I rolled the spaghetti and fettuccini alfredo, and my better half the baked penne and spaghetti. Of course when I sit down, I saw the full menu and I noticed a specials board where they had listed linguine with clam sauce which is my favorite pasta dish ever! Ah well...perhaps next time! The calamari was easily one of the better ones I've had in the cities. And the large portions of pastas were all cooked perfectly and the sauce tasted good. Everyone said their meals were excellent and we left the place very full and not so sassy. For great homemade Italian food with friendly staff, I'd recommend trying out this place. I think normally I'd give a place like this 4 stars, but the whole "tying the bib on for you" deal really tickled my fancy so thus the perfect 5. read more

If I could give a resturaunt 0 stars, it would go to this place. AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE. I only review places when they are really good, or really bad and this place is horrible. They are very over priced, we paid $40 for Chicken Parm, a Chicken Walnut dinner garlic bread and dessert. My wife had the chicken parm which was edible, with spaghetti and prego sauce on top. The Chicken parm had cheddar cheese, and canned mushrooms. I had "Walnut Chicken" the cashier said that it was a walnut crusted chicken with a "sweet sauce" on top. Well it was bread crumbs, with some walnuts and the "sweet sauce" was just store bought maple syrup. Also I was told that the chicken came with corn on the cob, but was served a medley of vegetables from the frozen food section. I complained and got the corn on the cob but it was horrible and not edible. I mean it is pretty hard to screw up corn on the cob in season in MN. The dessert was very large, we got chocolate cake. It tasted like a hostess cupcake. I enjoy going out to eat but this is ridiculous. read more

This place is tucked within a shoddy little strip market. It's hard to miss it if you drive by it though. There's a nice garden and some patio tables out in front of the restaurant. The food is good and the service is great. The price is also pretty good. I've had the Italian sausage, chicken alfredo, and the lasagna. They give you some good sized portions and they have plenty of sides too. One day during lunch, they brought everyone out some delicious tomato salad. The owner said she was trying out a new recipe. This place is awesome read more

First time here and I thought it was very good. A very nice lady server said that since it was not busy she would wait on us at the table - normally you order at the counter and they bring your meal to your table. She was so friendly, helpful and bubbly. Off to a great start! Started with some very hot Minestrone soup and an Antipasto salad. Both were excellent. I ordered Parmesan Chicken and my companion had Alfredo. We were both very happy with the portions and, the flavor. We split a bowl of Spumoni to finish up. Beer and wines are available, but I did notice that they have other items behind the counter. May just be for use in their party room (seating 200). Didn't ask. Overall a very nice and fairly reasonable meal. Came to about $45. We enjoyed it and will come back. They have a large to-go and party tray menu. Will probably take advantage of that also. read more

I've had the pleasure of dining here at least four times and have never been disappointed. The food is home style and very much like the Italian food I grew up with in western Pennsylvania. That part of the state is where Italian immigrants moved to work in the coal mines. Yes, I am the son of a coal miner. Anyway, great food at a great price. Very nice and casual wait staff. The wine list is limited but who cares after a couple of large glasses of Chianti. I'll go back again. I think it would be a blast to have a part there. I know they do have a party room. read more

The lady at the counter was very helpful and did everything from taking the order to bringing the food. My 2 friends and I were there in the afternoon, in between major meal times. My friends got the ravioli, the chicken noodle soup and I got the chicken and rice soup. The ravioli and chicken noodle were good. I found that my chicken and rice soup tasted very salty. I had 1/3 of it and then handed it over to my friend to finish. In the next 8 hours beginning almost exactly an hour after this meal.. both my friend and I were throwing up and having explosive episodes in the bathroom. Both of us had to call out from work the next day. The friend who ate the ravioli was fine. I'm not sure what was in the chicken and rice but.. never again... totally not worth it. I don't want to speculate on the salty chicken and rice.. but I'll let you make your own assumptions. I'll never recommend anyone to come here. Food was off.. the restaurant has almost always been empty. I often eat at the restaurants around this place. This was the day I'd thought I'd try something new. Beware when there are bad reviews, lots of group ons for a business to keep making money. read more

My husband and I eat here quite often. The food is excellent. Particularly the ribs. Best ever. We are so glad that we can order during Covid 19. They bring your order out to your car. My hair dresser says their meat balls are the best you will ever eat. Mary S read more

Don't waste your time. We got the so called special. It was like a bowl of soup with the thick spaghetti floating in a bowl full of sauce. Not special at all and I can do better by opening a jar and using angel hair. There was some crappy, cold spongy white bread wrapped in a napkin. It was flavorless. Do yourself a favor and go to Hoggsbreath on Mondays for the burger basket special. read more

I, and my dad awhile back ate at this restaurant. We ate their about a 2 years ago or so. My dad ordered spaghetti with meatballs. He cut into his meatball it was the color of a strawberry. Meatballs even I his daughter have had never been that color. So my dad told the waitress )," this meatball it looks raw". She the waitress said," all day people have been complaining the meatballs were raw. But I promise they are not. The meatballs are not raw we have added a new ingredient to the meatballs food coloring". DOES SHE THINK WE ARE THAT DUM, WHO ADDS FOOD COLORING TO MEATBALLS? So we asked for the manager she said,"not in". I TOLD MYSELF I NEVER WANT TO GO BACK UNLESS SOMEONE FORCED ME TO GO THEIR. I heard from sources the waitress got canned from this restaurant. read more

Oh, how I wish I could give this place that is oh, so local to me more stars than just one. I cannot. The lady who took our order at the counter was disgruntled and pretty much told us she hates her life, manager, boss, etc. The place seems poorly managed, understaffed...etc. Low morale is picked up on by customers!! The food...well... The fried mushrooms were obviously frozen, from a box. The garlic toast featured uncooked bread at the bottom with stringy melted cheese on top. The lasagna was "acceptable" (per my dining companion), I had the Sloppy Dago...it was pretty much an english muffin with a ton of sauce on it, a frozen, store bought meatball, and some flavorless cheese. The star goes out to the one server who was very sweet to our kiddo and actually seemed like a person who wasn't completly surly about her job. We (my bf, kiddo and I) are not complainers or picky by any means....my other reviews prove this, but this place is pretty bad. Take your money, drive down the road to Mama's Pizza (seriously) and see how a real divey Italian place should be run. read more

Wow, delightful ! :) In spite of initially being a little bit surprised by it, my dining companion having told me it was a kind of fancy place. It apparently used to be, and is much more casual now. That said, I think it has some charm which they could easily/inexpensively make yet more charming. (Its outdoor section is already adorable, cute lights and decorative planters, inside, if tablecloths were added, with the cute paper on top of those, no TV, at least at night, perhaps). I'd come here due to a Groupon I'd purchased, but would definitely go back. The high points: several seeming family members of what seems to still be a long-time family restaurant very graciously and warmly welcomed us there. I love that. I'm from an Italian neighborhood in Chicago where one of my regular stops was like this place, a bunch of regulars were also here, and family photos all around. Little chandeliers. Awesome. My meal was awesome, as was my dessert. In spite of being in a nondescript strip mall, -only- this place is CUTE on the outside, which I love. :) We were told to walk up to order, though later I noticed other patrons may have been waited on at their table. We'd arrived just before 5:00. Maybe patrons after 5:00 order at their table? I can't stop dreaming, really, about how delicious my meal was. Do NOT hesitate to enjoy the balsamic steak. SO delicious! Mashed potatoes made with chicken stock (yum), sautéed mushrooms, sauteed spinach accompanied the meal. And a salad from their smaller salad bar, from which I managed to concoct an awesome salad with iceberg with bits of carrots, I think red pepper, a few slices of either pepperoni or salami, delicious croutons, pepperoncini, pickled beet slice, smidge of Cole slaw. I used a smidge of b.c. dressing, some Italian, and some oil, vinegar and pares an our waitress had brought for our bread. Though I invited myself to a cannoli, which was delicious though I don't think they make them here though? read more

I really don't know how anyone can give a bad review here... this use to be my parents favorite restaurant and any time I've dined there it was amazingly delicious... Italian at it's best... they take care of all the small details to perfection. read more

We were craving some Italian food and were glad to see there was finally something that delivered to us. The experience was a bit of a mixed bag. We ordered a decent selection of things. The chicken parmigiana was fine, but a little heavy handed on the salt. The side spaghetti was probably the best thing we had. The ravioli was decent but was a pretty small portion and didnt seem to differ much from something store bought. The fettuccini alfredo was definitely the most disappointing thing of the evening. I liked the thick consistency of the sauce but it was completely bland. The garlic toast was rock hard. I like the variety on the menu, but of all the things we ordered, there was nothing that particularly stood out. I love that they drown everything in sauce, because that's how I do it at home, but their standard red sauce wasn't the best ever; it had a weird spice to it. The food wasn't horrible, but if we ordered again, it would probably be because of the limited offerings for delivery by us. Not because they offer excellent food at a reasonable price. I would rather have the Olive Garden... read more

This is my all time favorite restaurant. The food tastes incredible and the family oriented service is unbeatable. I love knowing who is in the back making my food. I don't live close, so every time I'm near St. Paul I always try and stop over to Little Canada for the best food in the Twin Cities! read more

The Little Venetian, the modern iteration of Mama Vitale's Venetian Inn serves excellent, old-fashioned Italian food at reasonable prices. Very friendly service with few frills-- but excellent, consistent food. read more

We had a funeral luncheon at Little Venetian. Everything went quicker than planned in the morning and our group arrived 45 minutes early. The staff went above and beyond and our buffet was ready within 20 minutes. The food was delicious, the wait staff friendly, fast and efficient and the price was reasonable for the size of our group. My family and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Little Venetian to others for large groups, or for family dinners. Thank you for making a difficult day a little less stressful for our family. read more

To be fair we have no idea what the food tastes like. We'd never been there, made the drive from Woodbury. The salad bar really isn't. I think there was maybe a dozen items on it, including dressings. The first staff member we met was cold and unwelcoming. A second staff member appeared, said she was the cashier, was much friendlier, and asked if we had questions. Of course,.we did, we expected to be seated and have an order taken. That was admittedly our mistake, this place has some odd thing where you order at the counter, sit, and wait for it to be brought out to you. Not what we were looking for, but the vibe of the place, combined with the lackluster sort-of salad bar, was enough to keep us from ever coming back sometime when WE ARE looking for that type of place. read more

Ignore any negative reviews. This place ABSOLUTELY should be in your restaurant rotatatrotation. In fact, I am surprised at the several less than stellar reviews for Little Venetian. Truly, you will not be disappointed here. Disclosure: Think of Little Venetian as more Rachel Ray than Mario Batali. Great cooking without aspirations to be gourmet. Now, my wife is a true foodie. It takes a lot to impress her. And, this place rocks! We are just as (ok, more) likely to enjoy a white table cloth restaurant than a local place like this. And we both eat out a lot with travel and entertaining for business (domestically and internationally). We know bad from good,, good from better, and appreciate the best. We have a preference for REALLY GOOD food, especially Itallian. We keep coming back to Little Venetian! For the flavor. And, for the value. Little Venetian is sorta like what Damico's used to aspire to be (that is, before Damicos cost-cut themselves away from being a really solid Italian-on-a-budget quick-serve but not fast-food option... but that's a different review). If you appreciate old school Italian, the sauces and flavors here will not disappoint. Sure, the pasta won't have the nuanced texture or flavor of some higher end restaurants. And veggies may be canned or frozen just like your great-grandma's recipe called for. But this place is sooooooo much better than any chain's offerings, let alone most mid- to upper-tier places Little Venetian is an unexpectedly GREAT Italian option with side benefits of being budget sensitive (ok, really inexpensive) and quick-service but not fast-food. TIP: Go here for ribs before most local rib restaurants!!! Shockingly great! read more