Finally found the name of this restaurant 4 years after I went! I was taken here by a Venetian friend whose mom recommended the place. I had a vegetarian lasagna and my GOD it was the best lasagna I've ever had, even all these years later. If I ever make it to Venice again, I will definitely be going back! (Also: the full name on Google maps is Ca' d'Oro Alla Vedova) read more

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We have been in Italy for two weeks now and this was our first stop in Venice for the evening. The house wine was like grape juice and very sugary / frothy, they forgot our appetizer and brought it out last, and overall the service was not ideal. I would not recommend unfortunately :( Sad start to Venice with subpar food, wine & service. read more

Major disappointment. The place was incredibly hot and mosquitoes flying everywhere. The most talked about fried meatballs were not good at all. The spaghetti with prawns was eh. I don't recall where I got this recommendation from. Timeout? Wherever it was, it was clear deception. The mixed seafood was nothing but sardines, squid and other pieces of fish in olive oil, cilantro and lemon. It was just ok. Didn't have an extensive menu and the food was just blah. read more

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Check out Osteria alla Vedova if you're in Venice and looking for delicious Italian food and cicchetti. The food is served in a quaint restaurant tucked away on an alley just off the Grand Canal. The food is excellent and will not disappoint! On my visit to Osteria alla Vedova, I had the polenta and meatballs. This dish was so tasty and the meatballs in particular were tender and juicy. The restaurant also serves authentic Venetian cicchetti at a bar in the lobby, making it a great place to stop if you're looking for the cicchetti experience! The restaurant setting is cozy; the small tables and wooden chairs are reminiscent of years gone by. The service is prompt but not overly welcoming. The restaurant is authentic and definitely off the beaten tourist track. Go to Osteria alla Vedova for excellent food in an authentic Venetian setting! The old world aesthetic and tasty food make for a memorable experience! read more

Osteria alla Vedova - Meatballs and Polenta - Venetian Near Me - Venezia, VE

Nice quaint restaurant off the beaten path. Went for a late lunch and it was still packed. We had crab pasta and shrimp pasta and both were delicious. We tried the meatballs after everyone's rave reviews. Flavor was good, but be prepared the meat is rare. Husband liked them. read more

Convenient location near very busy tourist area. Food is okay but a little pricy. Service is not good, and some staff were impatient and rude (by American standards, keep in mind). It is a small space so tables are very close together. But it is off the main street, so it is more quiet if you need a break from the crowded tourist area. If you can speak some Italian, you will be treated more kindly. Cash and debit card only. No credit cards accepted, fyi read more

We were lucky to get a table without booking in mid March. Good food and good service.

Excellent food! Tables are very small, but totally worth it. We had amazing pasta and closed with tiramisu - amazing!

Have you ever seen anyone in a restaurant fanning herself while eating? Yea, that was me. Area we sat in was super duper hot and the ceiling fan did not help at all. Place was pretty accommodating despite our lack of reservation on a busy Sunday night. Reasonably priced considering everyone says Venice is an expensive destination. And its location is pretty easy to get to. We got their: Meatballs - this is supposed to be a house specialty. Not impressed and im totally confused on what kind of meat is in it. Spaghetti alla busara- pasta with hard shelled prawns tomatoes and herbs. Has a little spicy kick but nothing special. Mixed seafood - sardines, tiny shrimps and octopus with potatoes herbs dressed in olive oil. Again, nothing to rave about. Overall, we were quite disappointed. read more

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October 2013: Tony and I had lunch in this crowded, packed trattoria. Tables are set very close together in a lively and colorful atmosphere. We were able to get a table immediately during prime time lunch. We shared a seafood antipasti, which had octopus, salmon, a white fish, calamari, etc. in a lemon, oil sauce. It was very good but a little pricey for the portion. I had the Bucatini all'Amatriciana: a thick hollow spaghetti with pancetta, red pepper flakes, onions, a crushed tomato sauce, and topped with pecorino cheese. This is a very simple pasta but full of flavor. It's one of my favorite dishes to order when I'm in Italy. Tony had the linguini with clams, also excellent. Our lunch along with beer, wine, and the cover charge, it was 41.50 euros. Pricey but very good. read more

Osteria alla Vedova - seafood antipasti - Venetian Near Me - Venezia, VE

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They are known for their meatballs, but if you're an American and used to yours being a bit more moist and juicy you would be disappointed. But you won't be disappointed by the flavor of them, nor by the humble and well-portioned dishes from the kitchen, which come out really quickly. Don't munch too many meatballs while you're waiting, though, and remember to book in advance! read more

I ordered squid ink pasta. It was too salty for my liking. And the noodles were hard, as if they weren't cooked enough. For the shrimp pasta dish, you have to dip your fingers into the sauce to tear apart the "shrimp" yourself, which actually looked like crawfish. And you have to pay for water. I think we just end up paying for the fancy schmancy glass bottle it comes in - not like we get to keep it either. They never volunteered the fact that you can ask for tap water for free. My biggest complaint: many open tables available in the restaurant and total strangers being forced by the waiters to sit RIGHT NEXT TO US at what practically seemed like the same table we were sitting at. The waiter made me remove my bag from the chair next to me to seat these strangers. *AWKWARRRRD* read more

Although hard to find, this place is definitely worth the journey! It is off the main tourist road, hidden in a small alley, a true hole in the wall. Walking in, I realized that we were the only tourists in there, a clear sign that we were at a good restaurant. The place has a very cosy atmosphere. I found out this place in a timeout article about things to do in Venice and without a doubt this place offers probably one of the best meatballs venice has to offer. We knew that this place had to die for meatballs but we were thinking its your typical ground beef meatballs found in spaghetti, but we were definitely proven wrong (in a good way though). The meatballs were fried in this batter, but no worries, there was absolutely no drip of grease. Inside in the meatballs is soft, minced meat with chopped vegetables. This meatball is truly unique and a must try at a very affordable price of 1,50 euros per ball. Even the entrees were affordable at around 10-15 euros per dish. I got the spaghetti alla busara, and my other friend got the lasagna, which were both on point. I don't think you can go wrong with what you order here, even the house white wine was good. So yes, please check this place out when you're in Venice!! read more

Osteria alla Vedova - Spaghetti with prawns - Venetian Near Me - Venezia, VE

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One of the best meals I had when in Venice. We asked our hotel concierge to help setup a reservation for us. We got one on the last day we were in Venice. The place is pretty neat with a nice home feeling. Servers were helpful and spoke English which was a plus for my wife and I. We started with the fried meatballs which were delicious. They come in singles, so you can order as much or as little as you want. We went for two so each of us could try it. We then ordered three other dishes. Squid Ink Pasta Squid ink calamari Some sort of liver and onions dish Squid ink pasta was delicious! This was the first taste of real Italian pasta and it blows everyone out of the water in the US. There's no comparison. The pasta is a perfect al dente without any grainyness. Flavors were bold, but the pasta was cooked just perfectly. Makes me wish I had a plate of it in front of me right now. The squid ink squid was kind of the same. The sauce is similar, but with calamari instead. Also good, but I enjoyed the pasta more. Liver and onions were also really tasty. It is rich though so it can get a bit heavy. Overall great dinner out and it wasn't too expensive in terms of eating out in Venice. I would totally come back here to eat if I was in Venice again. read more

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Absolutely incredible meatballs! And you can get them to eat outside, at the bar, or to-go. They have a very soft center of meat, and a hard crusted fried outer shell. These are unlike any other meatballs I've tried, and I don't usually do fried foods, but these were just so delicious. Our entire party of 6 loved them, but they are very different than other meatballs, so if you are unsure then maybe try a single one first at the bar before deciding to order more. We came with a large party hoping to get a table, which we knew was unlikely. But we were very happy to see you can buy their meatballs at the bar for 1.50 each and take them away to eat outside! We did this and kept returning to buy more rounds! The staff, like most of our other experiences in Venice, were quite unfriendly toward us. But we were able to get our meatballs and get out of there to enjoy them on the street! Try not to seem American in this place, it's mostly locals! read more

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My friend and I came to this place during the late afternoon and ordered some of the items on display in the counter at the front. That turned out to be a choice - of all the places I visited during the all-too-brief time I spent in Venice, the meatballs served at Trattoria Ca D'Oro were hands down the best I tried! The quality of the other dishes we ordered on that visit were all good, but nothing else truly stood out like those meatballs. When next I'm in Venice, I will make a point of coming back here to get another helping of those amazing meatballs! read more

Having done our research, boyfriend and I enjoyed cicchetti in other bacaros around Venice with great experiences -- delicious food and friendly service. However, coming to Ca D'oro alla Vedova we were rudely served (if you can even call it that) by an elderly gentleman at the bar. Since he indicated he didn't speak much English upon asking -- despite most Venetians having great English skills, we didn't want to assume -- I was still able to order with basic Italian. But the guy rudely stopped us from ordering more and then when I asked for vini rosso (red wine) he intentionally gave us vini bianchi (white wine) instead. And then immediately handed us a bill with no explanation that was far too expensive for what we got (two small cicchetti and 2 ombres of wine) of 10 euro. For reference - an ombre is just a small glass of wine (not a full glass). At first I thought the awful service was just because I looked Asian but they treated other English speaking tourists with equal disdain and rudeness. The polpette (meatballs) were tasty but not worth the price or the poor treatment. Not worth patronizing a place that doesn't value money from foreign visitors. There are plenty of other great places in Venice (like Cantina do Spade or Osteria Bancogiro) that offer great cicchetti without the attitude. read more

This review is based on the fried meatballs only. Unlike anything I've ever tasted before. Rare-ish meat inside a fried batter. Delicious. If you want to be like a local, squeeze your way to the counter, order some fried meatballs and a glass of the $1 house red and eat while standing. It gets very tight, so don't plan on lounging around. Get in, enjoy, get out. read more

Four years ago, I would have given them a glowing 5 star review. The food was really good as was the service. I really wanted to eat here again in spite of the words of caution from our b&b host who said he heard they'd changed. After last night's experience, I would give them ZERO stars if that were possible on Yelp. Same owners. Very different attitude. Do the world a favor and spare us your nasty dry meatballs, snarky comments and overall rude and dismissive behavior. We got our meatballs and I was unsure if I could just use my hands to eat them. So, I took the lead of the Italian guy sitting next to me and cut my meatball with a knife and fork. The male owner walked by at that very moment and scolded me. He literally said " not with a knife and fork, you use your hands!" In my shock, my mouth dropped and I said a very loud "WOOOOW!" I'm still stunned that the guys next to me never got yelled at but I did. Seriously, what an a**hole! Then they brought us bread. We figured if we had to pay for that dry looking excuse for bread, we would use olive oil. Yes it's unheard of while in Italy but the bread was dry dry dry. This was a matter of survival. Our waiter literally shook his head and said "that's not for service at the table" and walked away smugly. We were both fuming and wondering whether we should just walk out. I never dine and ditch but it very much crossed my mind. We canceled our entrees, drank our wine and found a different place with lovely food, tasty wine and nice welcoming service. Take that Vedova! Spare yourself the pain and DO NOT EVER FREQUENT VEDOVA. THEY DO NOT DESERVE YOUR MONEY! I will be suggesting that our host remove them from his list of recommended places pronto! read more

We loved this small place which is a bit hidden at the end of an alley. It is easy to find though because it is at the end of the alley straight from the Ca D'Oro boatstop across the Strada Nuova. It can be very crowded so if you can make reservations. But don't let the crowd standing outside put you off. They are just hanging out, sipping wines and snacking outside. Wrestle yourself inside and maybe there is a spot for you. The crusty on the outside and soft in the middle meatballs are great and I really enjoyed the sepia dishes: pasta with sepia(ink) and sepia with polenta, made of corn meal. The house wine was nice and rather cheap :-) read more

Yum yum yum, if I ever return to Venice this place will be my first port of call. Hidden away down a side street in the Cannaregio, the opposite street to the one taking you down to the Ca' D'oro so not really that difficult to find if you have a tourist map, this is one of the bacari recommended in Russell Norman's excellent book Polpo, and it's also recommended as a restaurant in the most recent Rough Guide to Italy. We went in the evening for a meal. Our guidebook recommended booking but we should up without a reservation and were seated straight away. We had to share a table with another couple, but so did everyone else in the restaurant. Straight away the owner said "I know what you want, two glasses of white wine and two of our meatballs." Why, yes, that's EXACTLY what we wanted! And boy are those meatballs gooood. In fact, they alone should earn this place 5 stars. Deepfried, salty and mouthwatering, I deeply regret not ordering more (or not returning in our short time in Venice). My boyfriend and I agreed that they were definitely our favourite individual item of food in our whole Italian trip. Mains wise I opted for spaghetti alle vongole, which was good, and I've now forgotten what my boyfriend had. Needless to say we were both satisified. The price was reasonable for Venice, and the service was quick to begin with but slowed a little. But, it was busy and it was never bad. If you're ever in Venice is worth searching this place out, if only for the meatballs. If you don't fancy a full meal just pop by for an ombra of wine and one of those delicious, delicious meatballs. read more

It takes some getting used to, but things are more flexible here in some ways, and less so in other ways here. First of all- no plastic- only cash here. They won't take reservations from hotels for prime time, but perhaps if you can try it yourself, it may work. The hours say it opens at 7, but they have bar and snacks at 6:30, so you may be able to get a table then, good if you like eating early. The meatballs were good. A mixed seafood appetizer was good, but perhaps a bit too salty. I had cuttlefish and polenta with ink- the dish looked like yin and yang-tasty. My wife had good pasta. The waiters are friendly, mostly very buff young men. They will serve a pitcher of tap water on request- a definite plus. It is not touristy. Worth a try. read more

Very good food and accommodating given we brought 4 to a reservation for 2. None of us liked the meatballs. read more

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One of the most delicious meal of my holiday. The white polenta with shrimps was divine. One of the reasons I am returning to Venice shortly. read more

Osteria alla Vedova - Venetian Near Me - Venezia, VE

The meatballs are indeed to fall down on your knees for - a bit smaller than a billiard ball, crunchy on the outside, gloriously porcine inside, served at warm room temperature. The squid ink pasta is a marvel as well - briny, funky, awesome mouthfeel. And the traditional Venetian sweet-sour sardines, also served room temperature, were a thing of beauty, with pignoli nuts and raisins. Appreciated the liver & polenta without quite loving it, but a red wine would have helped. (I was still working on the beautiful 20E bottle of Friuli the very cool waiter recommended). Definitely be there the *second* they roll up the gates for dinner if you want a table before 9:30P in high season. One of the best (and mercifully least pretentious) meals I had in Italy this summer. read more

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Cozy Italian restaurant on a side street in a residential neighborhood. It was packed so make a reservation if you want to have table service. Good place to stop for a meatball, their specialty, and a drink or sit down meal. Typical Italian fare made well with smaller portion size so expect to get an appetizer as well. Not inexpensive it very lively place as the night goes on. read more

Honestly, at this point, I don't even care what else they serve. Their antipasti meatball haunts my dreams. This meatball brought me to tears. I ate it every day I was in Venice. read more

This is one of the best experiences we had in all of Italy. My girlfriend and I were looking for an apertivo and thought we'd stop in as we had heard they had good meatballs. When we came in it wasn't busy as it was only about 6 o'clock. We stood at the bar and ordered the house red, the female owner already had a different cabernet in her hand, which she promised was better, so we had some of that (and it was pretty good). As we sipped on our wine we decided it was time for some food. I looked over at their case and noticed I couldn't eat hardly any of it due to a shellfish allergy. Luckily to combat my weak Italian, my girlfriend made a little card that said I was allergic to seafood. When the lady read it, she got a huge kick out of it (as did her husband). She went over and piled me a nice high pile of meatballs. A couple seconds later (in response to my allergy card), her husband wrote "I am Donald Trump" on a napkin and handed it to me. We all had a nice laugh about it, and joked about the Apocalypse that's coming in November of 2016. I ended up ordering a few more meatballs and my girlfriend was hungry and wasn't sure on what she wanted. The very nice owner went and prepared her a plate of oceanic goodness and had the cook go in back and cook it up nice and fresh. I continued to snack on meatballs as the owner's husband "interviewed" me on Donald Trump using a fashionable pepper shaker microphone. We had a lot of laughs with the owners, and they never let our glasses run dry. It was great time, and I would love to come back again if I ever have the chance. read more

We dined here 15 years ago and enjoyed it so much that we reserved a table for a special occasion which we were celebrating on our return to this wonderful city. The menu was uninspiring (polenta with everything?), the food was mediocre, the service was okay, we obviously got the English speaking waiter and we were seated on a poky table in the foreign quarter of the restaurant. As we walked out in less than 30 minutes after we arrived, we both pondered the irony of it being directly behind McDonalds and how sad it was that they felt compelled to compete with their neighbor. It wasn't expensive but it was wholly disappointing. read more

Love this place it's my favorite in Venice! Their sorbet is amazing but the gelato is superb too! I've tried the limoncello, and the melon sorbet, mango sorbet, and a berry one all delicious! We've tried a few other gelato places and keep coming back to this one. Give them a try you won't regret it! Yum! read more

Delicious food, friendly owners. The meatballs are delicious! You just try them. But they aren't meatballs like you expect- they are a deep fried breaded ball with meat. They look like a croquette. Pasta dishes and seafood were all fresh and tasty. Menu was fairly limited and they do focus on seafood pasta dishes. Bread was the only thing that wasn't good. The house wine was great. Will definitely return. read more

A fun place for dinner that we found on GuidePal that turned out to be quite a bit of a surprise. We didn't have any reservations for dinner and were resigned to having dinner at a tourist trap, but Trattoria Ca D'Oro turned out to be quite pretty delicious. We stopped by on a Monday night, but interestingly, it was closed on a Thursday night. read more

My husband and I randomly met a North American gentleman who runs food tours here in Venice. He highly recommended that we go and try the fried meatballs at this place. While the meatball was pretty tasty, and I don't doubt his authoritativeness on Venetian cuisine, I encourage everyone who hasn't tried kibbe to seek it out ASAP! It's an oval-shaped Arabic snack made of seasoned ground lamb and cracked wheat. This meatball was kind of like an inferior version of kibbe. Meh. But if you can't find kibbe, this place has alright fried meatballs. Cheap house wine too! read more

We were looking forward to dining here as a family and very excited as it was near the water. HOWEVER, as soon as we approached the host, we were requesting a table near the water and verbalized we were okay with waiting. A young guy spoke to the host and basically told him to ignore us and said we could either sit now or not at all (despite having a reservation). We walked away as the ambiance was already negative and we didn't even sit! read more

Very good, traditional Venetian food at decent prices for a super touristy city. I'd certainly come back!

I wasn't expecting to completely fall in love with the meatballs here but I did! I walked in wanting just one or two meatballs and walked out with seven!! They are incredibly delicious, and even though it's not that helpful, I can't pinpoint exactly why they're so good. It's a mystery, you just have to come by to find out! read more

Eat meat balls! Take your wine choose some cold starters and eat them outside. Don't choose any hot meal. They r not good at all