Walked into this restaurant on a whim, and what an awesome experience! Talked to a manager who indicated that this restaurant has been in the same family for over 40 years... and it shows. Anything we tried was spectacular! Nothing short if spectacular. From the fish of the Day to mozzarella to beef Ragusa and noodles with Chilli spice. And tiramasu was probably one of the best we ever had. Service was spectacular, ambiance is upscale Italian but the prices are what you would expect from an average Italian restaurant. If you are ever in Venice, don't miss this place! read more

See all

We were heading towards another destination and it was raining. This restaurant became our "Plan B". It was warm & inviting -- nicely decorated in a more modern style. Soft jazz music was playing in the background with candle lit tables. Our party of three were welcomed in & sat immediately. The menu choices were limited to 2 printed pages in a plastic sleeve, but all the typical Italian food groups were represented (pasta, pizza, salads, fish). There was a very extensive wine menu--mostly bottles. We chose wine by the glass instead, which was fine. Our traveling companion ordered the Greek salad, hubby the spaghetti with beef ragu & I ordered shrimp and grilled prawns (see picture comments). Salad was nicely presented, but hubby said his pasta dish was bland. Bread and bread sticks basket was delivered well after we had started eating our entrees. No additional plates to dip your olive oil and balsamic vinegar were offered, which is disappointing. After other amazing meals in Venice, this was just okay. read more

Taverna San Lio - Shrimp and grilled scampi. Well prepared, but I'm not a fan of wrestling my meal out of shells. Need to remember to ask ahead of time!! - Venetian Near Me - Venezia, AG

Fabulous place for food and drink. Owner was very gracious and the menu is superb! Highly recommend! The care taken for the ambiance of the restaurant was excellent! read more

Taverna San Lio - Restaurant sign - Venetian Near Me - Venezia, AG

We needed a place for a drink to cool down from the humid Italian summer, and this place was awesome. It's a little out of the way of the busiest areas of Venice, but there's plenty of foot traffic to watch. The service was wonderful and the restroom very cute and clean. The drinks were costly but we don't regret it. read more

Really good meal! I loved the tagliatelle bolognese. My kids want to go again! It's a pasta and pizza place for a reason. Pizza with the Buffalo mozzarella is definitely a must eat. Wow the octopus appetizer was awesome. Service is great too. The waiter super friendly and funny. read more

We happened upon this gem on our first day in Venice while noticing many that many other restaurants were not yet open for dinner. So glad we did. Yummy Aperol spritz along with a lesson on the difference between Aperol, Select and Campari with taste tests. Then, a beautiful seafood pasta and pizza. Yum! read more

Food was good in general. We had risotto with go fish, wife had spaghetti Nero, son had pizza. Wife like the spaghetti a little better than the place we had a day before. Risotto was good, but I would try something else next time. We must like food with a lot of flavor as we found many restaurants in Venice has subtle flavors in their dishes. Unless we just keep getting into the wrong places. I would keep trying. read more

This restaurant served the best pizza ever with the most delicious buffalo cheese! Our server was great, and I loved everything about the food read more

Service was wonderful and the Pizza Chiarchiara was so delicious! The presentation of the caprese salad was outstanding too.

This is an excellent restaurant. Every dish my family and I ordered was delicious and supremely done. I had the gnocchi and it was the best I've had to date. The wine was delicious and the waitress helped us pick a local wine that went with what we ordered. The interior is classy with outdoor seating. Definitely would go here again, and it's priced appropriately for how well made the food is read more

Taverna San Lio - Gnocchi, Aperol Spritz - Venetian Near Me - Venezia, AG

My friend and I literally stumbled across Taverna San Lio one evening when we were simply walking along so we decided to stop in for dinner. The overall experience was so good that we made a point of returning later that week, and our 2nd experience was even better! On our first visit, my friend and I ordered pene in a curry sauce and the spaghetti pomodoro. We shared both entrées, and they were good enough to convince us to come back for another visit to try some other dishes. For our 2nd visit, we shared the ravioli in a vegetarian sauce, and sausage with peppers - the food was simply out of this world! Couple their exceptional food with friendly, efficient service, a great location, and very relaxing ambiance and I have no doubt we'll be returning again soon :-) Another plus is the fact that a number of the staffers speak very good English; at least all of their English was worlds better than my Italian ;-) read more

We went here based on Yelp reviews and were not disappointed. We were looking for late night drinks and appetizers so we went with the Prosciutto Focaccia and Spaghetti Agli Olio. Both were some of the best we've had in Venice. Again, Venice seems to be a tough place to find good food so choose wisely. This was a good one! We especially enjoy sitting outside and this restaurant offers dining along the street which was nice later in the evening. read more

This was our first meal in Venice and we absolutely loved it. Would recommend to anyone because of the great atmosphere, kind and not pushy waiter, and incredible food. We were looking for a more plain meal and my mom and I had 2 different spaghetti dishes for a very reasonable price! Love this place! read more

We really enjoyed our meal here. We sat outside, which was very enjoyable. Our standout dishes were the gnocchi and the ravioli (the pasta was very thin and delicate - so good). The service was great, and the staff were friendly (but not overly so). read more

On vacation in Venice for 3 days and we came here twice, that's how good this place is. Decently priced bottles of wine (~24 euros) and the 6 dishes we had over our two visits were all outstanding, which is pretty hard to say about any restaurant. The highlights: 1. King prawn with garlic and leeks : the shrimps were delicious and the vegetables and salad it came with were amazing 2. Carbonara : pretty good, nice and egg yolky and the bacon was good 3. Fish soup: sooo good. There's clams, crabs, fish, calamari, squid all in this big bowl of delicious broth. Highly recommend this dish 4. Mussels with spaghetti with squid in its own ink, this was phenomenal 5. Tagliatelle with curry: this was decent, kind of an odd mix of pasta and Indian masala curry. It was good, but I don't think I would order it again, the mix of pasta and curry didn't impress me too much The atmosphere was nice and quiet and had a trendy look inside. Service was attentive and knew English well. All in all, I highly recommend this place and would come back if I'm ever in Venice again read more

We randomly found this place while looking for dinner. It seemed empty when we first came in and saw the menu. There were interesting items on the menu that we wanted to try. For appetizer we ordered the buffalo milk mozzarella which tasted amazing. I ordered the swordfish with clams and lobster sauce. My fiancé ordered the beef with rocket salad. Both tasted great! We decided to order dessert and got tiramisu & a creme brûlée with mixed berries. Each tasted really good. I enjoyed my meal here. The waiters were really friendly and helpful here. The service was great also! the restaurant was also really cute and cozy. read more

See all

I told my wife we should keep this our hidden gem but here goes. We went to another more well known taverna on web that was nearby but due to size and our group of 8, we were Turned away. We walked by, looked at the menu and settled in for dinner at San Lio. First of all, no pushy waiter trying to get you into the store. Check. Waiter after sitting us informed us that they ran out of clams and only have 4 portions of pasta remaining. Fresh ingredients, check. Waiter not pushing for additional dishes, check. We ordered Margherita and diabolo pizza, one for adult and one for kids but both were excellent. Spaghetti pomodoro and one other one. Both were excellent. All the dishes were way cut above and beyond what I was used to in the States. And this was my first meal in Italy. San Lio set the bar very very very high. (3rd very was not a mistake) The best was mixed seafood appetizer. As soon as it arrived I knew I should be ordered another for our group of 8. But I didn't and still regret it. Mixed seafood came with clams, shrimp, grilled tiny bite size squid, 4 differently prepared sardines and others. Other food I had really good before and San Lio prepared them excellently. Grilled squid was way above my expectation and just was grilled like no other. Now what blew my mind was the 4 types of sardine. I never in my life knew or dreamed that sardines can taste this good. Literally blew my mind. But this is coming from a Angeleno who is deprived of fresh great tasting fish. It was still an eye opener. And probably considered excellent dish. San Lio is close to San Mark's Square so if you have time I'd highly highly recommend walking over quick 7-8 minute walk instead of dealing with tourist restaurant by the square. I went to good rated place by the square and it didn't measure up to San Lio at all. I'd come back here by San Lio again and again, at least 1 per each visit to Venice. Hell. Visit every day next time I visit. Waiters were excellent. They adored my kids and made them feel very welcome. They even took my younger one to the kitchen to make him a biscotti platter on the house. The kicker. For 6 adults and 2 kids and with seafood and all the food, the bill came out 107 Euro. Including table fee. No way that we can eat like this in LA for the cost. Which is why I'll visit every day on next trip. My sincere gratitude for the wait staff and chef. After missed flight and lost luggage, our dinner after sight of St. Mark's Square just made up for everything that had happened in first 20 hours of trip. And that is the reason why I had to share my experience despite possibility of tourists flocking the restaurant and me having to endure a long line on my next visit. So others can experience hospitality that I got on my first night in Europe. read more

The squid risotto was fantastic, as was the prosecco, after starting with an assorted seafood appetizer, also very good. Service was top notch as well. read more

Taverna San Lio - Venetian Near Me - Venezia, AG

We live nearby and were attracted by the menu. The food turned out to be quite good. Spaghetti with seafood, black ink and the cannelloni and the grilled scampi are all surprisingly delicious. The tiramisu is good as well! Strongly recommend! read more

Taverna San Lio - Cannelloni scampi spaghetti and pizza - Venetian Near Me - Venezia, AG

See all

Had a very good dinner with the family at Taverna San Lio. We ordered multiple pasta plates and shared them. Try the squid in pasta, it's unique and very good! Overall, excellent food at a reasonable price. read more

Definitely worth coming for the pasta. Seafood as well as carbonara were delicious. Pizza margarita was ok (tasted like cheese was taking on other flavors from the fridge). Price is very reasonable for the portion size. Would come back. read more

Taverna San Lio - Menu - Venetian Near Me - Venezia, AG

See all

This meal was mixed. We ordered a calzone that was very good, the ravioli was good but small portion (my son said he was still hungry when he was done), my husband and I ordered the sea bass cannelloni in lobster sauce which was awful. read more

We were in Venice for 3 days. We ended up twice in this restaurant due to the friendliness of staff and the quality of food.. Mind you the wine and the special home made limoncello are amazing! Best limoncello I have had in Italy so far. But out of all the scampi tails in "saor" and the spaghetti with squid and black ink! To die for! We came back specifically for that dish! The squid just melts! Defo should do when you are in town! read more

Fantastic meal! We had the meal of the day and what a great deal for 19 euro. Pasta course + main course + desert.

Wonderful server and food! We've been in Italy for 2 weeks and ate many places and this one is hands down the best! Go here, you won't regret it! All my kids loved their food too! read more

Taverna San Lio has some of the best seafood I've ever had in years. The squid ink with squid polenta has such great taste and texture that it is one of the best dishes I've ever had. read more