Dining in Venice

[kristen b]

My fiance and I will be going to Venice for our honeymoon..one problem...he only eats steaks and burgers...nothinig else.. I, however, enjoy just about everything! Does anyone know a place in Venice that offers a regular steak such as a New York Strip or a Filet Mignon? Thank you so much! I really do appreciate it!

[mangiamama]

Kristen,
I can relate to your situation. My husband and I were in Venice this past September and he tried to get a "regular steak" several times. The closest match was on our last night in Venice at Birraria La Corte.
www.birrarialacorte.it/ENG/index.html
We even tried La Bitta, Dorsodura, which is advertised as a "no fish" restaurant.
I hope he likes pizza : )

[jen kalb]

How was La Bitta? Ive not heard a first hand report.

[mangiamama]

Made a reservation and got a table - the back outside patio, which was nice because it is a small restaurant. Our server spoke excellent English. From what I remember I had a great salad to start and my husband had an appetizer of salami with polenta. I think the menu changes daily and that they did close one day of the week (maybe Sun.) Husband does not drink red wine, so they gave me a full size bottle of the house red and told me that they would charge according to how much I drank. We both had the braised meat entree, but can't recall details. Also recall that we split a desert, which we also enjoyed. Overall we had a good experience.

[kenito799]

Ai Assassini is a Tuscan restaurant in San Marco on a street of the same name. Almost no seafood, I had wonderful roast pork there. I am pretty sure steak was on the menu.

I hope your bf gets his cholesterol checked regularly...and takes metamucil... :)

[Sturmi]

You will get a real juicy T-bone Steak at Fiaschetteria Toscana. Of course it is called "bistecca fiorentina", but it is really delicious (we ate one there just recently, Nov.9). Expect to pay about 60 to 70 EUR for the T-bone steak. The also serve other varieties of steak, although more the Italian variety.

I also have had a nice steak in prior years at Alla Madonna: a Filet Mignon, which was great, and not as expensive as in FT. They also have wonderful juicy veal or lamb chops.

[jen kalb]

why dont you rent an apartment? then at least you can go to a butcher and cook food to his liking. You will have to deal with this for a long time. Seriously, while most of the venetian restaurants are seafood based, others do serve meat, and even the seafood restaurants will have other dishes, pasta, risotto, vegetable, etc and usually at least one meat dish (liver and onions). There is also quite a bit of pizza in Venice and its pretty good as an alternative. There are a couple of other meat oriented places near San Barnaba (Dorsodura) in addition to La Bitta - one is a modernish looking place right on the square facing the church (cant remember the name), another is Da Sandro (Osteria San Barnaba a little down the Rio Terra) which has good San Daniele Ham and some meat dishes a third is all the way down by Anzolo Raffaele - I think its called San Daniele e Vini - which specializes in that wonderful ham.
There is also a Sardinian restaurant between San Barnaba and Campo Santa Margherita which has meat dishes but I am blanking on the name. This area seems like a bit of a hot spot for meat in Venice. Unlike Sid, Id say grilled meat (as opposed to sauced) is not that uncommon, but as he does note, the cut and preparation of the grilled meat will be different from home - if you want it to taste just the same, good luck! Many meat eaters really like the Italian beef and prep method, so maybe you will be lucky..

ps Alla Zucca and Alice Stellato also include meat dishes on their menu

[zerlina]

>>a Sardinian restaurant between San Barnaba and Campo Santa Margherita<<

L'Incontro, on Rio Terra Canal. Meat dishes, yes; New York strip steak and filet mignon, I very much doubt it.

[jen kalb]

true enough.

maybe this guy will have to live on limoncello, gelati and cream puffs filled with zabaglione for the duration of his stay.

[Sid Cundiff]

I hate to sound mean, but if his diet is so limited, and he is so parochial as to be unwilling to immerse himself in another culture, he ought to stay home. Beef free of sauces just isn't as good in Europe as in the USA. Venice is very good for liver. From what you say, organs aren't his taste.

. Ai Gondolieri isn't Ruth Chris, Chips Club is anything but a Kansas City steakhouse in the bottomland. Nor will the Florentine beefsteak -- always rare, alway salted, always olive oil -- appeal to him. And McDonald's is sheer heresy for anyone on this website.

[badwaiter]

I don't know...McDonalds could be just the thing. It's where all the locals eat.

[Shannon]

It has to be steak? Not just beef? No sauce or anything?

Here are some places you could try (but they may or may not have sauces on the meat)

Osteria da Alberto in Cannaregio, da Sandro in San Polo, La Zucca in Santa Croce, Birreria La Corte in San Polo (they sell by the etto here so the price varies)... I have heard good things about La Bitta in Dorsoduro where they only serve meat, and Ai Gondolieri is a very good suggestion by Gretchen above.

Cip's Club out at the Cipriani hotel has a burger, but it'll be pricey. I think the L'Olandese Volante bar in Castello has one but I am not sure how good it would be.

[DavidT]

You might also try Fiaschetteria Toscana. I don't know how much beef they have on the menu, but I would suggest walking by the restaurant to take a look at the menu. I would imagine the dining rooms at the grand hotels (such as the Danieli) serve a steak, but it will be VERY expensive.

For hamburgers, there is a McDonalds in Venice, not far from Fiaschetteria Toscana!

[deangold]

Fisachetteria Toscana has steak (chianina beef) on the menu but it wont be cheap. Vini da Gigio should also ahve some red meat, but I am not sure if it is a steak.

Are you really sure you want to marry thig guy given his culinary limitations :-P ?

[MagnumWino]

deangold,
ROTFLMAO!!!

[DavidT]

It is also possible Harry's Bar in Venice may serve a burger and/or a steak, but they would likely be the most expensive your fiance has ever eaten. Some goes for hotels like the Gritti Palace and the Cipriani.

[GretchenS]

He is going to have a tough time of it in Venice, where the emphasis is most definitely on seafood. One restaurant that features meat is Ai Gondolieri, behind the Peggy Guggenheim museum. Very high end ($$$$) and one of the best steaks I have ever had in my life.