Restaurant in Venice, Italy
Cannaregio's honest Venetian kitchen. Book it.

Anice Stellato is a Cannaregio trattoria with three consecutive years of Opinionated About Dining recognition and a 4.5 Google rating from 849 reviews. It earns those marks through market-driven Venetian cooking in a residential neighbourhood that sees far fewer tourists than the centre. Easier to book than comparable OAD-listed Venice options, it is the practical choice for a serious but unpretentious dinner.
Yes — if you want honest Venetian cooking in Cannaregio away from the tourist circuit, Anice Stellato earns its place. Opinionated About Dining has ranked it among the leading casual restaurants in Europe three consecutive years: Recommended in 2023, #693 in 2024, and #781 in 2025. A Google rating of 4.5 across 849 reviews confirms that consistency. This is not a destination tasting-menu restaurant; it is a neighbourhood trattoria that takes its sourcing seriously, and that distinction matters when you are deciding where to spend an evening in Venice.
The restaurant sits on Fondamenta de la Sensa in Cannaregio, one of the quieter residential sestieri in the city. That address alone signals something: the kitchen is not playing to a captive tourist crowd. Venetian cooking at this level lives or dies on what arrives from the lagoon and the Rialto market that morning, and the menu at Anice Stellato is built around that supply chain. The name itself — star anise , points to the kitchen's interest in aromatics and spice, a thread that runs through traditional cichetti culture and the broader Venetian repertoire shaped by centuries of spice trade. Expect the kitchen's choices to reflect what is genuinely seasonal and available rather than a fixed international menu.
For a food and wine traveller who wants context alongside a good meal, that sourcing discipline is the reason to book here over a more polished but less grounded alternative. Restaurants at this price tier in Venice can coast on location; Anice Stellato has earned OAD recognition precisely because it does not. The comparison to Osteria alle Testiere is natural , both are Venetian, both are OAD-tracked , but Anice Stellato is generally easier to book and sits in a calmer part of the city.
Hours are worth noting before you plan. The restaurant is closed Monday and Sunday. Lunch service runs Wednesday through Friday from 12:30 to 2 pm, with Saturday lunch from noon. Dinner runs Tuesday through Saturday from 7 to 10 pm. That is a relatively tight service window, so arriving on time matters. Booking difficulty is rated easy, which means you do not need to plan weeks in advance the way you would for Osteria alle Testiere, where tables are allocated well ahead. No price range is listed in our data, but the OAD casual classification and the neighbourhood positioning suggest a mid-tier spend , roughly comparable to other well-regarded Venetian trattorias at the €€–€€€ level. No dress code is on record; Cannaregio is a working neighbourhood and the room will not expect formality.
Getting there on foot from central Venice takes you through some of the city's least-trafficked calli, which is reason enough to build a walk around the reservation. Vaporetto stop Madonna dell'Orto on line 4.1 or 4.2 puts you close to the fondamenta.
If you are building a Venice itinerary around serious eating, Anice Stellato sits in a different bracket from the grand-room splurge options. For high-end modern cooking, Alessandro Borghese and Ai Gondolieri offer more elaborate formats. For a deeper dive into the cichetti and bacaro tradition, Antiche Carampane in San Polo covers similar Venetian seafood territory with a longer track record. Bistrot de Venise offers a different angle on historical Venetian recipes if that interests you. Anice Stellato's particular appeal is the combination of OAD-tracked quality, a residential Cannaregio setting, and accessible booking , a combination that is harder to find than it sounds in Venice.
For Italy context beyond Venice, the sourcing-led cooking philosophy here is not unusual among the country's leading regional tables. Restaurants like Dal Pescatore in Runate and Uliassi in Senigallia operate at a higher technical register, but they share the same underlying principle: the ingredient leads the dish. At Anice Stellato, that principle operates at a casual, neighbourhood scale , which is exactly what makes it useful for a two- or three-night Venice stay where you do not want every meal to be an occasion.
See our full Venice restaurants guide for the broader picture, or check our Venice hotels guide, Venice bars guide, Venice wineries guide, and Venice experiences guide to plan around your reservation.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anice Stellato | Venetian | Easy | |
| Local | Modern Italian, Contemporary | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Ristorante Quadri | Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Osteria alle Testiere | Venetian | €€€ | Unknown |
| Trattoria Al Passo | Seafood | €€€ | Unknown |
| Il Ridotto | Italian, Creative | €€€ | Unknown |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
The kitchen is rooted in classic Venetian cooking, so the focus is on seasonal seafood and lagoon-driven produce. Order whatever is fish-forward and market-driven that day — that is the format here. Anice Stellato's OAD Casual Europe ranking (up from #781 in 2025 to #693 the prior year, and recommended before that) reflects consistent execution rather than a single star dish, so trust the daily specials over any fixed list.
The restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday, and lunch runs only Wednesday through Saturday with a tight 12:30–2 pm window — plan around this or you will miss it. It sits on Fondamenta de la Sensa in Cannaregio, a residential neighbourhood well away from the Rialto and San Marco crowds, so factor in a 15–20 minute walk from the main tourist routes. Reservations are advisable given the limited service hours.
Yes, and Cannaregio's neighbourhood feel makes it less awkward than dining alone in a grand-room Venice institution. The format — a focused Venetian menu, shorter service windows, a non-performance atmosphere — suits a solo diner who wants to eat well without ceremony. For solo diners who prefer counter seating or a livelier room, Osteria alle Testiere is worth considering as an alternative.
Dinner gives you more flexibility: evening service runs 7–10 pm Tuesday through Saturday, whereas lunch is compressed into a 12:30–2 pm slot Wednesday through Saturday only. If your Venice schedule is tight, dinner is the safer booking. Lunch works well if you want a lighter midday meal and are already in Cannaregio, but the 90-minute window leaves little room for a slow start.
It works for a low-key celebration where the meal itself is the occasion — honest cooking, a genuine Cannaregio address, and an OAD-ranked track record since at least 2023. It is not the choice if you want a grand room, formal service, or the prestige of a Michelin-starred table; for that, Ristorante Quadri is the Venice option. Anice Stellato rewards people who measure a special meal by the quality of the food, not the theatre around it.
Osteria alle Testiere is the closest peer for serious seafood in a small, no-frills room — arguably harder to book and priced higher, but in the same spirit. Il Ridotto is a step up in formality and price for a more composed tasting experience. Trattoria Al Passo suits diners who want something even more casual and neighbourhood-local. Ristorante Quadri is the grand-room option if budget and occasion call for it.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.