Restaurant in Venice, Italy
Creative Italian dining below Venice's top tier.
Il Ridotto is a Michelin Plate–recognised creative Italian restaurant steps from St. Mark's Square, offering seasonal, territory-driven cooking at the €€€ price tier. It is the right call for a special-occasion dinner or lunch in central Venice when you want serious food without the commitment or cost of a fully starred room. Book two to three weeks ahead; the room is small and fills quickly.
Il Ridotto is worth booking for a special occasion dinner in Venice, particularly if you want creative Italian cooking at a price point below the city's top-tier splurge restaurants. Holding a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025, it sits in a small square a short walk from St. Mark's Square — convenient, but not a tourist trap. For couples or small groups wanting a focused, seasonal menu without the four-figure bill, this is a stronger pick than defaulting to a hotel dining room or a canal-side crowd-pleaser.
Chef Gianni Bonaccorsi's approach is grounded in territoriality and seasonality — meaning the menu follows the produce calendar and leans into Venetian and Veneto ingredients rather than chasing international trends. The Michelin Plate recognition signals competent, well-prepared cooking without the formality or ceremony of a starred room. For a special occasion, that balance is often exactly right: serious food, but not an endurance test of a tasting menu if you are not in the mood for one.
From the verified awards data, the white chocolate dessert with bergamot, citrus, and grapefruit is the one dish flagged as notable , a bright, sharp finish that suggests the kitchen leans toward clean flavours over rich, heavy conclusions. The broader menu follows a creative Italian framework, which typically means refined presentations of regional ingredients rather than fusion or deconstruction for its own sake. If you are comparing this to Glam Restaurant by Enrico Bartolini or Oro Restaurant , both of which operate at a higher price tier with starred credentials , Il Ridotto is the lower-commitment, lower-cost entry point into Venice's serious dining category.
Il Ridotto's intimate scale (no seat count is published, but the room is small by any Venice standard) makes it better suited to parties of two or three than to large group celebrations. The close quarters and warm atmosphere make it a genuine date-night option or a business dinner where conversation matters. If your group is larger and you need a private dining arrangement, contact the restaurant directly to ask , smaller Venice restaurants at this level often have flexibility that is not advertised online, but nothing from the venue record confirms a private room exists here. Do not assume that option is available without checking first.
For comparison, if a private room is a hard requirement for your celebration, Ristorante Quadri on Piazza San Marco operates at a higher price point (€€€€) but has the infrastructure for formal group dining. Il Ridotto's appeal is its intimacy, not its event capacity.
If the occasion calls for something technically more ambitious in Italy, you might benchmark Il Ridotto against what you could spend elsewhere: Osteria Francescana in Modena, Uliassi in Senigallia, or Dal Pescatore in Runate are all in a different tier altogether. Within Venice at €€€, Il Ridotto competes directly with Local and Wistèria for the creative-Italian-without-the-full-splurge slot.
The address , Campo Santi Filippo e Giacomo, steps from St. Mark's Square , is a double-edged asset. You are deep in the most visited part of Venice, which means easy navigation from most hotels, but also a neighbourhood that feels overrun in high season. Il Ridotto's small size and focused clientele mean the room itself feels removed from the tourist circuit even if the square outside does not. That said, book with this in mind: the combination of a prime location, strong reviews (4.1 on Google across 507 ratings), and limited covers means the restaurant fills up, especially in summer and around major holiday weekends.
Wednesday is the one full closure , plan accordingly. Lunch service runs Monday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from noon to 1:45 pm; dinner service is available most evenings except Wednesday from 6:45 pm to 9:45 pm. The lunch window is narrow at under two hours, so do not arrive late expecting a relaxed pace.
Reservations: Book at least two to three weeks in advance for dinner; further out in peak season (June through September and December). Walk-ins are unlikely to succeed given the restaurant's size. Budget: €€€ , mid-to-upper range for Venice; budget accordingly for wine, which will add meaningfully to the bill. Dress: No dress code is published, but given the price tier and occasion-focused clientele, smart casual is the sensible floor , jeans are fine if the rest of the outfit is considered. Closed: Wednesday all day. Lunch: Monday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday (noon–1:45 pm). Dinner: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday (6:45–9:45 pm).
At the €€€ price point in Venice, Il Ridotto earns its place for anyone who wants Michelin-recognised creative Italian cooking in a setting that reads as genuinely Venetian rather than tourist-adjacent. It is not the right call if you want the full ceremony of a starred room , for that, look at Glam by Enrico Bartolini. It is not the right call if you want raw Venetian seafood tradition at its most direct , for that, Osteria alle Testiere delivers the same price tier with a sharper local-seafood focus. But for a special-occasion dinner that combines location, quality, and a kitchen that takes seasonal cooking seriously without demanding you spend four hours at the table, Il Ridotto is a sound, well-evidenced choice.
For broader context on where Il Ridotto sits in the city's dining scene, see our full Venice restaurants guide. If you are planning the full trip, our Venice hotels guide, Venice bars guide, and Venice experiences guide cover the rest of the itinerary. For creative Italian cooking in other Italian cities worth comparing, see Il Piccolo Principe in Viareggio, Reale in Castel di Sangro, and Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone. If you want to see how the creative Italian format travels internationally, Rosetta in Mexico City and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico offer useful comparison points. And do not overlook the Venice wineries guide if you plan to explore the Veneto wine region around your stay.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Il Ridotto | Just a few steps from St. Mark's Square and the Bridge of Sighs, in a small square, Il Ridotto welcomes you with a colourful and warm atmosphere. The cuisine, based on territoriality and seasonality of products, will win you over. Not to be missed is the mouthwatering and fresh white chocolate dessert of bergamot, citrus and grapefruit.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | €€€ | — |
| Local | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Ristorante Quadri | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Osteria alle Testiere | World's 50 Best | €€€ | — |
| Trattoria Al Passo | €€€ | — | |
| Corte Sconta | €€€ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Il Ridotto and alternatives.
Osteria alle Testiere is the strongest alternative if you want market-driven seafood in a similarly intimate setting, though it is harder to book and slightly more casual in format. Ristorante Quadri offers higher-profile dining on St. Mark's Square itself at a steeper price point. Corte Sconta suits groups who want a relaxed courtyard atmosphere over a refined creative menu. Il Ridotto sits between these options: more polished than Corte Sconta, less of a splurge than Quadri.
Book two to three weeks ahead for dinner, and further out if you are travelling June through September or in December. The room is small and the Michelin Plate recognition keeps demand steady. Note that Il Ridotto is closed on Wednesdays, and Tuesday is dinner-only, so factor that into your planning.
The venue's atmosphere is described as colourful and warm rather than stiffly formal, but the creative Italian menu and Michelin Plate recognition place it clearly above casual trattoria territory. Neat evening dress — no shorts or beachwear — is the practical baseline for dinner; lunch allows slightly more relaxed attire while still reading as respectful of the setting.
Yes, and it is one of the more practical choices for a special occasion dinner near St. Mark's Square at the €€€ price point. The intimate room suits parties of two or three better than large groups. For a milestone that demands a bigger stage, Ristorante Quadri delivers more theatre, but at a noticeably higher cost.
No specific dietary restriction policy is documented for Il Ridotto. Because the menu is built around seasonality and regional produce, it is ingredient-led rather than modular, which can make substitutions harder in creative tasting formats. check the venue's official channels before booking if you have serious requirements.
At €€€ in Venice, Il Ridotto earns its place if Michelin-recognised creative Italian cooking is what you are after. It sits below the city's most expensive dining rooms in price, while holding a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025. If you want straightforward cicchetti or seafood without the creative format, Osteria alle Testiere or Trattoria Al Passo will cost less and disappoint less on value.
Lunch is available Monday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (12–1:45 pm), making it a practical option if your evenings are full or if you prefer a lighter spend in a city where dinner reservations are competitive. Dinner runs later (6:45–9:45 pm) and is available Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. For a special occasion, dinner is the cleaner choice; for value and flexibility, lunch works well.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
