Wistèria

Should You Book Wistèria?

A 4.7 Google rating across 520 reviews and a Michelin star earned in 2024 make Wistèria one of the most compelling tasting-menu destinations in Venice right now. At the €€€€ price point, you are paying for a six or eight-course contemporary menu built around Venetian seasonality — and for a setting along the Rio de la Frescada where, in season, tables sit beneath the wisteria itself. Book it if you want a Michelin-starred meal that still feels connected to its neighbourhood rather than packaged for tourists. If you want a grander room or more formal service theatre, look elsewhere.

The Experience

Wistèria's format is the tasting menu, offered in either a six or eight-course configuration. The kitchen works with seasonal ingredients and regional produce, and the menu changes to reflect what is available — which means the eight-course version gives you a meaningfully broader picture of what the kitchen can do. Given the editorial angle here, it is worth noting that this is a restaurant where seat placement matters. The outdoor tables under the wisteria are the draw in warmer months, but counter or close-in seating , where you can watch the kitchen's rhythm and interact more directly with the team , adds a layer to the meal that a tucked-away table in a larger room simply does not. If you have a preference, state it when you book.

The one dish singled out in verified source data is a dessert combining pumpkin, licorice, and almonds. That combination , sweet, bitter, nutty, with the earthiness of pumpkin grounding the anise bite of licorice , is the kind of technically considered finish that signals a kitchen thinking about the whole arc of a meal, not just the protein course. If you have been once and left before dessert felt like the payoff, that is worth knowing for the return visit.

The address places it in the San Polo sestiere, away from the high-traffic areas around San Marco and the Rialto. That matters practically: you are not walking past tour groups to reach the entrance, and the canal-side location on the Rio de la Frescada gives the outdoor area a quiet that is increasingly rare in central Venice. For a returning guest, arriving slightly early to settle in outside before service begins is worth the effort.

Ratings at a Glance

• Google: 4.7 / 5 (520 reviews)
• Michelin: 1 Star (2024)
• Price: €€€€
• Format: Six or eight-course tasting menu

Booking Wistèria

Booking difficulty is rated hard. A 2024 Michelin star on a small canal-side restaurant in Venice , with limited seats and hours that run to two sittings on only four days per week , means this fills fast. The operating schedule is narrow: Monday dinner only (7–9 PM); Friday, Saturday, and Sunday lunch (noon–1:30 PM) and dinner (7–9 PM); Wednesday and Thursday closed. That gives you a maximum of five possible sittings per week. Book at least four to six weeks out for a weekend slot; weekday dinner (Monday only) may have slightly more availability. Check availability early in the week you want, not the day before.

Practical Details

Reservations: Book early , four to six weeks minimum for weekends, shorter lead for Monday dinner, though availability is not guaranteed. No booking method listed; try the restaurant directly or use a Venice concierge service if you cannot get through. Budget: €€€€ , tasting menu territory; factor in wine pairing if you plan to add it. Hours: Monday dinner 7–9 PM; Friday–Sunday lunch noon–1:30 PM and dinner 7–9 PM; closed Wednesday and Thursday. Address: San Polo 2908, Venice. Dress: Not specified in venue data, but Michelin-starred context in Italy typically calls for smart casual at minimum , avoid beachwear or shorts regardless of the season.

How It Compares

See the full comparison below for where Wistèria sits against Venice's strongest alternatives across price tiers.

For more options across the city, see our full Venice restaurants guide, and if you are planning the full trip, browse our Venice hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide.

Where Wistèria Sits in Italy's Wider Fine Dining Scene

For context on the Michelin one-star tier in northern Italy: Wistèria's 2024 star puts it in a category alongside restaurants like Local in Venice, while the two and three-star tier in the region includes Le Calandre in Rubano and Dal Pescatore in Runate. At the leading of the Italian spectrum, Osteria Francescana in Modena and Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence operate at a different scale and price level. Wistèria's value case rests on the fact that it offers a genuinely considered tasting menu in a setting that does not feel manufactured for the Venice fine-dining tourist circuit. For comparison within Venice's starred tier, Glam Restaurant by Enrico Bartolini and Oro Restaurant offer alternative takes on contemporary Venetian cooking at a similar price point. Ristorante Quadri brings the added weight of its Piazza San Marco location. Outside Italy, if you want to benchmark this style of contemporary tasting-menu cooking globally, Jungsik in Seoul and César in New York City are useful reference points in the same genre. For high-altitude Italian cooking outside Venice, Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler in Brunico and Enrico Bartolini in Milan round out the picture.

Also in Venice

If Wistèria is fully booked or you want to mix formats across your trip, Chat Qui Rit offers a different register entirely. For the broader Venice contemporary dining tier, Local is the closest stylistic peer at the same price level.

FAQ

What are alternatives to Wistèria in Venice?

• At the same €€€€ tier, Local and Ristorante Quadri are the closest comparisons for contemporary format dining.
• If you want to step down a price tier without losing quality, Osteria alle Testiere at €€€ is among the most respected small seafood restaurants in the city , though it seats very few and is also hard to book.
• Al Covo and Corte Sconta at €€€ are better choices if you want a trattoria register with strong local credentials rather than a tasting-menu commitment.

Is Wistèria worth the price?

• Yes, for a tasting-menu format with Michelin validation and a canal-side setting that earns its context. The six-course option gives you a lower entry cost; the eight-course is the fuller argument for the kitchen's range.
• If you want à la carte flexibility or a shorter meal, the €€€€ price point is harder to justify , in that case Al Covo or Osteria alle Testiere offer better value for a single-dish experience.

How far ahead should I book Wistèria?

• Four to six weeks minimum for Friday, Saturday, or Sunday slots. The Michelin star is recent (2024) and the restaurant's limited weekly hours mean seats are genuinely scarce.
• Monday dinner is the only other option and may have slightly more give, but do not assume availability at short notice. If your dates are fixed, book the day your travel window becomes clear.

Does Wistèria handle dietary restrictions?

• No booking method, phone number, or website is listed in the venue data, which makes advance communication harder to confirm. For a tasting-menu restaurant at this level, dietary requirements should always be communicated at the time of booking.
• If you cannot reach the restaurant directly, a Venice hotel concierge with local contacts is the most reliable route to both securing a reservation and flagging restrictions in advance.

Is Wistèria good for solo dining?

• It can be a good solo option precisely because of the tasting-menu format , you order nothing, you simply eat through the menu at the kitchen's pace, which removes the social awkwardness of dining alone à la carte.
• Counter or close-in seating, where available, works particularly well solo: you have something to watch and, often, kitchen team to interact with. Request that placement when you book.
• At €€€€ solo, the per-head cost is the same as for two , so factor that into the decision if budget is a constraint.