Al Faro

Delicious food. We ordered a pizza, two pasta dishes, starter, dessert, drinks. All we're fantastic. Might have been some of the best food we had in Italy.

We were hungry just getting in from Barcelona. We settled on this place initially because of the reviews. Overall, it was good for a first meal in Italy. We had the
1. charcutterie plate - 3.5
2. Vegetable platter - 4
3. Pizza with shrimp, anchovies - 3.5, good flavors but crust was a bit soft
4. Squid ink pasta - 4
I think price was okay??? About 45 euros.

Ordered the diavola pizza and calzone being the good Americans we are. :)

Cheese was fresh and I don't know what they put in their dough but it was the best part in my opinion.

The calzone came out extra hot and huge! Basically an entire pizza folded over. I had the ham and mushroom calzone which was all they had on the menu that was calzone'd. My fiancee got the diavola pizza which was good, but the cheese wasn't the same imo and I preferred the calzone.

Bonus Sunday morning though was kids playing their stringed instruments. Service was mediocre at best though.

We tried this restaurant our last night in Italy. Of course we wanted to try all of the food which did not disappoint. All of the food we got was good but The salmon gnocchi is a MUST try. House wine was not the best option try a bottle instead.

I normally search for restaurants out of the main touristy areas for places where locals go to eat.

Food:
I ordered the gnocchi and sea bass. Both dishes used simple ingredients, and were both amazing!

The gnocchi was warm, soft, and flavorful.

The sea bass was cooked to perfection. It's a whole fish with the bones inside.

Sides Notes

Ambiance:
I visited on a Sunday afternoon and it was quiet.

Service:
The service was good. The staff waited until I finished my gnocchi before serving the sea bass.

Overall:
If you want to venture away from the touristy areas, I recommend.

First meal in Venice and we walked in unsure of what to expect. There was plenty of outdoor and indoor seating. It wasn't too busy when we arrived since it was before dinner time.

I ordered the salmon gnocchi and fresco pizza to share with my boyfriend. We both really enjoyed the salmon gnocchi. The creamy sauce sauce paired well with main ingredients and the gnocchi was a good texture. The fresco pizza was just okay for me, but my boyfriend loved it. This was his second most favorite pizza in Italy.

This place has plenty of options for everyone here and the service was good.

My family and I were strolling along in Venice on a Sunday afternoon in search of a place to eat, but sadly many places were closed. Al Faro just happened to be open and able to accommodate all 12 of us! We sat outside under big umbrellas that kept us away from the heat of the sun, and the location was great in that it wasn't in the center of a busy area but rather private despite being outside.

Now the food - really good! I wasn't blown away, but I was definitely satisfied. Pasta was the perfect texture and the sauces were delicious (I sampled most of my family's orders and can confirm multiples sauces were delicious lol.) I had the spaghetti bolognese which was great, very simple yet flavorful. The servings were pretty decent as well. The pizza was really good as well!

All in all, Al Faro is a pretty solid place for good quality Italian food. It's tucked in a nice little corner of the Jewish ghetto, away from heavily trafficked area so you know you're not falling for a tourist trap. If you're ever in the area I definitely recommend you stop by!

Try the seafood risotto. It may just be me because I love anything cheesy!

Do the house wine in the carafe
Do sit outside and watch the locals and you may be luckily enough to have a busker play/sing. Remember to tip them as well.
Service was great on a nice sunny day!
*do pay the extra for bottled water

Venice ghetto. You are in my heart!

Not very impressed by this place. Chose it based on the yelp reviews, and I was disappointed. We ordered a pizza and a salad to share amongst two people. The pizza was dry and nothing to write home about.

They did certainly have a large menu with lots of choices but I guess I must have chosen the wrong things. The salad was even more unremarkable. It was just some plain iceberg lettuce that wasn't very fresh around the edges. Topped with a small amount of avocado tomato and cheese.

There is a 2 euro per person cover charge which seems to be the norm here but I was not impressed at all with the service either. No one was very friendly.

I would most definitely not return.

My first meal in Venice.... pretty tasty my pasta had a little kick to it which I appreciate very much. Service was cool. I ended my meal with an espresso! Very affordable.