Trattoria alla Madonna

A Rialto trattoria since 1954

Trattoria alla Madonna is on the street of the same name, in San Polo, a few steps from the Rialto Bridge. It was opened by Fulvio Rado in 1954 on a former Venetian osteria, known for an old grapevine, and for the last 35 years it has been run by his son Lucio. It is a big house by the standards of the centre: nine rooms with many paintings by contemporary Italian artists, an informal atmosphere and quick, attentive service. All kinds of people come, from families to people from film and culture, and the dining room adapts to a meal for two or a long table.

The house's reason for being is its position: the Rialto fish market and the fruit and vegetable market are next door, and the trattoria buys there every day.

What to order

The cooking is almost all fish, prepared without complication so it tastes of what it is. The dishes the house recommends are the mixed fish antipasto, with canoce (mantis shrimp), small prawns, baby octopus, sea snails (garusoli) and latticini; the seafood risotto; the vermicelli with cuttlefish ink; the fish soup; the granseola, the Adriatic spider crab, served in its shell; the mixed fry and grilled fish.

If someone at the table does not eat fish, there is meat: Venetian-style liver, grilled ox fillet or veal escalopes. The cellar leans mostly on Friulian wines from the Collio, with labels from other Italian regions such as Barolo, Brunello or Chianti Riserva.

The trattoria does not publish the menu with prices on its website, so ask the price of the fish of the day before ordering it.

When to go and how to book

It closes on Wednesdays, for all of January and for two weeks in August. For dinner you book in two sittings, at 19:00 and at 21:00, by phone, by email or through the form on its website. It is open on Sunday, so it works for lunch on a day of sightseeing in St Mark's and Rialto. The restaurant is air-conditioned and accepts all cards except Diners.

What is nearby

The Rialto bridge and market are a minute away. To walk off your meal, take line 1 of the vaporetto along the Grand Canal at Rialto, or cross the bridge and walk a quarter of an hour to St Mark's Square and its bell tower.