Bar da Gino — Restaurant in Venice

The 1-star reviews I've read of this restaurant are completely unreasonable, so we decided to try it.

We were greeted by a host who was a bit standoffish. This seems very normal here in Venice. He seated us at a small table (for two) and brought menus and silverware. While we waited, we noticed: 1. The restaurant was very clean, 2. The menus were laid out nicely with photographs and translations in several languages (my girlfriend scoffed that this wasn't authentic Italian because instead it would be hand-written on a chalkboard... I scoffed at her scoff and said that this was good marketing for the restaurant with all the tourists from all over), and 3. All the diners at the tables around us were Italians.

I don't think the host let the waiter know we were seated because, about 20 minutes later, a waiter popped his head around the corner and looked surprised to see us and sprang immediately into action. The waiter, named Luca, was very friendly and personable.

We had a bottle of the Cabernet Franc, but I think this meant "In the French style" rather than "From France" because it was an Italian wine. It was very tasty and very reasonably priced.

I had the mixed salad and the margherita pizza. The mixed salad was carrots, greens, and too many tomatoes. It came without dressing, but I asked for oil and vinegar (balsamic). The pizza didn't have basil on it, which surprised me, but I tasted it and it was delicious. My girlfriend had some cannelloni and said it was "just okay"... but she kept complaining that it wasn't authentic Italian based on some Rick Steves tips (keep in mind, she's never actually been in Italy).

Luca brought us some complimentary bread and breadsticks and also some complimentary dessert after we declined to buy dessert. He stuck around chatting for a few minutes after we paid the bill.

All in all, 4 stars seems to sum up the experience, although I could see some people giving it 3.

To earn a 5, the host would need to be friendlier and make sure the waiter is informed... the margerita pizza should have basil leaves... and the canneloni should be more flavorful, I guess (I...

Surly service. Small portions. Bad food. My porcini risotto was watery and I had to hunt for any porcini. My daughter’s lasagne was cold and seemed to have been microwaved. I had a glass of wine that was just unpleasant. Then came the shock of the bill with €7 cover charge apparently for the availability of a toilet that we hadn’t used and a blanket had it been cold, not anywhere to be seen. I took this up with the toxic manager behind the bar and he could not have been more unpleasant. He pointed out that the cover charge was stated on the menu - and indeed it is, but it would never have occurred to me to look for such a detail. Elsewhere in Venice we have incurred cover charges of one or two euro, but at least they put some bread on the table.

Overhearing our conversation, three tables of tourists left - hopefully for better fare elsewhere - serves me right for not checking reviews first and being fooled by the clean white tablecloths. Hopefully this review will save other hapless visitors to Venice from falling into...

I don’t normally leave bad reviews but I wanted to warn other tourists of dining here. We visited for a quick breakfast/brunch from the café before heading to the Peggy Guggenheim collection. The service was really unprofessional and unwelcoming. There was definitely a very bad vibe from the staff towards us which was unfair considering we were nothing but polite. I don’t know if they have some kind of problem with tourists but we did nothing to warrant being treated like an inconvenience. They were just plain rude. Even the waiter didn’t say more than two words to us. They even ignored me when I went up to pay. It’s a shame because the food really wasn’t bad but it’s really not worth it because of the service. I also want to add it wasn’t just the waiter who was rude. The man behind the bar who is presumably the manager was also unhelpful and rude. I gave him my receipt to pay and he ignored me, threw the receipt in the bin and served all the locals first. No thank you, no goodbye. It ruined our day....