Da Mamo — Restaurant in Venice

Where to start…we love to get lost in the small streets and in Venice you have a lot of choice, how lucky were we to walk randomly to this place and have a free table for 2 people right away (very busy all the time, make a reservation if you can!!)

The staff: Adorable people, friendly, funny, welcoming, never pushy and always around to help

The place: A small authentic restaurant, can be a little warm inside as they have the kitchen next to tables. The tables are cute and very nice drinking glasses from Murano.

The food: This is the easy part, it was soooooo good ! We shared a burata with grilled aubergine sauce and cherry tomatoes, simple and not too fancy things with it, 12€ a bargaiiiiin. Then my wife took spaghetti with seafood, she loved it and I quote « probably the best seafood spaghetti I ever had ». I took the beef fillet with potato gratin and cheese, the meat was perfectly cooked and I insist, PERFECTLY, and the gratin was very « generous » and very tasty. Before paying, they offered us a little chocolate « shot » with lemon alcohol in it, perfect, simply perfect.

The prices: When you see some ridiculous price in Venezia, this place make you feel so much better! Yes, you are not next to the water but honestly, we prefer the bistro style like this one, close to people, warm and welcoming. Next to the water we would have paid double for sure. The burata for example, 12€ here, next to water 18€ (for probably less presentation as we saw it on plates while walking by). My beef fillet was 24€ I believe with gratin, in a place next to water, would have been 45€ easily. There is a 12% service fee but cover is included in price. We paid 80€ for a burata to share, a main course each, a nice drink each and a large bottle of water.

The time: We arrived around 20:15 and we were never rushed to leave. We took our time and we always felt welcome and the service was always in the right timing.

A big thank you guys, even if we know we were so lucky to get a table walking in randomly like that, you made our evening a one to remember 🙏❤️

Would recommend 100% if you are around, you won’t regret it.

We wish all the best to this place as it’s clearly one that doesn’t take his guests for stupid...

Food and atmosphere were average. The service was not great - waiters were unfriendly and inattentive. The tables were so close to each other and so packed that I could barely hear what my mom was saying to me. But the things that shocked me the most were: 1) on the website the prices are different than in the restaurant (tagliolini di seppia shows 16€ and in the restaurant they charged me 20€!) and 2) the note on the final bill stating that tip is not included - but the restaurant charges 12% for service?!?!!? As an Italian I can say that this is outrageous and a complete RIP OFF. In Italy locals normally do not leave any tip because the “service fee” is always included in the bill (and this is the tip). Normally this service fee is fixed and is between 2 and 3€. It is the first time I see a service fee of 12% and tip is being asked on top. PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ANY TIP. This is absolutely against the authentic Italian culture and is a rip off both for locals and tourists (please google about the service fee in Italy).

And do not believe the reply of the owner, I had a reservation so what does he mean when he says we arrived as last customers ? Also I am not clear on the sentence “Venice is not for everyone”. Maybe he meant that Venice is such a beautiful city but it is being ruined by restaurants like these, so people should consider visiting other...

Hubby and I needed a little something to eat after a very long night/morning of travel. So after some exploring, we stopped here.

This place is super tiny. But I personally loved the cozy feel. We shared a four top with another couple and had a Separator on the table between us.

We quickly browsed the menu and immediately opted for the gnocchi to share (we had a big dinner coming up and didn’t want to over do it). It didn’t take long for the bread basket to arrive. It was the EXACT SAME BREAD that I then found at every restaurant in Venice. Do they all get it from the same place??

Shortly after, our gnocchi arrived and it was beautiful! Not at all what I expected, but beautiful. It was four large gnocchis covered with sauce. These gnocchis were a different consistency than I’m used to - fluffy, almost bread-like. It didn’t have as much of the chewy noodle consistency that I’m used to. But I loved it! The cheese fondue it was covered it was so delicious - hubby and I fought to defend our halves from each other, scooping up every last bit of sauce.

With our check came complimentary chocolate cups filled with a mint liquor. A little strong for my tastes, but I’m not much for the flavor of alcohol.

Over All, this was my favorite pasta I had while in Venice. So it gets a 5/5 for me! Good service, cozy and perfect for a lunch...