El Refolo — Restaurant in Venice

Writing reviews is a kind of difficult thing for me. Sometimes you find places which are so outstanding that you might not want others to go there so that the place will not be spoiled and overcrowded. You want to keep it as an insiders' tip. That's what is happening with "El Réfolo"! My wife and me are travelling quite often to Venezia as we simply love this town and going from Vienna by car is managable in terms of driving time. I checked my picture archive and found out that we have been visiting El Réfolo since 2009 on a regular basis. For those of you curious what the name means ... its an old Venetian term which stands for a gust of wind. And that is what is happening to us all the time when we are in Venezia! El Réfolo is always puffing us in Via Garibaldi in Sestiere Castello where the crowd of tourists is a little less dense than compared to other areas. You will get a nice selection of various wines and spritz (always possible to taste if you are not sure if you like it) and something which is very new: some excellent craft beer which is brewed there by the owner. Along with good drinks and relaxing music you have to try these little appetisers and bits they are offering with a wide variety of meat, fish and veggie contents. All is made fresh and tastes gorgeous. The Italians call them cicchetti. Beyond the quality of the food the guys running the place are likeable, professional and they do their job with love and being cool at the same time. This creates an atmosphere where you simply feel home, relaxed and easy ... maybe one or the other glas of wine and/or beer facilitates this emotion on top. Oh yes!!! El Réfolo has become a checkpoint whenever we are in bella Venezia.

Il nostro posto prefertio a Venzia, Grazie Massimiliano e grazie al team!...

Definitely the best place in Garibaldi.

The cicchetti are really good quality and wines are very well priced for venetian standards. Beer from the tap is great also!

The staff are really welcoming and knowledgeable. If you have questions about food, wines or spritz they are happy to guide you.

We went twice because we felt like at home. It's a mix between locals and tourists.

Honest and nice people. I definitely go back...

The staff were super friendly and welcoming, a really great atmosphere with a mix of locals and tourists, the kind of place where you just talk to the other customers because it feels so casual. We had a bunch of Aperol Spritz's all served with a big fat olive, and a range of the mini subs, all great, they toats the bun for you to heat it up... it was really great. Definitely recommend and it was perfect for a post...