Pizzeria Le Botti — Restaurant in Venice

If not for a recommendation from someone who works in Giudecca, we would not have chosen this restaurant because the name calls it a pizzeria, but it has many more offerings than just pizza! The pizza does seem quite popular, we saw a lot of people doing take away for many pizzas. We did not know if it was possible to eat dinner here, as we came in as a family of 5 persons with no reservations on a Saturday night. The staff were so accommodating and found us a table that had no reservation until 8pm, which gave our family time to eat.

We had two steaks, a grilled fillet with side of potatoes, a fillet with a gorgonzola and mushroom topping and a side of potatoes, a pasta dish with duck (bigoli con anatra), spaghetti with meatballs in tomato sauce, meatballs in tomato sauce, and a spaghetti bianco (for the kids). The complimentary bread was very delicious, a rustic type of crusty bread drizzled with a little olive oil. For drinks we had the house red wine, which was a typical house red, a peach juice, a lemon soda, and water. Everything arrived in a good time. Service was excellent and attentive, and even though we had to leave on time we did not feel rushed or pushed out. The staff was all very friendly and willing to talk with us, they do speak some English and suffered my poor Italian speaking kindly. The steaks were delicious. My son had to send his back to cook a little more (American medium is not European medium everywhere we go, but it is hard to tell what to order to not have it well done), which usually ends up in getting back a dry very well done steak, but it came back perfectly cooked just to American medium. He is very picky eating steak at restaurants and he ate most of it so I was quite impressed. My husband also loved his fillet with gorgonzola and mushrooms, which he let me steal a few pieces of. My bigoli with duck was also delicious but I think I would also order a steak the next time because it was so good. My oldest son finished his spaghetti with meatballs and then helped my youngest who did quite well for a 6 year old, eating half of his meatballs and his bowl of spaghetti bianco which he smothered in cheese.

We have lived in Italy for almost 3 years and rarely do we eat out and have a meal at a restaurant where the entire family is happy and enjoys the whole meal. I only regret we did not have the time or stomach space to sample their desserts. Perhaps another time. For dinner in Venice of this quality I think the prices were fair. The restaurant is very clean and well decorated, with comfortable seating, and good lighting....

Incredibly disappointing. While the food was nice, the service was disgraceful.

On arrival to an empty restaurant, instead of being asked where we wanted to sit, we were taken to the very back of the restaurant, next to the bar where my fiancé had the pleasure of being stared at by the bartender for the entirety of our longer-than-desirable meal.

I ordered the breaded pork, in Italian and English. When my meal was delivered I noticed that it was not pork, but rather a supermarket quality chicken schnitzel. Chicken schnitzel was not even on the menu.

When I queried whether my meal was pork or not, the waiter asked the chef in Italian. The chef responded "Pollo! (Chicken)" The waiter then turned to me and said that I was mistaken and that it was in fact pork. I told him that I understand what pollo means and then he removed the meal from the table and offered to change it for something else on the menu.

After choosing something else, the waiter and chef came back to tell me that the reason I was served chicken is because "in some religions people don't eat pork..."

In addition, another tourist couple arrived and were seated next to us at a high table, even though the rest of the restaurant was empty.

It is clear that the main/nice area of the restaurant is not available for tourists.

I would not return or recommend this...

Thought this was going to be a great place to check out and have a delicious pizza near our hotel. Arrived around 1700 and asked for a table for two. Waiter tried to seat us at a table with one chair. Table was very close to another family. The table also had some kind of debris under it. Tried to sit at a table with four seats was scolded for doing so and told to sit at the table for one. Asked about the chair also talked down to. There were ample tables and no guests at the restaurant except the other family. Asked to possibly be seated at another table for two a few tables down was accommodated. When sitting down menus were basically thrown at us. My dinner guest was also shoulder checked when the waiter left. Decided at this point if we were being treated this way we should probably find a different restaurant.

We both are frequent travelers and had been in italy for months so we are aware of Italian customs.

Found a delightful restaurant a bit further down on the other side of the next water...