Ristorante Ai PIANTALEONI — Restaurant in Venice

If you want to ruin your mood and waste your precious vacation time — this is the place.

Let’s start with the food: the so-called “tiramisu” (or whatever that cream was) was a complete disaster. Cheap, unbalanced, and nothing like real tiramisu. Just some overly sweet egg foam with mascarpone, a sprinkle of cocoa powder, and three tiny cookies on top — that’s it. No structure, no flavor. The cocktails were just as disappointing.

But honestly, bad food is forgivable. What’s not forgivable is the attitude and the service.

We politely asked if there were any free tables — and there were plenty — but instead of a normal reply, we got a cold “are you here for lunch?” We said no, just dessert and drinks. The waiter immediately said the only tables available to us were “in the walkway” — pointed at two random ones and walked away with an indifferent shrug.

We placed our order, and then our waiter completely disappeared. When we tried to ask for the bill, another waiter saw us but just nodded vaguely and didn’t bother approaching. We literally had to call out across three tables to get someone’s attention.

Even then, we were made to wait until the table next to us — who were having lunch — had finished. The waiter ignored us while standing less than a meter away, choosing to settle bills for “priority” customers. Only after I called out directly did he roll his eyes and finally approach us, saying sarcastically, “Ah, you’re paying by card too.”

To top it off, he bumped into my friend’s chair several times (not gently) and never apologized.

In short: unless you order their sacred lunch, you don’t exist. If you’re just there for dessert or drinks — expect to be treated like a nuisance.

By the way, here’s a photo showing just how “busy” the tables were when they refused to seat us. As you can see — plenty of empty spots. But if you’re not ordering a proper lunch, you simply...

The owner is rude and insulting. Staff seated me at a 2-top at 3:15 in the afternoon on their waterfront deck, and I planned a drink and whatever food they had to serve at that time. He came over and asked how many people? I told him I was not sure what time my daughter would show up (I am a presentable, well-dressed middle-aged woman), but there would be one or two. He said “You will have to sit over there” , and he pointed to some table-less chairs in the middle of the busy sidewalk. I looked around and saw the place about half full, other tables mostly drinking, as it was in between mealtimes, and generally a laid-back, mid-afternoon scene. I asked why, as they had already seated me, and I would order basically whatever meal they wanted me to. He said the tables were only for those ordering food. I said good, I would like to order food. Then he said, but it is over in 10 minutes. Major confusion. Every other table was relaxing with drinks. I could only conclude he did not want a woman sitting by herself at his restaurant. By the way, I had no idea he was the owner. A kind waiter assured me I could stay, but I was embarrassed and humiliated by the confrontation. It absolutely ruined my afternoon. Stayed and finished my tuna tartar and aperol spritz, which were par for the course (barely), paid my $50 bill (daughter showed up, so maybe that comforted this misogynistic owner), and had a few words with him. He claims to know no English, yet he is confident enough to come over to a female customer sitting by herself (who was seated by his staff!) and tell her to leave. My guess as to his intention cannot be proven, but I can say there were certainly no apologies, or anything but defensiveness on his part after being told he had offended a customer. He doesn’t care. So, if this is your type of place, go for it, but there are...

Our planned restaurant was closed (again), so we stumbled into this one and ended up having an excellent meal. We sat on the water, catching a bit of a cooling breeze, and watching the egrets play on nearby boats. We were seated quickly even though they had to make up the table. Service throughout the meal was attentive, polite and friendly. Our server, John, was simply outstanding. Very helpful and friendly.

We ordered the avocado and shrimp appetizer. Well balanced and refreshing given the heat. The octopus appetizer was also great.

For mains, everything was a hit. The spaghetti with local clams was great. The cuttlefish was perfectly cooked. The ravioli was very good with just the right amount of smokiness. The fresh pasta with scallops and zucchini flowers. Flavorful and well cooked. All of the pasta was perfect. We were too full for dessert, especially give the heat.

Cover is a tad high at 3.50 BUT they actually served very good bread. We had two types and they both a hit. Overall, a fantastic meal, and our best...