Ristorante Da Ivo — Restaurant in Venice

In our last desperate effort to get some decent food in Venezia we tried this restaurant. We had a mixed salad (10 EUR), Penne Alla Paesana (which is advertised as a Specialità della casa - 20 EUR), pasta with seafood (daily special - 30 EUR) and the stuffed veal medallions with basil sauce (40 EUR).

As expected the pasta and seafood was good. The sauce of the mixed salad was quite unspectacular and was almost tasteless. Only green leaves in the salad, no tomatoes or anything - left me with "mixed feelings" instead.

The secondi was quite a disappointment for me: veal covered completely in basil sauce is certainly a matter of taste, however the veal itself turned out to be quite tasteless and even a bit dry. So were the potatoes which reminded me a little bit of the ones found in many Tapas bars in e.g. Barcelona (read: ready-made and lying around all day, hence dry).

The biggest disappointment however was the espresso (8 EUR!): the cup was well filled (so I wasn't even sure whether my order had been taken properly and I had been served plain coffee instead), but tasted watery (!).

On the good side the house wine ("by the glass") was very good. It was a "local Merlot" - more information was not to be revealed from the rushed staff, but that's typical for service staff in Venetia. The ambiance is also very nice (tiny room, stuffed with pictures, pans, tools, ...).

Don't get me wrong: for Venezian standards this restaurant certainly deserves a 4 star (out of 5) valuation. But we're giving it a 3 for what we got for a total price of 154 EUR (including 15% service charge) and compared to other Italian and international restaurants of the...

Let’s get one thing straight. Da Ivo is not fine dining. It’s a mediocre, overpriced tourist trap pretending to be something it’s not. The food? Passable at best. You’ll find better flavor, authenticity, and value at a random corner trattoria for half the price.

What truly ruined the experience was the bald waiter with the beard and his attitude at the end of the meal. When the bill came, I didn’t leave a tip on the card (I usually tip in cash). The moment he thought he was getting no tip, his entire demeanor changed. (Mind you, this is Europe, where tipping is not a thing.) He started mumbling under his breath, telling the other waiters in Italian, as if he thought I couldn't understand him. He brought back the printed receipt, and tossed it on the table before walking away like a sulking child. The rest of the staff seemed fine, but one waiter’s attitude ruined the entire evening.

Then, when I go to put the receipt and the card that it comes in away, he came storming back with a sour attitude to ask for the card back, like a baby who didn't get his way, as if we did something wrong.

For a place that acts like it’s one of Venice’s finest, this was a total embarrassment. It’s a disgrace, all show, no soul.

Da Ivo is a joke to Italian hospitality and dining. An absolute disappointment to Venice’s proud dining scene. I’ll be sure to let my Ferrari club and well-traveled friends know to steer clear. There are far better places in Venice that actually respect their guests and deliver food worthy...

Highly rated, highly recommended and highly visited but sadly did not live up to our expectations. You will need to book as it was completely full and i doubt any walk ins would have been possible. It's a cosy little restaurant, very cute and it feels very upmarket with the servers fully suited. I somehow felt not as attended as other patrons. We were the second arrivals and the place did fill up quickly by everyone else who I guess had booked but did not feel well attended to at all. The waiters often overlooked us, and we were among the last to be shown the specials. My partner had the pasta and clams and she did enjoy it. However, she enjoyed other pasta dishes from other restaurants that were at least 10 euros cheaper. I had the sea bass from the specials list and was very disappointed. For 50 euros, i had expected more than just a fillet, 5 capers and some sauce. Not even any garnish. Definitely not worth the money. We were also charged 8 euros each for the coperto despite not touching the basket of bread at all - there was no oil and vinegar to accompany the bread, the least of what I would expect. So you are paying a lot for the prestige of dining here where celebs and diplomats have dined, but the quality of service and food did not make up for the high costs to do so. Very disappointed...