Ristorante Osteria Da Fiore — Restaurant in Venice

I’m not sure how this restaurant has received its online reputation, but as frequent fine diners all around the world, we were highly disappointed. It’s not even close to our expectation. The atmosphere is more like a family diner, the food was mediocre at best, and the service was clumsy and inefficient. We had to ask for so many things that should have been provided. We had a clumsy young boy serving us (poor thing, I’m sure he was doing his best), although the older gentleman helping and overseeing things was polite. However his wine recommendation was just the most expensive on the list; it was awful. I requested dry and full bodied. The wine we were served was full bodied, but dreadfully sweet. Hugely disappointing. The seating is uncomfortable. The table is small. The lighting is not appealing or warm. We were cold most of the meal, I added a sweater around my shoulders. The citrus dessert my husband ordered to clear his palate because he was feeling ill from the food, was barely citrus flavored, and my dessert (a Mille-feuille) was made with some kind of plain custard and was already looking floppy when served. It was completely flavorless. My main course was like visiting grandpa’s place for dinner. Basic slop. :( The meat was unpleasant, the mashed potato was tasteless and sloppy, and the brown ‘gravy’ poured all over it was not high end or an elegant reduction. I ate a little of each to be polite, but.. ugh. We were served an amuse bouche initially; both were different. My husband received some kind of salmon, and I received a marinated radicchio which was too tough to cut through or even bite through, it was terrible. We should’ve left at that point. We both felt ill afterwards. The final insult; after expressing disappointment in my husband’s dessert (to which they agreed was not a good flavor), and the wine (which I didn’t touch after one sip), they didn’t wipe those items from the bill, as any high quality restaurant would do with a genuine disappointment. They just apologized and took full (over) payment. We remained as polite as possible, but we would definitely never return here. This restaurant is probably suited to quite older people who like old fashioned and soft/ sloppy foods, or families who enjoy wasting money. We paid over €200 for very disappointing everything. I would definitely NOT recommend to anyone who is accustomed to actual fine dining. We were extremely disappointed to have been guided here by a ‘fine dining’ search. All part of the fun of traveling and trying new locations I guess. There are many, many beautiful and high end restaurants in Venice to savor, with great pleasure. Da Fiore is definitely not...

We had a recommendation from Andrew Harper Travel in the U.S. When I tired to book online it was vague if I had a reservation confirmed or not. So I had to visit the restaurant during the day to make sure I had the dinner reservation. When I went t there one of the owner’s sons told me I had to agree to pay 30 Euros per person in case I had to cancel, which I gladly obliged on the spot. When we went there for dinner we were given the least desirable table and was told that we had to care in less than two hours, which we agreed. The food was great and the servers were attentive. When we asked for the check the problem started. They have charged me for something that I did not order and after three times that I returned the check for adjustment I finally got the accurate amount. I am hoping that they made honest mistakes for the first couple of times but when we had to return the bill for the third time I felt either they were extremely disorganized or they intentionally overcharged us(I hope they didn’t). All I can say to the customers who dine there please make sure you check the bill thoroughly so that you don’t get...

It’s a long time Venice institution and has held a Michelin star for decades as well. While, to me, the finesse is a bit excessive and I prefer the older homey approach, Da Fiore is undeniably an amazing restaurant and is a beautiful option for a special night out with your loved one.

There are plenty of Venetian staples, refined and made lighter and more upscale here, as well as plenty of new inventive dishes, less typical but still steeped in tradition.

The crab meat was delightful, the cod (baccala) amazing as it can only be in Venice, the eel with herb sauce and bitter lettuce beautifully balanced and the tuna fresh and clean, made in a Cesar / panzanella style.

The wine list here is amazing, the markups sometimes a touch high but it is a luxury restaurant in the end.

As I said before, a gorgeous place for a special night...