Trattoria Dona Onesta — Restaurant in Venice

I had this place recommended to me by the Amex concierge. Unfortunately, the service and atmosphere was terrible and the dish I got was mediocre.

The restaurant appeared to have AC but it was still very hot.

I had a reservation and was seated quickly. A few people walked in without reservations and they were also seated shortly since there was space. Unfortunately that’s all the good service you’ll get. I’m not even sure if I’d call it a very positive thing because the speed at which the waiters cleared and set up the tables stressed me out.

I read the reviews and saw that people thought the seafood risotto was great. I also saw that the owner replied to negative reviews very unprofessionally which was a 🚩I regret to have ignored.

I had to wave a waiter down to order and continued to have to wave people down to get anything the whole meal. I was unable to order the seafood risotto since it was minimum 2 orders. The waiter suggested the spaghetti with anchovy sauce and advised it was also a 30 minute preparation time.

In the 30 minutes I was waiting, nobody offered me any bread. I also ordered a drink but it took awhile to come so I had to flag another waiter down to order some water since it was so hot inside.

The food arrived and the anchovy spaghetti was mediocre. Not bad but nothing great about it.

I had to use the toilet and it was absolutely disgusting and there was no toilet paper in the only women’s stall.

Once I was done with my food, I had to flag another waiter down to pay. It took him awhile to come back with the card machine only to realize I was paying with cash.

I was pretty annoyed at this point so I said I wasn’t paying the service/cover charge since I didn’t get any service or bread or even toilet paper and just wanted £1 back in change. Instead of just giving me £1, the waiter called over the owner who proceeded to argue with me and raise his voice. He even insisted they cleaned the toilets regularly. He gave me my £5 bill back and...

Me and my partner had high hopes for this place as the pictures and reviews made it sound incredible. However, our experience was anything but exceptional. We had booked online 6 weeks in advance and asked for a table outside. When arriving to the restaurant we were greeted by a waiter who asked for the name of the reservation and confirmed that we had a table outside, however instead took us to a table inside as advised by another waitress.

The waitress said that we didn’t book a table outside and said that all the outside tables were booked for 7 PM ( keep in mind that we arrived at 7 PM). She was very rude and pushy with us telling us that we were in the wrong and we hadn’t booked correctly. Despite this we decided to sit inside against our better judgment to give them the benefit of doubt. 15 minutes passed no tables outside arrived and no one had come to ask us for drinks or starters. At this point my partner and I decided to walk out. As we started walking out the same waitress started following us out of the restaurant and stating that we booked wrong and she had been nothing but nice. She was in our face and making things uncomfortable. I said to her there was no reason to cause a scene, as people passing by were looking on. My partner said he found her very rude as we left (maybe a little too loudly).

The waitress then followed us up the street and started harassing us again saying we can’t call her rude and even started getting her hands in my partners face.

Not one to to leave reviews but based on our experience I would suggest everyone to avoid or at...

If you want a classic Venetian Restaurant that services excellent food, then I highly recommend you try Trattoria Dona Onesta. This restaurant is somewhat hidden away, located off of one of the smaller canals and more than a little ways away from one of the major thoroughfares, but that does not mean that it is not worth searching out. The interior is a little small, but well decorated and elegant, and the service was pleasant.

The food is where this restaurant truly shines, however, providing a good mix of local Venetian cuisine and quality. We tried their bruschetta (which had a very fresh garlic flavor - you can tell that they used truly fresh garlic), their Gnocchi, and their Spaghetti alla Carbonara and all three dishes were fantastic! The real standout of the three was the Gnocchi, though, which was perfectly cooked and served with a 4 cheese sauce that was flavorful in a way that did not overstay its welcome.

After our meals, we ordered two plates of dessert - a plate of the Molton Chocolate cake (served with a raspberry sauce) and the Panna Cotta (served with the same raspberry sauce). Both were delicious, and you'll understand why they like that jam like raspberry sauce so much when you try it! (it really made both of our desserts really pop!)

Overall, I think Trattoria Dona Onesta was a fantastic restaurant, one that is well worth the trip! This restaurant is definitely on the list of places we're going to re-visit next time...