Trattoria le Colonete — Restaurant in Venice

Tucked away in one of Venice’s winding alleys, Trattoria Le Colonete greets you with charming lighting, warm wooden interiors, and the soft hum of conversation that promises a classic Italian dining experience. Unfortunately, this is where the magic ends — ambiance is the one and only element where this restaurant excels, and everything beyond it descends into a tale of culinary disappointment and poor hospitality.

From the outset, the menu offers traditional Italian staples, but the execution falls dramatically short. The pizza — a simple yet sacred staple in Italian cuisine — arrived at the table almost comically drenched in oil. Each bite was a soggy, greasy ordeal that completely masked any potential flavor from the crust or toppings. It felt less like eating a pizza and more like wrestling with a paper towel soaked in fryer residue. Any hope of redemption was extinguished with dessert: having ordered a crème brûlée, a dish renowned for its silky custard and delicately torched sugar crust, what actually arrived was a frozen mousse with scattered fruit — a dessert so disconnected from the original that labeling it crème brûlée felt like culinary fraud.

Sadly, the food was only half the problem. The service, which should ideally rescue or at least buffer a subpar meal, was marked by a distinct air of arrogance. The staff, while brisk and efficient, seemed more interested in moving diners along than making them feel welcome. Inquiries were met with curt, dismissive answers, and there was little to no engagement, warmth, or effort to address concerns.

To add insult to injury, the pricing — though within the expected range for Venice’s tourist-heavy zones — came with a nasty surprise: a hefty 20% service charge tacked on in addition to the coperto (cover charge), all while making it clear that gratuity wasn’t included. When questioned, staff insisted this was the norm throughout Venice, a claim that proved false upon visiting other restaurants. This left a bitter aftertaste — not just from the food, but from the lingering sense of being taken advantage of.

In a city where culinary gems are often tucked behind unassuming façades, Trattoria Le Colonete stands out — unfortunately, for all the wrong reasons. It’s a missed opportunity in a place where the bar for good food is naturally high. If you’re strolling Venice’s beautiful streets in search of a memorable meal, keep walking — Venice has better waiting...

Very disappointed by the restaurant and I am not one to give anything below a 4 or 5 stars normally. The pizza came out before the bruschetta. It was worse than a pizza from Costco and did not have the delicious Italian base that you would normally expect in Italy. The base and the pepperoni was burnt. A quarter of the pizza had no pepperoni at all. When asked by the waiter what we thought of the pizza, when he was collecting our plates we told him we were disappointed. He made a rude commenting saying “did you just eat it because you’re hungry then?”. Another waiter later came and asked us what we thought of the meal. We told them we were happy with the bruschetta and aperol but the pizza was quite disappointing. They told us Venice is not known for good pizza and is more known for seafood. However, we had a slice of pizza from a bakery for lunch and it was much better than this restaurant. We were asked by a third waiter to give a 5 stars review for free lemonchello but we are not that easily bought out and declined. To make the experience even worse, we were charged a cover of 3 euro per person. It was only stated on the menu in small Italian writing, despite the rest of the menu being in English as well. The whole experience just felt like a tourist scam and I wouldn’t trust the 5 star google reviews as I’m sure people have been bribed into...

I have scored the food at 5-star, and it truly was APART from one aspect. Out of 4 fillet steaks, one was only 60% edible - the rest was fat with inedible tendon tissue. The chef should never have served it. The service score would have been “5”, but for the fact that the bill was presented in full without comment, adjustment or apology! The resulting discussion should not have been brought to the table, nor indeed should the discarded piece of steak!! Kept presumably because they anticipated a discussion with a “tourist”. The chef stated that we had eaten it! Maybe one would have expected some inedible meat in a sirloin or rib-eye, but not a fillet, where the table ate 100% of the other 3 fillets served. After initially insisting on full payment, a waiter stepped in and accepted a small reduction in order to resolve the issue for which we were grateful. I hate complaining, in this case it was justified. Such a shame that the restaurant failed to acknowledge it. Highly recommended for food. I just hope that lessons...