Trattoria Storica — Restaurant in Venice

I don't leave restaurant reviews and I don't have any interest in going out of my way to hurt someone's business, but my negative experience at this restaurant put a damper on my first day in Venice. If you are Italian, you may be well served here. If you are foreign and don't speak Italian, forget it. The waitstaff was demonstrably rude to me and my girlfriend, begrudgingly seating and serving us, and attending to the Italians at the tables on either side of us several times before asking if there was anything - bread, water, a beverage - we wanted. It was extremely hot out, and we had just arrived from Berlin. We chose this place only because it was down the block from our hotel and the reception desk had recommended it. The food was mediocre, poor even by Italian standards, but that would not have motivated me to write a review. The point was the rudeness bordering on contempt. Both Italian tables next to us got carafes of complimentary sparkling water, and when we asked for the same, we were told that the only sparkling water the restaurant had came in a bottle you had to pay for. This was quite obviously just the same sparkling water put into a reusable glass bottle with the name of the restaurant on it. We befriended one of the Italian tables next to us, who confirmed that they had received sparkling water without asking; when we asked them about the place, they said it was their first time there. Later, when I complained to the head waiter, he told me they were loyal customers and had been coming in day after day for months, hence the complimentary water. He also made up something about the Italians on the other side of us being workers or paying with a workers' card, as justification for their free perks. Anyway, the 3 euros was not a big deal, but the disrespect and unpleasantness lingered. I've rarely encountered people so willing to lie to my face and keep shifting the lie when caught in one. Perhaps for great - even just good - food I would have endured it, but I cannot see anything to...

I’m torn between giving them a 3 or 4 star - here’s why: Service I would say 4+ stars, not overly attentive, but they were prompt and courteous before and during our meal, and didn’t rush us afterwards. We ended up sitting next to another couple from the US and hit it off with them, so we stayed and chatted a while. The atmosphere inside I would describe as charming/cozy/warm. We sat outside and it was a very pleasant, nice dining space a I’d give that a solid 5 stars. They brought a complimentary aperitif before we ordered, everything seemed great. Then the food came. We both ordered the gnocchi with crab sauce special. My first hint that we could have made a mistake was that it showed up on our table in less than 5 minutes- I kid you not! I thought he might have accidentally given us another customers order, I even asked if that was ours. I took one bite and immediately regretted my decision. Now, I will tell you that my husband says that his was “not that bad”. I’m going to tell you that yes, mine was that bad. The gnocchi (I would call them petite gnocchi) were well over cooked, borderline mush. The “crab meat sauce” came from a jar, and if it didn’t then they need to rethink their recipe. It was that grey shredded crab meat that you would find in a can on the grocery store shelves. The sauce was a gelatinous goo. The portion size was fair enough, but in this case I left half on the plate - I finally tired of crunching on shell pieces. I would say 2 - 2 1/2 stars seems about right for our food. Now, the couple next to us ordered the Spaghetti Bolognese and it looked fine and they were cleaning their plates, so there you go. We just made a poor choice in ordering. Our bill came to 50€ for 2 entrees, water, 1/2L house wine and the comperto. Pretty typical pricing for Venice. If I had had a tasty meal here they would have gotten a solid 5 stars. Would I go back and give them another shot? No, too many other restaurants on the island...

Be careful if you don’t want to get yelled at!! We booked our table via Google with very short notice (~20 mins before we got there). The reservation got still confirmed and we went there. The person (which I think either was the chief waiter or the owner?) didn’t care about us when we first arrived so we sat at a random table. He came 10 mins later and told us (very rudely) that we needed to wait if we had a reservation so that he could show us our table. I think he was the one who needed to take care of the customer first but I thought nevermind. I told him my name, he checked it and told us we had no reservation, that he saw my name just now and that I needed to wait for a confirmation if I book via Google. I told him I got the confirmation. He said it was automatic and that it was my problem. Didnt offer any solution, was very aggressive and in the end even yelling at us telling “its your problem signora you cant book that late signora” showing us to leave with his hands aggressively, just because I said it is their problem and I that was surprised. It is no problem that technical mistakes happen but there are many other nicer friendly ways to handle these things. Very disappointed. Other waiters seemed...