Ostaria dai Zemei

This family-owned restaurant offers the best bruschettas in the world! The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, and you can truly taste the passion in every bite. The combination of fresh ingredients and perfect seasoning makes their bruschettas unforgettable. A must-visit for anyone who loves authentic and delicious food!🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

Craving a light pre-flight bite, we stumbled upon a gem - Ostaria dai Zemei. This local dive specializes in Cicchetti, Venetian tapas served on bite-sized pieces of bread. Imagine a dazzling display of over 50 toppings, each a symphony of fresh, seasonal ingredients. Choosing just a few proved near impossible! Thankfully, you can't go wrong here. We ignored the initial decision paralysis and dove right in, starting with five Cicchetti each. Each bite was a delightful explosion of flavor - creamy burrata with sun-dried tomatoes, succulent grilled shrimp with pesto, and delicate artichoke hearts drizzled with olive oil. We quickly realized five wouldn't suffice, and soon found ourselves savoring eight pieces each. Ostaria dai Zemei offers a true taste of Venice. The lively atmosphere buzzes with locals enjoying this delicious and affordable tradition. With each piece costing only 2.5 euros, it's a budget-friendly way to experience authentic Venetian cuisine.

I went in to ask how it worked, they were very clear and helpful in finding me a seat, letting me know the prices, and explaining the various eats. Personally, the pumpkin mushroom, artichoke anchovy, and prosciutto olive tapenade bites were the best. Got an excellent gin lemon as well. Like elsewhere, pay inside! A must-go, especially if you have, or are twins! Bring a photo for their collection and ask about it

Such a quaint and cozy corner in Venice. The sharing tapas was not only good food but also an experience. The cured meats and fish used were fresh and tasted so good. I really enjoyed everything that I tried. Highly recommend this place as a breakfast or brunch place.

- Excellent service and thank you for all the recommandations from the waiter. - Cicchetti: one of the lost original food combinations and diversity was unmatched. A lot of options with different proteins (cheese, ham, fish etc), with different vegetables (such as eggplant, etc) - Great spritz! - Great location!

Excellent Cicchetteria tipica. Could improve service! We stayed close by, so this place was perfect for good coffee and out of the ordinary bites. We set outside, wooden chairs and small table (a bit too small for 4 coffees and 4 small plates we ordered, and yet they refused to add a table .. kinda "deal with it attitude) BUT the Crustinis were REAALLY GREAT! Worth the lack of service.

Amazing cicchettis, the pistachio cheese one was life changing. Super fresh ingredients all around, and it was cool to see the staff making them in the side room. Great place to sit outside and watch the world go by with good coffee and delicious (very filling!) snacks.

We stopped in for Cicchetto, all of which were good. They have outside seating.

Probably my favorite place I visited to sit, relax and people watch the whole time I was in Italy. There is a wide variety of cicchetti and they're all out of this world. The service is amazing. They work HARD here. The pricing is very reasonable for what you get. I had to force myself to try other places otherwise I would have been here every day.

This place is unique and interesting. The inside is small but you can order food and drinks there and find a table outside. We ordered 8 different types of Cicchetti and they were all really good. My favorite one is the asparagus with anchovy it was different but really good. Also had a glass of wine and a latte. But be aware the pigeons are very close by and can fly to your chair and table that's why it's a unique experience but they are part of the charm of this place lol sorry I took many photos of angles

Skip the other spots and come here. They have a rotation of new cichetti and they're all fresh and delicious. They're reasonably priced too. We had nice cichetti and a spritz for less than €25. There are plenty of veggie options too. Some examples we had were pumpkin and mushroom, bacalao, ham and tomato, and salami with spicy pepper. The locals go here!

All of the crostini were either good or great. We loved the tuna so much, we ordered seconds!

Stopped for a quick snack on a weekday morning. Nice variety of crudites. The anchovy on broccoli tapenade was a surprising combination of flavors. The cod was a more subtle alternative to tuna salad. Gorgonzola was just mildly spicy.

We came here because All Arco was closed... and we hit the jackpot. Welcome to cichetti heaven. Friendly staff, chill setting and great seating to people watch. Go inside to order because looking and pointing is far easier than deciphering the menu. I liked the nice touches like red carnations and the staff was so friendly. Order all the cheeses...especially if you see blue cheese! They know how to make combos that are both interestingly delicious and visually pleasing. Very affordable.

This was one of my favorite bars for cicchetti during my recent trip to Venice. We ordered several different types of crostini - some with meat, some with cheese, etc.. The tuna ones were my favorite. We grabbed some spots on the street and watched the world go by while sipping on wine and eating our cicchetti, and it was a perfectly pleasant experience. Wine and spritz prices were reasonable, beer was a little more. There is a restroom that the server will buzz you into if you are a customer.

Omg the small plates here are amazing!!! We didn't do a full meal here, just stopped in for a spritz and a few bites to eat and couldn't have been more surprised by the flavorful explosions in our mouths. It was so good, definitely stop by here.

Stopped here for a quick snack. The crostini are excellent - we enjoyed the classic tuna and the spicy ham. The croquets were quite good as well. Coffee is meh though - would suggest going for beer/wine instead if you gonna get drinks. Quite cheap overall. Service could be improved.

I have a little obsession with chichetti, and it all started with Osteria Dai Zemei. Less than a 5-minute walk from my apartment in San Polo, I would pass by this Osteria multiple times a day, with their assortment of chichetti beautifully displayed in glass cases. I would eat chichetti every day if I could. One day for lunch, my partner and I went a little overboard and selected a variety of a dozen chichetti for us to sample. Each one was delicious but we also had a few favorites: feta with onion jam, tuna, and the prosciutto slider. Also great about this osteria is they provide drinks to go. So I was also able to have a panache on my walk back through San Polo.

Ended up here because we were lost and late for chichetti at another location.... and we're so glad! The staff were very kind and helpful and the chichetti were fresh and varied. My favorite was the Gorgonzola with crushed pistachios but there were lots of delicious meats and cheeses and fish too! (If you are a twin, bring a photo - they have photos of twins tacked up everywhere. Maybe they'll hang yours too.)

I can't even begin to mention the countless hours I spent sitting at Ostaria Dai Zemei while visiting Venice a few years ago. It's just that sort of place really. It's frighteningly easy to loose yourself here, finding suddenly that you've lost the better part of day in the bottom of a wine glass after a busy morning exploring the local streets. If you're visiting Venice & on the look-out for somewhere to sit & watch the world go by, all the while sipping on Aperol Spritz & eating an incredible array of cicchetti, then this is your place. The food here is genuinely delightful, little bites of pure magic that will frequently send you back to the counter on a pilgrimage for more. The selection of cicchetti are countless, each one vibrant, brilliant in their simplicity & inspired. I adore everything about this place. It's magic.

Love this little chicheitti spot on the way to Rialto bridge from my apartment in Frari. We tried several small bruchettas and they were bursting with flavor.. My favorite was the cheese and onion jelly.. The server was friendly and service was quick.. Great spot for enjoying the many flavors of venice. From salami, sardines, and tuna to jellied onions and cheese.. Sweet or Savory.. they have it all..love a the pictures of twins posted on the walls..

Amazing!!!! Everything I wanted in Venice. I came twice. Once for lunch and once for breakfast. Typical crostini place. Breakfast I had a cappuccino and the salmon crostini. Lunch, a spritz and 4 random crostini. Everything was fresh and delicious. Pick the bites at random. You won't be disappointed. Eating at the counter like I did will save you the table service fee which is found at most Italian places. However, it's super cheap and affordable and a great find!!

Excellent Cappuccino, savory cicchetti-open faces sandwiches and charismatic venue. The owner and his staff were very friendly.

Try all the bruschettas, why notttt you're in Venice! We stopped in for breakfast- coffee and beer all bruschetta was good but wished bread was toasted a little, but it's an Italian thing haha

Absolutely amazing! I never like to go to the same place more than once when traveling and decided to come back because they were THAT GOOD!! Plus, you can't beat the deal you get here - worth much more than you pay.

Cicchetti good but drinks pricey. You gotta have cicchetti in Venice. We think its most like our happy hours in the United States. This place has some really good cicchetti but the drinks were over priced. Service was average. Not as good as the other cicchetti places we went.

We stopped by and had six snacks with varied toppings, ham, cheeses and jams. They were all delicious and cheap, we drank prosecco and beer, enjoyed everything!

Delicious! Friendly service and amazing assortment of food. One of the few places that we had to visit a second time on our trip.

Really brilliant little place, so small but with a really friendly welcome and artistry with bruschetta! We were alerted to Dai Zamei by the Lonely Planet Guide and we were really impressed. Somewhat frazzled by the difficulty of finding a good value eatery in Venice we were blown away by the prices and the quality at DZ. After a little difficulty in expressing our ideas in Italian we were guided in English to through the delicious little bites that were the bruschetta. I can't recall everything we ate but one included spider crab and another pickled fish along with shredded vegetables and ........well suffice to say they were all delicious. As my partner doesn't eat meat and we wanted to share we only ate the fishy and veggy ones but they were outstanding. Not onlly that but the Prosecco we had with the bruschetta was a really good one. The owners were really helpful and friendly and not at all put off by our clumsy Italian and indecisiveness. I cannot recommend it highly enough and will definitely go back when we visit again. Highly recommended!

Super fresh and delicious food. The crostini were amazing and the service was great as well. Definitely worth a stop!

We went to a bunch of chichetti places. Some were closed as this was back in March and that is offseason. This was the best place. I think the owner and his daughter were there. Everything was delicious here, and everything was cheap. I paid 3 euro for a delicious glass of wine. Chichetti 1-2 euro I think. Everything was very nice and the service was friendly