Ostaria dai Zemei

This is the classic Venetian wine bar where you drink, laugh, meet nice people, enjoy amazing wines, and many other beverages with low cost, freshly made, delicious ingredients. I can’t remember what we ate though everything was tried at least once. Interior is clean and classic. Service is lively and friendly. Atmosphere is friendly and warm. It’s a must see and do.

If you are looking for the best place to get cicchetti in Venice this is it! They only do cicchetti and there is a reason: that's all you need! Our favorites were ones in the picture! The one with radicchio salad and spicy "new fish" is exceptional! Also make sure to get a Select Spritz as well!

Female staff was super patient and welcoming when asked for suggestions 🤝 Pigeons flying overhead 🦅 and male staff were vibe killers😥. However redeemed cuz the drinks and food were great 🍹👌

Very tasty seafood cichetti. They have photos of twins posted inside the place. Good spot for a quick bite.

Stopped by Ostaria dai Zemei and ended up staying way longer than planned—couldn’t get enough of the cicchetti and Aperol Spritz! Super chill vibes, friendly staff, and seriously tasty bites. Felt like a local hangout in the best way. Would 100% go back!

Delicious, fresh and inventive cicchetti. The staff is friendly and efficient. The Aperol spritz were tasty, too. A great spot to drop in for a quick snack or light lunch. You can go inside and choose your own or let the staff make selections for you. We chose to spin the dice and loved what he brought us. We will definitely go back to try the rest of the options…their choices were vast. 2 Aperol spritz and 4 cicchetti for €20 is a bargain.

The highlight of the stay was the variety of cicchetti and how delicious they were! The staff was super friendly and kind. Recommended!

Absolutely 5 stars! This place perfectly captures the authentic flavors of Italy. The fish and meat sandwiches are made with fresh, high-quality ingredients, and the bread is always perfectly baked—crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I especially enjoyed the tuna and Italian ham options; every bite was bursting with flavor and clearly prepared with care. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed, giving off a true Italian vibe, and although the service can be a bit slow, it’s always attentive and polite. With sandwiches priced around 2-3 euros, the value for money is unbeatable. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to experience a little taste of Italy!

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