Ristorante Antica Besseta

Late night dining in Venice. We came late so missed out on a clam and mushroom risotto but had a strong tube pasta pesto, taglioni with duck ragout (fantastic), fish of the day, sea bream carpaccio, pasta with clams, and some interesting celery sorbet with tequila and solid tiramisu. The service was friendly and they brought some dessert treats on the house. They were also good about serving us even though we came in very close to closing time and we were the last ones to leave the place.

The restaurants in Venice are quaint and charming with incredible character, and Antica Besseta is no exception. The wait staff were so kind and helpful in choosing our meals and wine/beer selections. Our appetizer was surprisingly wonderful! Americans don't generally choose small fish and shrimp salads, but this was amazing! The duck pasta was also absolutely exceptional! It's one of those dishes you come back for. We found the portion size to be quite small, but 100% worth the price paid. I had the beef strips, which I didn't care for. The beef was cooked well, but was chewy and somewhat tough. The desserts were oh so good - tiramisu and a layered vanilla cream, raspberry and buttery crust combination. All in all, we'll return this week; I'll just opt for a different dish.

wonderful restaurant, exceptional service, & great atmosphere. best meal we had in Venice. 3 of us ordered the 6 course chefs choice meal & had exceptional fresh seafood dishes highly recommend

2nd oldest trattoria in Venice, while walking around we stopped by this restaurant. Waited for 2 hours for their 7pm operating time and we had one of the best pasta 🍝 and seafood starters. Love this moment.

Our hotel recommended this restaurant for dinner. It was the best meal we had in Venice. The scallop starter was out of this world! It was absolutely the best dish I've had in years. We finished the meal with the millefoglie dessert which was puffy pastry, creme, and raspberries. I recommend it as well, so good! Definitely eat here when you're in Venice!

We had such a lovely evening here, the service, food, wine, atmosphere was great! Very romantic

We ended up trying the tasting menu and everyone had a fantastic time. I think it was the best risotto I had in Italy, and the desserts were amazing. The waiter was very attentive and kind. I would really recommend visiting this for a nice meal.

Far from the usual walken paths, an authentic gem of local cuisine! The decor gives a glimpse into the past! Best sea clams antipasto we ever tried!

Skip it, service sucks, we had the most condescending waiter, dude with ear length hair. Just not worth it.

Perhaps the best meal we had in Venice. Definitely the best squid ink spaghetti I've ever had. Upon leaving, I also got stuck in the men's washroom. The lock had some tolerance issues and just didn't want to open. The employees had to intervene to let me out.

Best meal we had in Venice and one of the top meals we had in Italy. Amazing food. Good atmosphere. Chef's choice was perfect. Stop in if you have a chance.

Not worth the hunt to find this place We sat down and were immediately swarmed by Fruit flies. We ordered 2 glasses of wine to start. This was the smallest pour I have seen. We ordered the risotto with scallops, pumpkins and mushrooms because it sounded delicious. Unfortunately is was tasteless and I do not think there was one whole scallop if you put all the pieces together. We then ordered the stuffed squid because we were told it was stuffed with tomatoes, vegetables and cheese. We got grilled octopus that was not even on the menu. It was flavorful but too tough to chew. We had a hard time finding this place. I am sorry we found it.

After a week of eating our way through Alto Adige/Südtirol, our stomachs were good and ready for a big final meal in Venice, and what a treat it was to end our Italian vacation here at Antica Besseta. My husband and I each ordered a first course, main, and a dessert, and everything was done to perfection. We started with a pumpkin gnocchi with caramelized red onions and just enough broccoli rabe (me) and bacala (reconstituted dried salted cod) and polenta (him). The flavors were balanced and addicting. My main course of sea bass cooked in a "packet" (literally steamed or sous vide'd inside of a plastic bag that our server cut open tableside!) with tomatoes and other veggies was light and utterly fresh. My husband had their beef and was also impressed with its freshness and flavor--and he was raised on a cattle ranch in Wyoming, so he has high standards for beef! Upon our server's recommendation, we added some vegetables as a side dish, and we were not disappointed: a slate board of well-balanced bitter and sweet greens was the perfect accompaniment to our mains. For dessert I ordered the small cookies and (locally made) dessert wine, and my husband finally got his tiramisu, lovingly presented with fresh berries and physalis. The servers gave us a double or triple serving of cookies, so we sat for as long as possible dipping them into the amber-colored dessert wine and savoring our last night in Venice. At the very end, when we thought we couldn't eat any more, the front of house manager (or who I thought was the FOH manager, at least) came over and poured some handmade violet candies into our cookie dish. These gem-colored local goodies made me want to hunt down the candy maker (near the Rialto Bridge, I was told) and buy them by the pound. The total cost of this meal for two (two bottles of water, first courses, main courses, side dish, desserts, and dessert wine, including cuperto [cover charge]) was only 120 Euros--a very high value for the quality and amount of food that you receive. Our server (I think his name was Claudio) was so friendly, sharing pictures of his own recent trip to Alto Adige and recommendations from the menu. I highly recommend this small place in Santa Croce for the warm service and incredibly fresh and delicious food. And you can make a reservation online via their website!

The service was good and the food was good but the portions were small and the prices relatively high so not worth it.

So amazing and delicious, a new age twist on classic Italian cuisine! The atmosphere is great. We were a little under dressed, but the servers were as equally kind to us as they were to everyone else. For a bottle of wine, appetizer, two main courses, and a second course we were under 115€

The year was 1997...I was living in Italy at the time. My sister and brother-in-law came to visit and we took the train up to Venice from Florence. The month was August...what can I say....BOILING hot!! We had been walking all day....our feet were killing us...we were hungry... I referred to the DK Eyewitness Venice guidebook...thanks to this guidebook!! We found Antica Besseta. Now....this is 15 years ago...yes, we were hungry...but we had the best dinner. The squid ink pasta was amazing...someone, I think my hubby (then boyfriend) had the pasta with crab....but everything was just so delicious....in between the courses, they served this palate cleansing pink coloured ice, served in a dainty glass on a white doily/white porcelain plate....well, all's a little blurry now, we started with glasses of Prosecco....we were tired and hungry....right, already typed that.... ALL four of us were extremely impressed. We were all raised by parents who know what yumminess means....not in the snooty manner.... 15 years later, we are still raving about them....recommending them to friends. We hope to return for a meal soon...

The ravioli was splendid! The veal filet was also very delicious. The desserts were equally exceptional. I highly recommend the millefoglie.

This is a wonderful little restaurant in a quite street off the beaten path. It has a lovely row of table along the wall on one side of a quiet little street plus a nice interior. Service is excellent. They have outstanding pasta of the highest quality. Side dishes such as the roasted vegetables (cooked beautifully, just the right amount and a nice range of different vegetables) and dessert are excellent. They have a small selection of excellent Italian craft beer and they treat very respectfully, as if a rare wine vintage, so this is a great place to go for some good beer . They have wine, of course, too, but we're mostly beer drinkers, so we know about the beer.

Great local restaurant. Our favorite appetizer was the buffalo mozzarella was creamy and delicious. I ordered the turbot fish and they served it with spinach, very tasty and healthily. The pasta and the tuna were out of this world. I highly recommend this restaurant.

This place has definitively the best pasta I've eaten in my almost two weeks in Italy. We found it by turning on every street that didn't have people and were eventually hit by hunger, so we just went to the first place we saw and had no expectations. I started with a refreshing bellini and cichetti, but my partner wanted 'real' food so ordered the zucchini and shrimp paccheri. My mind was BLOWN. I thought I knew what al dente meant before- I've had high quality Italian food from all over the world, but this paccheri redefined it for me. Whatever light olive oil they topped it off with packed so much complex umami flavor. The shrimp was perfectly cooked, tender, and juicy. The slivered zucchini balanced it all out. Also the server we had was really friendly and helped us choose the perfect grappa. If this paccheri is still on the menu when you go, you need to order it.

Prices are really high, but all the food we ordered was really excellent. The place was empty but all tables on the outside were labeled as Reserved, I did not understand that. Staff was very kind, the sea food Venetian style was the best for me.

My mother-in-law had eaten here 30 years ago and she wanted to return. We ate a mix of things, mostly fish. I chose some kind of sausage pasta and I wouldn't recommend that because it was very greasy but the fish dishes were very good.

Exceptional food in Venice. The staff is knowledgeable and do a fine job of pairing wines to each course. It is not a cicchetti bar, but if you are looking for fine dining in Venice, this is your place.

A mandatory spending restaurant.The taste is not good! Foreman also cold,bad attitude.I don't know what and where is your arrogant.

As far as restaurants go, our experience was extremely poor, and not just for Venice, I'm referring to restaurants anywhere. We started off with a waiter that I can only assume is still in training because his performance was abysmal. To begin, he would not serve our bread until we had put our napkins on our laps. Now, generally, that's something we do before we eat, but never in my life have I had a waiter demand I put my napkin on my lap before he placed the bread on the table! Then, we asked for dressing for our salads and he told us they had already been dressed, however, it was clear they hadn't been dressed because we had started eating them and they were dry as can be. Then, he insulted us because we didn't eat every single item in our salad bowls. We also had to ask multiple times for our drinks to be served (which were not served at all until after the salads were taken away) aside from the Prosecco he all but forced on us. I like Prosecco, don't get me wrong, but we never actually ordered it! He decided what we wanted and walked off without waiting to hear our answer! Our main dishes were overpriced: my husband ordered a meat dish that was mostly fat and he had trouble picking out the edible parts. My dish was incredibly bitter even though it was sea bass and should have been quite light. The waiter kept hovering over us every few minutes; it was fascinating that he was always around and yet wasn't capable of taking a basic order in a timely fashion. Once we got our bill we realized we were charged 12 Euros just to be seated as some sort of built-in gratuity. I expect this sort of thing with big parties, but we were a group of three, so this came as quite a surprise. To add insult to injury, the ladies room had clearly been used by the staff (I say this with confidence since we were the only people in the restaurant for the duration of our stay) and no one had thought to at least flush the toilet or put soap in the dispenser. If I'm going to pay upwards of 30 Euros for a main course, I expect to have a decent bathroom at least. All in all, Venice is a lovely city with many wonderful restaurants, so you're best off skipping this one entirely!