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Vicenza has a good selection of restaurants, some which highlight the region’s unique cuisine. Unfortunately, we only had a couple days in town and couldn’t try all of the places we wanted. Here’s where we ate:
Osteria Veneto’s
Our first lunch was at Osteria Veneto’s. Set in a cellar in the historic city center, Veneto’s offers dishes from the Veneto region. We thought it would be a good introduction to local cuisine.
Our first dish was a calamari salad that we shared. It was a nice start and everything was very fresh.
As a main course, I had bigoli with meat sauce while Marisol had barbecued ribs over polenta. Overall, we thought the food was bland and we weren’t completely satisfied.
Bar Borsa
For dinner that night, we ate at Bar Borsa, which is restaurant and bar located at the historic Palladian Basilica on Piazza dei Signori. We sat outside under a heating lamp and enjoyed the lively atmosphere while having a nice local cocktail.
We started with an appetizer which was good but I can’t remember what it was, and shared a flavorless green soup along with a chicken dish. Other than the soup, we were happy with the meal.
Osteria Vicolo Santa Barbara
Our second lunch was at Osteria Vicolo Santa Barbara, a small family restaurant hidden in an alley near Piazza dei Signori. It was filled with locals so we thought it had to be good. We ordered the rotini with Italian sausage and fettuccine with porcini mushrooms. They turned out to be two delicious and very inexpensive pasta dishes.
Al Ritrovo
For our second dinner, we had our favorite meal in Vicenza at Al Ritrovo. It’s located across the street from the Duomo. We had to wait a bit to be seated but it was well worth it.
Every table was full but a spot opened up on a bench near the entrance. We sat down and placed our order. We started with some of the most delicious scallops we’ve ever eaten along with a Greek salad. The salad wasn’t as good as I expected.
My main course was spaghetti with seafood and Marisol had fried seafood and smelt served in a paper bag. We finished it off by sharing a plate of chocolate gelato topped with berries.
Both of our meals were spectacular and service was excellent. I could honestly say it wasn’t just the best meal we had in Vicenza, but one of the best during our entire trip to Italy. Had we stayed another day, we probably would have eaten there again.
