All’ Arco

After a three hour train ride and over an hour trudging through the streets of Venice with our luggage, we needed to stop and get something to eat. All’Arco is in a fantastic location, not too far from the Rialto Bridge and right in between the train station and our hotel in the Castello district.
The place was packed, so my husband went in while the kids, luggage, and I stayed outside. Once my husband came back with a plate of different cicchetti, white wine, and an orange soda, and we were ready to chow. We weren’t sure of what we were eating besides the fact that all but one were vegetarian, but we enjoyed it greatly. Our cicchetti were simple but full of flavor.
Don’t expect much space to sit and enjoy your food either inside the place or outside. And don’t expect to get stuffed (unless you order way more food than we did). You will get great food and experience Venice at its finest at All’Arco.

Holy mother of sandwiches… the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my entire life. My favorite meal in all of Italy and the meal I dream about every now and then. I came here for the cicchetti, but fell in love with the vegetarian sandwich.
I was so tired of eating pasta and meat, so I asked them for something fresh and didn’t know what to expect at all, the outcome was a vegetarian sandwich. My sandwich was on a baguette, it contained a truffle-​like cheese, sauteed spinach, mushroom and other veggies and another type of cheese… not sure what type it was, but it resembles feta. Anyway, this sandwich was just amazing, the combination of flavors took my taste-​buds to another world. The bread was fresh and not hard, like most baguettes tend to be. The best part of this was the fact that there was no meat in the sandwich, I am typically a slower eater, but I scarfed this sammie down in about five minutes. I tried to slow myself down, I never wanted it to finish, but I couldn’t resist. I think it cost about 5 euros or so… very affordable, especially for an expensive city like Venice. If you’re a vegetarian and you want something affordable and delicious, I highly recommend the veggie sandwich from All’ Arco!

The most amazing open faced sandwiches — I forgot exactly what mine was, but something with truffle, cheese & mushroom. The best thing I ate in all of Venice. They had a nice selection out, but when I told them I was a vegetarian they were very helpful in making me something suitable to my diet. The food and the wine is very reasonably priced as well.

No better way to dive into Italian cuisine than to try cicchetti aka Venetian tapas. Cicchetti is basically just any variety of cured meats, cheese, fungi or different spreads on bread. We happened to walk by and saw a bunch of people standing around which can only indicate good food inside so we stopped in for a quick bite. We didn’t speak any Italian so we were glad there were already pre-​made examples in the little deli window so we pointed gleefully at the ones we wanted. We also order two glasses of red wine and stood at their small counter space to enjoy our food. We had four cicchetti and two glasses of wine amounting to a little over 10 €. Quaint little spot to grab a quick bite while exploring Venice.

Great small plates. 2.50 € house wines. Very nice, inexpensive, and out of the 10+ misto plates I’ve had in Italy, one of the best. According to some websites, this is the cheapest wine by the glass in Venice. Seems to be open during the siesta hours which can be hard to find.

An absolute MUST for Cicchetti & Prosecco in Venice!

Great Cicchetti, delicious and cheap wine, geniuenly friendly and helpful staff. You know it’s a good spot when it’s crowded by locals (or at least Italian tourists).

Eat as the venetians do with cicchetti! When they say hole in the wall they mean it with this place! Tucked into a narrow alley it feels like you have to be lost– and then there it is! The guys working were so friendly! I recommend giving them some idea what you like– meat, fish, veggies, cheese, or combo– and letting the chef make up some for you to try! We did and got to try a nice variety. Then we ordered a few more of our favorites. This is a great way to try a local spot and fill up on the go while avoiding the tourist traps that abound in Venice!

This is one of the finest Cicchetti places in Venice. Open from 8a-​3p (14:00) get there early at 12p to beat the rest of the crowds. The lovely staff speaks some English but do some brief research on Italian lingo so you can greet them properly! The food is outstanding! Get 10 or so Cicchetti (small tapas consisting of bruschetta with mixtures of cheese, meats, vegetables, or fish.) Try anything with Fish on it… this place does fish incredibly well. Get the house white or red and stand to the side with your fare. Cicchetti is traditionally eaten standing in a bar like setting… You are welcome!

All’ Arco should have more reviews but Unilocal doesn’t seem very popular in Venice. It is very popular on Trip Advisor with a 4.5 star rating with over 400 reviews. I agree with the reviews as this is a great spot to eat like the locals in Venice. It’s much cheaper than the touristy areas of St. Marks Square. It is just off the main drag by the Rialto bridge so it’s quite easy to find. You have to be willing to search and walk down a few alleys to find good food in Venice. The main option to each are the cicchetti which are small tapas and are around € 1.50 per. There isn’t a menu posted so just tell the chef hoe many you want and let him create them. For example we said we wanted 6 total including three veggie and three fish. They include different kinds of cheeses, meats, fish and veggies on a small piece of bread. We also got a few glasses of house wine for a total bill of € 14, which is very reasonable for Venice. At the cicchetti bars you won’t find many seats so be prepared to stand and mingle with the locals. No trip to Venice is complete without a cicchetti experience.

Man merkt dass das All’ Arco mittlerweile einem breiterem Touri-​Publikum bekannt ist: Gestresster, aber im noch zu lächeln versuchender Service, die Preise sind angehoben (aber immer noch ziemlich günstig), der angebotene Wein — naja die Bacari sind nicht gerade berühmt für ihre hochwertigen Weinangebote (grins). Fazit: ganz nett, mal was anderes, aber es gibt bessere Bacari…

Great experience overall, a little difficult to find. Ciccetti here, with the house white wine, was truly inspired and fun. All arco is run by a father and son, who really do seem to be having a good time. Get there early to snag a table (and a chair!). Very special!

The best thing I ate in Venice was a crostini at this little chicchetti bar. We went ‘bar hopping’ in this area for lunch and not only was it fun, but a fairly cheap way to try a variety of bites and I highly recommend the experience. This was the best place though, very cozy inside and you can essentially point out what you want to eat, almost like a bakery. My favorite was one with a white fish paste that was indescribably good. So good that hubby let me get another one, though we were supposed to be trying a bunch of different things. And all of the other crostini we got were great. They were also making some special salads/​small dishes upon requests of what I assume were regular patrons. You stand and savor, there are a few places to set food down and a couple tables outside.
Now for the bar part. Great wines at probably the cheapest prices we found in Venice or most of Italy. So great that we went back for a predinner drink. I don’t do the same place twice when I’m on a trip, but I couldn’t resist. And it’s funny because they recognized us too :)
I can’t believe this wasn’t on Unilocal — I tried to search but no success. It’s #2 on TripAdvisor though, and for very good reason. Definitely check this place out!