Venice has no shortage of elegant and expensive dining establishments, but it’s always fun to visit an informal bacaro or cicchetteria. Found all over the city, these wine bars usually have no table service (and sometimes no tables at all). You order food and drink at the counter. There might be a handwritten wine list, but sometimes you’ll just have to ask for “un bicchiere di vino bianco secco, per favore” (“a glass of dry white wine, please”).

Along with wine, there’s usually a case of premade bites, called cicchetti. Most of the time, you’ll find bruschetta with delicious and creative toppings: tomatoes with crumbly pecorino; whitefish salad; tuna salad with a hard-boiled egg; or mortadella with stracciatella and pistachio (my personal favorite). I also have a difficult time resisting polpette fritte (fried meatballs).

Once you pay a few euro for your astonishingly affordable wine and snacks, you can find a spot to enjoy your bounty. Most of these establishments are tiny, but they usually have a few places indoors to stand up at the bar. In the summer, you’ll often find a handful of tables and chairs set up outside, or if the bar is along a canal, you might see people sitting on the balustrade.

On our recent trip, we visited more than a dozen of these casual wine bars on a quest to find the best. In general, we found that bacari fell into one of three categories: great food and wine but an inferior ambience, great ambience but inferior food and wine or the rare golden ticket of great food and wine and a great ambience. (Surprisingly in this touristy town, we didn’t find any that had both inferior food and wine and an inferior ambience).

In general, the more crowded a bacaro, the fresher the food and the livelier the vibe. Even at the busiest bars, the staff were friendly, patient and helpful, and they didn’t expect us to speak Italian. We often chatted with other patrons, enjoying the convivial atmosphere. (Of course, if you’d rather visit with a local, the Travel Office can set you up with a private tour.)

Of all the wine bars we patronized — sometimes three or four in a day — these were our favorites.

Vino Vero

Built-in shelves filled with wine bottles line this minuscule space. In the summer heat, I decided on a zippy Gewürztraminer and then considered the display case stocked with mouthwatering cicchetti. I was pleased to see so many vegetarian options and chose a bruschetta with pumpkin purée and gorgonzola along with my go-to of mortadella and pistachio. Even though the bar was busy, a table along the canal opened up right as we paid, and we enjoyed our snacks in comfortable canvas chairs under the shade of an umbrella. A divine afternoon stop.

Vino Vero
Fondamenta della Misericordia 2497, Cannaregio. Tel. (39) 041-275-0044

Al Timon

Fondamenta de la Misericordia, where Vino Vero is located, is packed with bars and casual osterias. On a Saturday afternoon in summer, it bustled with young Italians — just enough people to feel festive but not overcrowded. We made our way along the fondamenta to Al Timon, a spot recommended by a trusted friend that is thankfully left off most “best of” lists. We were happy we made the trek to this part of town, where we sipped Trebbiano at a table by the canal. We liked it here so much that we stayed for another round, when a fresh batch of polpette fritte caught my eye. They were decadently delicious.

Al Timon
Fondamenta dei Ormesini 2754, Cannaregio. Tel. (39) 041-524-6066

Cantine del Vino già Schiavi

I’ve been visiting this wine bar in Dorsoduro for years, but its popularity is ever-increasing. It’s now on seemingly every travel writer’s list and is noticeably more touristy than any of the others we visited. But that doesn’t mean you should skip it. For less than 10 euro, we both got a glass of wine and two cicchetti. I opted for a bruschetta topped with whitefish salad and one with marinated radicchio and ricotta salata. We ate standing up inside at the narrow bar along the wine-filled shelves, but patrons spilled out onto the street, leaning against the canal wall. (A romantic scene, but we didn’t want to drink out of plastic glasses.) On my next visit, I’ll also stop by Osteria al Squero, just a few doors down.

Cantine del Vino già Schiavi 
Fondamenta Nani 992, Dorsoduro. Tel. (39) 041-523-0034

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While the three bacari above merit going out of your way to visit, a few more central ones also deserve consideration if you’re in the neighborhood. We were delighted by the delectable snacks and wine at our peaceful outdoor table at Combo — until we ventured inside to use the bathroom and realized it was inside a hostel. Mamma mia! I have a reputation to maintain. La Cantinetta was a delicious discovery in Santa Croce, but it felt odd that we were the only patrons at prime cocktail hour. I suspect it was because this bar was noticeably more expensive than all the others, though the food and drinks were worth it. Bacaro Risorto had subpar food and wine, but we loved the lively atmosphere at its outdoor tables clustered in a tiny piazza. The friendly staff and patrons make this a place worthwhile for a spritz on the way to dinner, but skip the cicchetti.