Closed Wednesday afternoon
For the best bang-for-the-buck dining in Venice, why not visit this fantastic bakery and pick up a sandwich. Claudio Crosara bakes the best bread and grissini (pencil-thin breadsticks) in the city, and the scent of baking in the shop is almost intoxicating. Claudio's wife, Adriana, is behind the counter and will slice rolls open and stuff them with salumi or cheese. Purchase Venetian cookies, perhaps cornmeal-raisin zaletti, for dessert.

Closed Sunday evening and Monday
Locals stop off at Bancogiro (in the heart of the Rialto market, under the arched, 16th-century portico) and sit at the counter or outdoor tables for a glass of superb wine and cicchetti between meals. They also dine upstairs (pricier than snacking, but still not too expensive) off a menu that features fish dishes such as steamed seafood salad (perfect crustaceans and mollusks, dressed with superior olive oil and parsley) or a sea-bass carpaccio. Andrea will help snackers choose an appropriate wine from the vast wine list.

Closed Sunday evening and Monday

Cavatappi is a tiny bar with a few tables outside. Clients snack on crostini (bread rounds with toppings), triangular tramezzini sandwiches, fantastic artisanal Italian cheese, and salumi, paired with dozens of fine wines from all over Italy, by the glass. At lunchtime, hot dishes are served ?risotto, soup, or braised meats. Dinner is more expensive, with fish options such as tuna tagliata (cut in a thick steak) with balsamic vinegar. The fixed-price menu at lunch is a bargain.

Closed in the winter

Rather than pay through the nose for gelato at a restaurant, purchase a cone or a cup to go at Nico or Paolin, considered the city's best gelaterie. Or for a real gelato thrill, take the vaporetto to Lido and find Gelateria Tita, where owners Cina and her brother Lino make stunning treats, including their specialty ?Torta Tita, a cake of custard and chocolate-hazelnut gelato with crispy meringue in its center. Buy a whole cake or slices. Photo: Courtesy of Gelateria Tita

Closed Sunday and Monday
Vini da Pinto is easy to spot ?tables are set for diners in a small piazza with a view of the Rialto fish market's bustling portico. There's an indoor counter for snacking and more tables in a backroom for sit-down meals. There's no decor to speak of and the wine isn't anything to write home about, but those concerns evaporate when paired with cicchetti like whipped salt cod or portabella mushroom on bread rounds. Lunch will be more expensive than snacking.