Antico Pignolo

Our servers at Lavenna recommended it based on our preference-​great food with a nice ambiance. The food was cooked to perfection. We ordered our server’s recommendations which were all seafood based-​scallops and spider crab for appetizers, spaghetti with seafood, and a seafood mix platter whereby the monk fish was the star, but the rest was stellar. Do yourself a favor and order the soufflé when you place your order because it’s the best soufflé you’ll have (at 20 euro pp). Their service was also wonderful. Stellar, stellar place!

We had an excellent time at this traditional Italian restaurant in Venice. The wine list was huge and offered excellent selection. The scallops veneto were a huge hit at the table and worth getting. The fried potatoes wiht the veal were also amazing and the four cheese penne was a hit with the kids. The service was excellent as well

The coziness of Venice’s romantic streets defines the ambiance of Antico Pignolo.
Chosen as a welcome dinner spot by our tour guide we found our experience here an early vacation highlight. Working with a special — but not limited — menu we decided to share our selections A grand idea as all choices worked — some better than others
By far the outstanding choice — a Veal Ragu appetizer — so uniquely flavorful and fresh we would’ve been perfectly satisfied with this selection alone. A «John Dory» fillet in a light marinara sauce was another home run as was the cod selection
Defined as a «Fried Seafood Appetizer» a fried calamari platter was presented. The calamari was exceptionally fresh while accompanying vegetables added perfect flavor to this selection
We found both a seafood platter main selection and buffalo mozzarella appetizer platters to be a step below the above mentioned selections although the tomatoes were quite fresh
The dinner included the house bottles of red and white — fine selections to accompany the food. A delicious chocolate tiramisu with espresso a fitting end to this «welcome to Venice» dinner
Again — The restaurant is hamdsome old school Italy with dated used pots hanging from its ceiling.
The waiters themselves were entertaining chating frantically amongst themselves while serving everyone.

Antica Pignolo is an excellent restaurant just a few blocks from St. Mark’s square. We went at the recommendation of the concierge at our hotel. I’m glad we did. The food was excellent and portions were right sized. We sat in their garden room, outside, under umbrellas in a wonderful setting. The prices are a bit high but the food is very good. The wait staff is a bit inconsistent and we even witnessed two waiters having a verbal altercation. It took way too long to get a bill from the waiter. I hate it when they don’t know (or care) how to close them. The service is what dropped Antico Pignolo to 4 stars.

Wife and I ate here at the end of our first day in Venice, ostensibly because it was adjacent to the hotel we were staying at. In short, fantastic meal. Culinary highlight of our trip to Italy. Started off with the octopus salad — light bite & super fresh & tasty octopus. For pasta course — I had the Sicilian spaghetti (homage to my Sicilian heritage) and that was the best dish of the trip. Wife had the gnocchi — good, but not as good as the Sicilian spaghetti. Finished off with cuttle fish, wife had the branzino. Both were good, but have to admit by then we were already stuffed. No room for dessert. The cheaper pinot grigio was not available, so had to buy the more expensive bottle — it was good, although perhaps not 50 euro good. Dining al fresco on their terrace was a great change, after hiding indoors all summer from West Nile Virus-​carrying skeeters in Texas. It’s expensive, but hey, it is Venice after all.

Beautiful old world restaurant, smiling, personal service, in a city where it’s all too easy to get lost in a maze of streets and canals and be caught up in sights centuries old.
Antico Pignolo is a little gem tucked away on a narrow street, its front more akin to an elegant little pub than a restaurant. What’s astonishing is how this narrow space leads to a garden and a boat dock on the canal — if you wished you could arrive here by gondola, though the garden itself always seems full, so coming early for your reservation seems a must if you want to dine under the stars.
What I liked was how the maitre d’ rushed to make every diner feel welcome, personally supervised everything from grinding the pepper himself to the wine selections. The food itself felt fresh, simple, authentic. The star of the show was easily the scampi and zucchini risotto with saffron. A tad pricey, but the risotto alone was worth it. The rest of it was marinated salmon carpaccio with fennel, sea bream, and a wonderful pasta. The meal was beautifully accompanied by an affordable Pinot Grigio from the restaurant’s considerably extensive (3000+ wines) cellar.