A historic spot serving cicchetti and wine since 1944 – as soon as you walk in, you’ll notice it’s part osteria, part wine shop, with a huge selection of mostly local labels lining the counter, and a beautiful all-wood interior. Behind the counter is Alessandra, who has invented around 70 cicchetti of her own, ranging from classics to more daring combinations.

We couldn’t skip the baccalà mantecato, one of the classics and the one we’d been told was especially good here – and they were right. It’s also a dish with a great story: it was born out of a shipwreck. In 1431, Venetian merchant Pietro Querini washed up on Norway’s Lofoten Islands, where locals showed him how they preserved cod by drying it. He brought the technique home to Venice, where it quickly caught on for being cheap, long-lasting, and needing no refrigeration. What started as a poor man’s food is now considered refined – the original recipe has the fish whipped by hand with olive oil until it turns into a smooth cream, and getting that consistency just right is no easy feat.

Bacareto da Lele is one of the most famous bacari in Venice, and also one of the most authentic. It’s tiny, always packed, and the service is friendly, if a little chaotic. There’s no seating – you either grab a spot on the church steps outside or stand. Here they serve small panini with all sorts of fillings, so you just pick based on what you’re craving, plus a glass of wine, obviously. It’s super cheap, and honestly, the bread isn’t the best you’ll ever have – but the atmosphere makes up for it, energetic and genuinely convivial. This is a place where true Venetians, tourists, students, and workers all end up side by side, no barriers, no differences, the real spirit of the bacaro.