Tiny place located on the Grand Canal. It has an Old World upscale vibe. The food was good, but extremely over priced. We were recommended the special, which was baked fish that we could share. We were informed that it was 90€, so we ordered it along with pasta carbonara and lasagna and water. The fish was delicious, seasoned well and was large enough to feed three people. The carbonara was ok, but to me, the egg yolk that is added was so strong smelling that I couldn't continue eating it. When we got the bill it was 260€. Apparently the fish was 90€ per person. Had I known that I would have stuck to the menu, or better yet, kept walking away from the Grand Canal into the alley ways. There are plenty of good restaurants that are a fraction of the cost. Live and learn. read more

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The location on the Grand Canal is lovely and in spite of being amid the hordes of people on the Rialto Bridge is set up to make you feel tucked away from the crowd. The waiters were attentive and we had a great wine. The menu was the usual Venetian lineup of black squid with polenta, various pastas with seafood, some non-seafood dishes, all extremely mediocre. The shocking thing was that after we paid our 218 euro bill, which included a 12% service charge, the waiter approached us and said that the service charge was for the restaurant, not him. So we gave him an additional 20 euros in cash. l've never experienced or heard of such a thing. If this is true, I'm furious at the restaurant for this fraudulent practice and sad that the wait staff is put in the humiliating position of begging for a wage. read more

It gets two stars really only for the location. We stopped by for a espresso and tea on our last day in Venice and I have a few complaints. One the espresso cost €7 You walk one canal over and can get an espresso that is better for MAYBE €3 so because of the location youre absolutely paying gouged tourist prices. I got a tea and it tasted as if they got water from the canal for the tea. It tasted so salty and strange I could not drink it. There was no offer for a replacement water to have the tea or anything which was very disappointing. They care about your money not the quality of even their drinks. I will not return in my next travels to Venice and I recommend to get food and drink a little off the path of such busy tourist areas for better prices and quality. read more

You have to decide if you want a gorgeous view at the center of everything, or you want great food. If it's the table on the canal with the view that you want, go here. If it's delish food you're after then you can do better. The pasta is served too hot, the carbonara too sticky and salty. The prices are high. The wait staff see so many tourists pass thru that the entire visit is functional and transactional and not at all caring or personal. I wouldn't return. read more

Can't beat it!!!! We had the best dinner here for our honeymoon. Service was great wine was great the fish was fantastic. Had the pistachio cheese cake which was great! read more

Al Buso - Can't beat it - Italian Near Me - Venezia, VE

Great little bistro at foot of Rialto Bridge. Attentive service. Had fresh sea bass which fileted by our water. Served with light butter oil with potatos and tomatos. A popular canal shot rught behind restaraunt read more

At the foot of the Rialto Bridge with a quick pizza and regular pasta menu. Seating very close to the Grand Canal. The waiter said, "No falling. You can fall in love, but not into the canal." Lots of fish and shellfish options on the menu along with many appetizers. The food was very good. The location is AWESOME. Lots to see with the gondolas, vaporettos and water taxis going by. No pedestrians between you and the view! The staff is friendly and the service was very good. Wine is available in half bottles and plate sharing is allowed so you can have 3 courses but not eat too much. read more

Al Buso - View from our table! - Italian Near Me - Venezia, VE

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Tourist trap right next to the Rialto Bridge! I have to give it a 1 star, and if probably deserves it for the view of the bridge - you are literally on the water, right next to the bridge. We ordered a bottle of wine, a plate of cheese, and the spaghetti carbonara. The cheese wasn't good and the spaghetti carbonara was so heavy with rich cream and pancetta. Definitely wasn't the best pasta we've had in Venice and probably not even that good compared to other places I've been to in the states. I definitely do not recommend this place, nor would I ever come back with the many many options elsewhere! read more

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Amazing pasta with a stunning view. I had the fettuccini alfredo and my sister had a vegetable pasta. Great vegetarian options. Service was friendly too! It was the perfect Venice dinner. read more

Al Buso - Gorgeous view - Italian Near Me - Venezia, VE

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This was our second restaurant we ate at in Venezia. It's a little restaurant right at the foot of the Rialto Bridge with tables literally right next to the steps leading to the Grand Canal. The scenery was beautiful! Although the bridge was under construction, it was still a sight to see with the gondole and vaporetti cruising by. I ordered the Spaghetti Frutti del Mare and my boyfriend ordered the speciale del giorno, a lobster linguine. They were delicious!! The food was tasteful yet light/not as heavy as American-Italian food. The presentation of the food was clean and pretty as well. Our waiter was very nice and explained everything to us in English. Also, there was no cover charge and they do accept credit cards! 12% servizio automatically added on read more

Al Buso - Spaghetti Frutti del Mare - Italian Near Me - Venezia, VE

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Overpriced, not very good food...now I'll expand: We went here for an anniversary dinner, because we wanted something special and the view was nice, being right by the Rialto bridge. They tried to have us be seated in less ideal seats, nearer the street than the water, even though there were many empty tables, but I insisted and they finally allowed me my choice of seats. Good thing too, because shortly after we sat down a family came without a little boy who spent his entire meal ripping up buns and throwing the pieces to pigeons and seagulls in the water. They were far enough away that it was alright for us, but I was surprised that the staff never said anything, as pigeons and seagulls started to make a small swarm around the people in that area. And any parents reading this....NO it is not okay OR cute when you're "obviously old enough to know better" child throws food around at the nice restaurant. The parents actually seemed to think it was funny. The boy was about 9! I wanted to order seafood and the waiter recommended Dory fish, which is sold by weight. My 400 g fish was therefore 40 dollars. I would have no problem with this if the fish was excellent. But it was mediocre. They kept complimenting my choice, but I think they recommended it because it was expensive. The fish was fishy and bland. My husband's simple pasta dish was much better, but certainly not even close to the best we had while in Italy. We had a show to go to, but we had to ask for our bill three times. Every time we asked we were instead encouraged to have dessert or coffee. Holy crap, stop trying to hose more money from us (our bill was already close to 100 euro) and give us the bill! Anyway, it was a huge disappointment and while I was not blown away by any of the places we ate in Venice, I KNOW you can do better than that! The view was nice, that was it. PS - Check out TripAdvisor for many, many other terrible reviews. This place is a hot mess. It would appear that they are well aware of this fact, but will continue drawing in unsuspecting tourists, who think this place is lovely and want a nice view. read more

This is most definitely a tourist trap, however if you are here on Holiday, think of the 12% mandatory fee and high prices as a sur-charge for a stellar location on the Grand Canal. The food was good we had the squid, lasagna, and the cuttlefish. All were good with Euro-Proportions. Seems that the staff may be on commission based on pushing items. I just can't get by the tourist thing resulting in the 3 Stars. I could have had quite a few beers and many slices of fantastic pizza on the canal in place of this meal. I am now a little smarter for the experience and will choose a walk on the Grand Canal and dinner on the interior next time. Venice is still a place not to be missed if you are blessed to have the means to get here. read more

Al Buso - Squid in its own ink. - Italian Near Me - Venezia, VE

I recently took a trip to Venice (Italy) with some friends who had to travel there for a meeting. I figured that the time-off from work to jaunt around the Veneto region would be a good deal, and so I decided to tag-along. After leaving the East Coast (U.S.) on a Sunday afternoon, we arrived in Venezia bright and early the following Monday morning --which was literally just around midnight the night before back in the U.S. Fighting the urge to crawl into bed and sleep, my friend and I decided to take the water shuttle from our hotel to the Piazza San Marco to scope out what Venezia had to offer. Of all the restaurants that we had to choose from, we decided to plant ourselves at the Ristorante Al Buso in the Rialto. What drew us in was that the restaurant had al fresco dining just underneath the Rialto bridge; the scenery of gondolas and boats pushing through the canal in front of us made for great people-watching. At the time we took our seats, the space was teeming with locals who were enjoying their meals with carafes of vino. We were sold by the sight alone. Initially, we had pizza on our minds, but after taking a look at the "English" menu, we were clearly in the mood for pasta and other things. We started off with an order of caprese, and I swear that I hadn't had buffalo mozzarella like that before in my life. Definitely a moving experience! To follow, along with our red wine, my friend ended up with a four cheese linguine, while I went with a steak prepared Milanesa style. Not sure if it was because we were extremely hungry (and deathly sleepy) at this point, but we both thought that our dishes were pretty amazing. Italian dishes in Italy seem to be a lot "simpler" than their American-made counterparts: less saucy, yet not lacking in flavor. In fact the food felt lighter than what I'd expect to experience at my local Maggiano's. (Not the best comparison, I know, but you know where my mind is going with this. Ha.) After a while, the locals started to leave the space, while my friend and I continued to wine-it-up. We figured that with dinner not too far away, the locals started to make their way home. In fact, for a Monday, the Rialto started to seem less crowded at this point. It was around this time that my friend's colleagues met up with us for more wine and snacks. They happened to also order the caprese, which everyone seemed to enjoy, but the pizza they ordered was just OK -- granted, the menu clearly stated that their pizzas were "frozen." We're not sure what the restaurant exactly meant by that, but I took it in stride to believe that they pre-made their pizzas & froze them as opposed to being truly boxed, frozen, and shipped from a factory. At any rate, I'm glad my friend and I didn't order the pizza. If not for the pizza debacle, I would've probably given this spot 4 stars. But all in all, it was a great way to start my little 5-day adventure in the Veneto region. Great food, great people-watching, and great location along the canal under the Rialto bridge. Eccezionale! read more

We had a wonderful time at Al Buso. The waiters were personable and attentive. The seating is VERY close so be prepared if you have a table for two. Also the food was delicious. Wonderful time! read more

This place had a server who was inpatient. The food all came at once and food was completely missed. The server was not attentive nor accommodating. read more

One of the nicest views you will ever get at a restaurant. The pasta was delicious. However not giving a 5 star due to the rudeness and lack of attention by our waiters. I would recommend. View is worth it and all our dishes were good. read more

One of the best dining experiences of my young life. Great staff, food, and view. Would highly recommend eating at this fine establishment.

I'm tempted to write a bad review about the place across the canal, but I'd rather dwell on the positive - I should have seen the red flags anyway. Al Buso is the place we went "the next day", and it was great. The weather was hot, and this place sits in the shade all day. The view cannot be beat if you choose to sit outside. We actually waited about 10 minutes for our table outside, and it would have been worth waiting an hour. The food was great. It seems to me that it is also "worth it" to pay a little more for a quality meal - as opposed to just...say pizza. We got a quality bottle of wine and a quality meal, and the waiter couldn't have been more nice...understandably... But if you just want a cheap meal, I suppose you might get what you paid for? read more

I wouldn't recommend. The house wine was overpriced and they tried to tell us they were cash only for payment of our bill. I had to point to their Visa and MasterCard sticker to pay our bill. Not friendly service, very rushed and I felt like we had to be on guard that they would overcharge us or kick us off the table. read more

Came here because of the location. Food was "OK" service was terrible. Waiter was upset that we wanted to order drinks before food and it all went downhill from there. We saw our waiter twice, when we ordered and when we paid for the bill. Seemed to be more interested in other guests than our table of 5. Would not recommend! Save your money. read more

A friend and I had a bottle of wine and lemoncillo. The waiter informed us it would be €49. We gave him €60 and he came back with €1. When we asked about the other change he said that we only gave him €40. He tried to act like he was being nice and just accepting less. It wouldn't make sense for him to bring back €1 if we were shorting him. We did not manage to get our money back and left disappointed in that experience. read more

We visited the Ristorante al Buso for an anniversary dinner. It was one of the best dining experiences we ever had. We had asked about making a reservation for dinner and they suggested that we come at 9. Alberto greeted us when we arrived and showed us to our table. They had saved a table for us on the Gran Canal so close that water was lapping at the marble steps below our table. The timing was perfect since we experienced sunset on the Rialto Bridge. Since it was a special occasion, we went with their recommendations of lobster and flounder for two. Both dishes were beautifully presented and then served to us. The lobster was grilled and the flavor of the lobster was wonderful. When they realized that we liked oil with our bread the owner brought some of the family's private olive oil to our table. The flounder was absolutely delicious and filleted when they served it to us. The potatoes and vegetables were a perfect accompaniment to the flounder. After dinner they brought us a complimentary dessert similar to panna cotta which was also beautifully presented. After dessert, the owner brought us glasses of Zedda Piras and Sangue Morlacco that he served over ice along with a plate of cookies. While the meal was expensive, we felt that the food, service and overall experience was worth the price. read more

We stumbled upon this gem next to the Rialto Bridge. We were out after an opera at 10:00 pm (22:00) and could find a place that offered non-frozen pasta (I have no way of verifying this). We say right on the grand canal. Could not have gotten closer. Bridge was immediately near us. Food was delicious. I had spaghetti and my wife had lasagna. Lasagna was ok. Tiramisu was delicious. Cappuccino was good. They overcharged for a bottle of wine, but corrected it after I told them. Honest mistake? Overall, it was nice. We had pictured a dinner on the canal and that's what this place offered. Service was quick. Food was hot and good. Would recommend. read more