Skip the Hard Rock Café in Venice. (Why is it mandatory now for every popular tourist spot in the world to have a Hard Rock Café?) Go to Sangal instead. This is a trendy, classy, romantic place to have drinks and a great dinner in Venice.
We first visited Sangal for nightcaps on the advice of a local and were so impressed we went back for dinner the next night. It's a contemporary-style restaurant and lounge bar with a great rooftop terrace. It's located in a square called Campo San Gallo at the very end of a side alley and over a stone bridge off the Piazza San Marco. I had ravioli stuffed with goat cheese, seafood, and asparagus tips for an entrée, and tiramisu for dessert (homemade, of course). Yum. Yes, it was rather expensive (over €100 for two courses for the two of us plus a bottle of wine), but Venice is an expensive city. It was also less expensive than many of the places directly off St. Mark's Square. And you can't beat the atmosphere. read more