Osteria Leone Alato
Seafood restaurant · Venice

A seafood restaurant in Venice, where Venice eats.

We are in Santa Croce, on the Fondamenta dei Tolentini, a few minutes from Santa Lucia station and well away from the queue at Rialto. Seafood is the largest part of our menu: seafood starters, spaghetti allo scoglio, risotti stirred to order, grilled fish. Below are the actual dishes, with the actual prices.

How to read the bill

Priced per portion, never by the gram

We sell fish by the portion, at a fixed price printed on the menu. We don't weigh the fish at your table and multiply by 100g — that is where 90-euro-a-head bills come from.

No cover charge

There is no coperto. There is a 12% service charge, stated clearly. On a 40-euro dinner for two that is 4-5 euros — less than a per-person cover charge would be.

Menu with photos, in several languages

Our menu is photographed and translated (Italian, English, Chinese and more), so you know exactly what arrives at the table before you order.

Santa Croce, not San Marco

Santa Croce is the entrance to Venice: the bridge from the mainland, the cargo boats and the trains all arrive here. An equivalent restaurant near San Marco typically costs about 50% more, on rent and transport alone.

Seafood starters

  • Antipasto di mare

    Our mixed seafood starter: sarde in saor, scallops, octopus, prawns, mussels.

    €20
  • Sarde in saor

    The Venetian classic: sardines marinated with onion, raisins and pine nuts.

    €12
  • Insalata di polpo

    Boiled octopus, olive oil, lemon, parsley. Nothing else.

    €16
  • Cozze e vongole

    Steamed in white wine, served in their own broth.

    €15

Seafood pasta

  • Spaghetti allo scoglio

    What most tables order: mixed shellfish, cherry tomato, garlic.

    €20
  • Spaghetti al nero di seppia

    Cuttlefish ink, the way it is made in the lagoon.

    €16
  • Spaghetti alle vongole

    In bianco, with the clams' own cooking liquid.

    €17
  • Spaghetti all'astice

    Half a lobster per portion. Priced per portion, never by the gram.

    €28
  • Zuppa di pesce

    Fish broth, mixed fish and shellfish.

    €20
Spaghetti allo scoglio at Osteria Leone Alato, a seafood restaurant in Venice

Seafood risotti

  • Risotto ai frutti di mare

    Stirred to order, served all'onda — loose, not stiff.

    €22
  • Risotto al nero di seppia

    One of the most Venetian risotti there is.

    €20
  • Risotto ai gamberi

    Prawns and a thread of butter, nothing more.

    €18

Fish and grill

  • Grigliata di pesce

    For two: grilled fish and shellfish. One price, printed on the menu.

    €45
  • Filetto di branzino

    Boneless sea bass fillet, grilled or pan-cooked.

    €24
  • Scampi

    Grilled, with lemon.

    €24
  • Gamberoni

    Grilled king prawns.

    €20
  • Seppie al nero

    Cuttlefish in its own ink — the Venetian home dish.

Want a table for the fish?

The room is small and fills up in the evening. Book a table and tell us if you'd like the grigliata — we'll have it ready for your time.