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Algiubagiò used to be a great bar, and one very handily placed right by the vaporetto stop where you catch the boats for the islands. With a view across to the serene cemetery island of San Michele, you could have a glass of wine from a huge range of local varieties (from €1.20), all in top condition, and choose either a delicious panino or something gooey from the pasticceria counter.
You can still do that, but there's a new option too - a large room behind the main bar area has been opened up as a full restaurant. We discovered this on the way back from lunch on Murano so haven't yet tasted the food - a full review will follow in due course - but the menu is very tempting and quite out of the ordinary for Venice.
Dozens of different ways with beef, duck and - wait for it - reindeer (€22 - €25); interesting vegetarian ideas, some with cheese (crespelle al radicchio e Montasio), and creative pizzas at €4.50 - €10.50. Dolci look great too (€4.50 - €7), and there's a list of over 100 wines, mostly local and mostly expensive because rare (though there are around 20 at under €20).
Algiubagiò is so much more than the equivalent of a bus terminus bar, though its clientele is similarly mixed - local workers, vaporetto pilots (and as we discovered on catching the No. 52 home, vaporetto ticket inspectors), a few tourists...
There's no dress code whatsoever, and time doesn't seem to exist as you relax, lean back on a Rennaissance-retro chair with sumptuous cushions, glass in hand, and admire the high beamed ceiling of what possibly started life as a boathouse, listening to soft jazz. Some people just know how to do things.
- Helen Wright, 4/2005
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