9 Best Restaurants in The Veneto and Friuli–Venezia Giulia, Italy

In this cozy and atmospheric cross between a wine bar and a restaurant, you can put together a fabulous, inexpensive dinner from various classic dishes from all over Italy. Portions are small, but prices are reasonable—just follow the local custom and order a selection, perhaps starting with fresh burrata (mozzarella's creamier cousin) with tomatoes, or a selection of prosciutti or salami. Don't pass up the house specialty: lasagna—there are several kinds on the menu. Main courses are limited, but they include a savory Veneto stew with polenta.

A fabulous garden setting and warm yet unfussy country-style dining rooms elevate this family-run restaurant, renowned for Nino Baggio's elegant creative take on traditional cuisine. This is the finest restaurant in Asolo, and the prix-fixe menu (you can also order à la carte) delivers one of the best-value top-quality dining options in the Veneto.

Udine's very chic landmark restaurant is the one reserved most by locals for special occasions, and the menu features the freshest meat and fish in sophisticated dishes served with moodily lit culinary stagecraft. You might start with an antipasto of assorted raw shellfish, including the impossibly sweet Adriatic scampi, followed by the fresh fish of the day. Service is impeccable, as is the Friuli-focused wine list. Perhaps the best way to go is the multicourse tasting menu.

At this rustic, wood-rich family-style osteria, it's worth giving the robust local specialties, such as tripe, snails, or stewed game, a go—many of them served with polenta. Less adventurous diners can go for other homey options, such as goulash, polenta with cheese and mushrooms, or one of Bacaro's open-face sandwiches, generously topped with fresh salami, speck, or other cold cuts. Although the restaurant caters to tourists—as is the case with most eateries in Asolo—the food here is better than average.

This little old brick trattoria on a beguiling piazza with views of the Santa Maria Maggiore church is a favorite among locals and tourists, who flock to its cozy wood-trimmed interior. The menu changes daily but always features well-executed versions of simple local dishes, from risottos and pastas to a variety of seafood and meat dishes.

Adventurous foodies should book a table in this stylish blue-and-wood-accented dining room, located behind Treviso's Palazzo dei Trecento old meat market, for an experience that marries Trevigiano culinary traditions with contemporary elegance. The owner's parents, Alba and Ado, invented the famous dessert tiramisu in the 1960s, and the Beccherie, opened in 1939, still makes it to the original, feather-light recipe. Expect a varied seasonal menu, with lighter summer seafood and vegetable dishes such as calamarata (clams with cherry tomatoes) and scarola greens giving way to hearty risottos and meats, including lamb and game, in fall and winter.

Gastronomically adventurous diners who visit this quirky restaurant filled with stylish midcentury furnishings will find cucina povera (peasant food) given an inventive twist. The chef is a passionate Slow Food champion, so expect local and seasonal meat and vegetables, as well as excellent seafood and an extensive wine list from Italy and farther afield.

Vicentini of all generations gravitate to this popular self-service cafeteria for classic dishes that don't put a dent in your wallet. Expect hearty helpings of fare such as orzo e fagioli (barley and bean soup) and baccalà alla vicentina (stockfish Vicenza style).

Wood-paneled and with a 1930s-style interior, this bustling trattoria has a wholesome menu based on local Veneto cooking. The spin in the restaurant's name refers to the spine of the baccalà, one of several justly famous specialties (served without the titular spine); also try the sopa coada, a pigeon-and-bread soup.  Reservations are essential, even for lunch, since the word is out that this is the best value in town.