A Stradella family trattoria on the Giudecca, with a garden over the water. The regional register of historic businesses records it from 1938; the family traces its origins to 1889.
At a glance
- Type
- Trattoria, four generations of the same family
- In the regional register
- Yes, with start of activity 1938
- Family
- Stradella
- Where
- Calle de le Erbe, Giudecca 268
- Closed
- Monday and Tuesday
Overview
The Giudecca is the island across the water from the Zattere, and the Altanella is on one of its inner calli, with a small terrace on a canal. It has been in the hands of one family, the Stradella, for four generations.
On the founding date, we publish both figures and say where each comes from. The Regione Veneto register of historic places of commerce — where the business appears as Trattoria Altanella, Calle de le Erbe 268, holder Stradella Gino — records the start of activity as 1938. The family’s own account puts the beginning in 1889, when a great-grandfather called Nane opened an osteria here that took its name from the little terrace over the water. No archival source carries 1889: it is family tradition, and worth telling as such.
History
The register is a state document, but it is compiled from applications: businesses apply and self-certify, and the threshold is forty years of opening to the public. The family had no reason to declare a later date than the true one — anything up to 1985 would have qualified — which is why 1938 is the figure to lead with.
What is documented beyond dispute is the family itself. When Gianni Stradella died in 2016, the Venetian press described him as the owner of the Altanella, the first place on the Giudecca and still working after four generations, and named his wife Paola and their sons Stefano and Roberto.
The guest list belongs to the same obituary, and is worth more than the usual roll of celebrities because it is specific: Luigi Nono, who lived on the Giudecca and was a close friend of the house, Massimo Cacciari, Enrico Berlinguer, Giorgio Napolitano, Lucio Dalla, François Mitterrand.
What you see
A small dining room and, in season, tables on the terrace above the canal — the altanella that gave the place its name. The kitchen is Venetian and largely fish.
The Giudecca around it is the part of Venice where people still live: workshops, laundry, boats tied along the fondamenta, and almost no shops for visitors.
Practical information
- Address: Calle de le Erbe, Giudecca 268, Venezia
- Closed Monday and Tuesday; open Wednesday to Sunday, lunch and dinner
- Telephone: +39 041 5227780 — small dining room, booking advisable
- Getting there: vaporetto to Redentore or Palanca, then a few minutes on foot
Nearby
- Carrión Gallery — Gallery, 69 m away
- Al Storico da Crea — 127 m away
- Accademia di Belle Arti — across the water, 396 m
Sources
- Regione Veneto, Elenco regionale dei luoghi storici del commercio (L.R. 50/2012, art. 11), edition with data to 24 September 2025 — entry Trattoria Altanella, Giudecca, Calle de le Erbe 268, start of activity 1938
- La Nuova Venezia, obituary of Gianni Stradella, 2016 (the family, four generations, and the documented guests)
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