Bene, it's different speaking three languages and having spell check turn on in all three. It means having to go back and reread what I write three times, because the words keep getting changed. Even then, the corrections don't take unless I do it three times. It's why the grammar in my posts often seems lost, and quando has b been changed to the Spanish cuando, which I correct if I have time, which I try to catch, and then when I redo it, the English spell check dominates, and turns cuando into candy.

Every body knows the place I'm talking about. Your 225 Euro dinner would not include starting with the 20 euro martini, the wine pairing, a 20 euro grappa as a digestive, (darn spell check, I wrote digestivo, and it keeps changing it to digestive) and a 16 if you want to take it outside an finish up listening to their little orchestra on Piazza San Marco, which drives up the price considerably. It's very easy for the check to reach approach 380 euros. God forbid if you add a bottle of champagne to the bill, because they start at 150 euros. Remember, 225 is without even the obligatory bottle of sparkling water. If you want to be linguistically technical, it's Ristorante Quadri Alajmo, and downstairs is Caffe' Quadri, where I have my coffee standing at the bar or 2 euros, vs. 16 euros if you sit down outside to listen to the music, then there is ABC quadric. downstairs. The 10:30 PM closing time makes it a little difficult to have a caffe' there after the Opera at La Fenice. For example, Barber for Seville is playing there now, and it's a 3 hour opera that starts at 7 PM. Who wants to rush?

I agree, it's been said her many times, there is no tipping in Italy. There is no jar with dollar bills in it near the cash register at the bar. If you want to be nice, if the bill comes out to 21.60 euros, you might leave the 40 cents on the counter. It's not about the money, it's a courtesy because most places don't have change. Look at the cash register whenever they open it anywhere in Italy; they are always out of, or nearly out of change, and love when you have exact change. Even in a big supermarket. Now, if somebody would explain to me why restaurants and stores all over Italy are always short on change, that would be interesting. When the taxi driver doesn't give you the correct amount back when you pay for the fare, they are not ripping you off. They just don't have any change. If you pay a 12 euro fare with a 50 euro bill, after they give you change, it is going to take them off the street for an hour while they try to find more change. They are not ripping you off, it is just considered rude and insensitive to expect people to have to give you more than a little change. Different countries have different customs.

The point remains, it is very hard to find an unscrupulous restaurant in Venice, although you can get ripped off by going into one where there is a barker standing outside, waving a, "Menu Turistico" with a three course meal for 18 euros, then charges you 5 euros for a basket of bread, and 6 euros for a bottle of water. That's no different from Times Square or Disneyworld, you get fleeced, but in a different way. That's not the same as unscrupulous, it's just tourist traps. Quadri, like 99.5% of Venetian restaurants, are scrupulously honest.