> We used the Arthur Frommer guidebook and our own devices.

Now *that's* the way to disagree. Thanks, Tom.

There definitely are great restaurants in Venice, and I found a couple.
But these are the REAL exception to the rule, and as your use of
Frommer indicates, you have to go hunting for them.

As you say, the seafood is fantastic, but seafood isn't cheap. Both
the restaurants I'd recommend are at least $50 per person (which is
what I, an irredeemably cheap *******, call "quite expensive.")
Naturally there are different prices for the residents -- rumor has it
they pay somewhere around half the menu rate -- which leads to my call
of "overpriced."

If there is "excellent cheap food" in Venice -- and it isn't a sandwich
-- Mr. Aitken is keeping the name of the place to himself.