Duration
30 minutes
Best Time
Afternoon
Price
€€
Closures
Closed on Sunday
About Drogheria Mascari
Drogheria Mascari has been cramming impossibly rare spices and specialty ingredients into their tiny San Polo shop since 1948, and it's genuinely one of Venice's best food stores. You'll find Cambodian peppercorns for €12 per 100g, hand-harvested sea beans from the Veneto coast, and at least 30 different types of salt including pink Himalayan and black Cyprus varieties. The shop specializes in ingredients you simply can't find elsewhere in Venice: sumac, berbere spice blends, proper saffron threads, and unusual vinegars that local chefs actually use.
Walking into Mascari feels like entering an old apothecary where every jar contains something exotic. The smell hits you immediately: cardamom, cinnamon, and dried porcini mushrooms all competing for attention. The space is claustrophobic in the best way, with floor to ceiling shelves packed so tightly you need to ask for help reaching anything above eye level. The current owners, third generation, know exactly where everything is and can recommend specific uses for their more unusual items.
Most tourists grab the obvious stuff like truffle salt (€8 for 80g) and miss the real treasures: their house-made risotto spice blend costs just €4.50 and tastes better than anything you'll make from scratch. The dried porcini are expensive at €35 per 100g but they're restaurant quality. Skip the tourist-targeted gift sets and go for individual spices in small quantities, they'll last longer and cost half the price of similar products elsewhere in Venice.
Insider Tips
Enter from the Rialto side of San Polo rather than wandering through the market crowds, it's a direct 2-minute walk from the bridge
Most visitors buy too much: start with their smallest quantities since a little goes far with these high-quality spices, and customs might confiscate large amounts
Ask to smell the peppercorns before buying, they'll open any jar and the difference between varieties is dramatic once you know what to look for
Practical Details
Getting There
Frequently Asked Questions
Plan for about 30 minutes.
Drogheria Mascari is in the Cannaregio neighborhood of Venice. The address is S. Polo, 381, 30125 Venezia VE, Italy. The area is well-served by metro.
This works well at any time of day, though mornings tend to be quieter. Weekdays are less crowded than weekends.
Closed on Sunday. Check the official website for holiday closures and special hours.
