The North End is packed with delicious, comfortable restaurants, and Piccolo Venezia is no exception. On the main Hanover drag, it presents many of the staple Italian dishes, alongside wine and cocktails. Traditonal Italian fare, served in a friendly and warm atmosphere. The lighting and decor is charming and cozy, with fixtures that could have lit candles in them, and bundles of garlic hanging near pictures of saints in the corners. The mussels are some of the best to be had in the area (try them white, with oil and garlic, as opposed to with marinara), and the appetizer sampler plate is delicious, with 5 or 6 to try, with shrimp, mozzarella sticks, cheesy bread, calamari, and others. The service isn't overbearing, and even sassy and authentic at times. The water glasses are kept full, the post-dinner coffee drinks have copious foam, and there are plenty of large groups carrying on and eating delicious food all around you.

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Domenico Susi owns this family-run North End Meat Market, where they will skin and butcher a rabbit literally right before your eyes. "Would you like the head?" Not for the feint of heart. The place is meticulously clean and as simple as butcher shops were 100 years ago. One side is lined with wooden chairs, where you can sit while the meat is cut to order - absolutely nothing is prefrozen. The shop specializes in veal, lamb, kid, and homemade sausages. It's more expensive if the animal is smaller and less available. A few hairs will be left on the tail to reassure you that this is indeed the real deal.