The best way to capture a wild, rampaging meal is to hook it with a gigantic pasta lasso. Test your throwin' arm with today's deal: for $15, you get $30 worth of Italian cuisine and drinks at Venezia, located walking distance from downtown Berkeley. This Groupon is not valid toward prix-fixe special menus.

Venezia is a locally owned and operated restaurant now in its 30th year, serving up delectable Italian fare for lunch and dinner. Kick off a memorable meal with house-made potato chips ($7) topped with reggiano and served with white truffle oil, or nosh on olive-oil flatbread ($9) flanked with an entourage of Licini sopressata salami, olives, and baked goat cheese with roasted garlic. Entrees include the spaghetti carbonara ($16), which tosses bacon with egg and chili flakes, and the malfatti hand-cut pasta ($17), which incites tongue tapping with a harmony of porcini and crimini mushrooms along with roasted tomatoes, vermouth, and cream. Satisfy an entire battalion of sweet teeth with desserts such as the Madagascar-vanilla-cream custard ($6.50) sprinkled with braised blackberries and strawberries and the bittersweet chocolate-mousse torte ($8) crowned with raspberry coulis and whipped cream.

Venezia's interior is reminiscent of an outdoor Italian piazza complete with floor-to-ceiling murals, a bubbling fountain, and clotheslines of laundry hanging from wrought-iron balconies. A full bar and wine list are readily available to quench the potable palates of thirsty time travelers and sentient martini olives alike. Venezia also boasts a private dinner room for larger parties, which is just right for birthdays, business lunches, and celebrating a graduation from mutant superhero wizard archetype school.

Reviews

OpenTable reviewers awarded Venezia “Good for Groups.” Citysearchers awarded the restaurant Best of Citysearch for Italian food in 2005 and 2006. The San Francisco Chronicle and East Bay Express featured the restaurant. Around 157 Yelpers give the restaurant an average of 3.5 stars, and eighty-six percent of Urbanspooners recommend it:

• On our visit, the meal was well paced, and the staff seemed to understand what's meant by hospitality. That attitude, and enough well-priced Italian dishes, go a long way toward keeping Venezia a neighborhood favorite. Miriam Morgan, San Francisco Chronicle
• Consistently fantastic food and service for many, many years now. The staff are all very professional and fun. The food is always high quality. I love the fun atmosphere as well. – OpenTable.com reviewer who dined on 07/23/2010