After having a fabulous dinner at Giovanni's around the corner the night before, we decided to stay in this area and stick with a local family restaurant. We stopped in Hostaria il Desco about 9:30pm for a late dinner. The place was pretty full but there were still some open tables. The two people working there got in an argument about seating us but eventually the waitress ended up seating us. This did not make us feel that welcomed but we proceeded regardless.
I was excited when I saw their menu as they had lots of vegetarian options, even a whole section with vegetarian selections. I picked out an antipasti and a primi piatti that were not from the "vegetarian section" but did not have any meat/fish/etc. listed. We waited about 20 minutes before the waitress came back to take our order. This was a bit unnerving but not too bad since they were busy.
30 minutes after ordering we finally received our first course. Mine was a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and a fried bread/cheese thing. When I cut through the fried bread/cheese thing there was something mysterious looking inside. I thought it looked like prosciutto so I flagged down the waitress and asked her if this dish had any meat in it and she said "no, no meat". I proceeded to cut through and it just didn't look right so I had my foodie extraordinaire taste it for me and he verified that it was in fact anchovies. I flagged the waitress down again and showed it to her and she said it was fish, not meat. Tip #1 - vegetarians in Italy, apparently fish is not considered to be "meat". I told her I was a vegetarian and she said it was listed on the menu and I told her it was not. She grabbed a menu and sure enough, it was not listed on there. She took the dish away and she told me it's better to tell them that I'm a vegetarian beforehand, I annoyingly responded that there was no meat/fish/etc. listed on the dish so I didn't think it was a problem. I verified that my second dish was in fact vegetarian and she said that it was. She offered to prepare me something else but since it already took 30 minutes to get this dish (it's after 10pm at this point) I didn't want to risk it (they close at 10:30pm). The waitress was actually very nice and apologetic about it.
After foodie extraordinaire finished his first course we waited another 20 minutes for our 2nd course to be brought out. (At this point the restaurant had cleared out and there were only two other groups there). I ordered the gnocchi with gorgonzola and pear. It was simply awful. I literally took two bites and couldn't stomach anymore. I felt bad and tried eating more but it was awful. I moved my food around to make it appear as if I had eaten some of it so I wouldn't seem rude but I think they caught on as they asked if everything was OK and insisted that this dish was in fact vegetarian. I just responded that I wasn't very hungry (which was partially true as their awful food caused me to lose my appetite).
We hurried and finished and promptly asked for the bill (it was after closing at this point). We waited 20 minutes and still no bill. We asked our waitress for the bill again and she said it's coming. A gentlemen came by and slammed the bill down on our table. Sure enough, they had charged me for my first dish that I didn't eat (because of the meat). I flagged our waitress down and she said it was a mistake and she would fix it. I was hungry, tired and sick of this place at this point and didn't want to wait another 20 minutes for them to fix their mistake. We just left cash on the table and on the way out told them that our dinner had been an awful experience and walked out. This place was such a disappointment.
Bottom line, the food here is awful and the service is even worse. I wouldn't waste your time here, go to Giovanni's around the corner for an excellent Florentine meal. read more