We had a lovely dinner at Trattoria Giovanni. We loved how cozy, spacious, and genuinely local it…read morefelt, like eating at your grandma's house. It's close enough to the lively, bustling part of Firenze to feel connected, yet just far enough to escape the city's never-ending wave of tourists. The service was incredible, and the owner (I'm pretty sure it was the owner?) brought so much energy that he single-handedly turned the whole place into an eclectic little spot during the "rush hour" of the evening. The menu was solid, if a bit "generic" at times. While everything we ordered was delicious, nothing at Trattoria Giovanni felt like a dish you couldn't find elsewhere... and honestly, that's perfectly fine! It was traditional, comforting, and exactly what we were craving. The plate of cured meats and cheese was phenomenal, a great start to the meal. The pastas were really good as well, though one of the meat dishes had a slightly off texture, with the chunks of meat a bit overcooked. All in all, we loved our meal and would definitely recommend this spot if you're in Florence.

Excellent food and authentic Italian experience. Don't be fooled by the English subtitles for the…read moremenu items the place is not a tourist trap.

Prior to arriving, I had done quite a bit of research. We only had 36 hours in Florence, so I…read morewanted to make the most of our time and choose the best of the best. Osteria del Cinghiale quickly popped up on my radar, so I asked the concierge at our hotel to make us a reservation. It's clearly a very popular spot--when we arrived, there was already a line up at the door. The Mr. had the sirloin strip steak with roasted potatoes. I had the beef filet with Chianti sauce as well as roasted potatoes. Our steaks were cooked to a perfect medium rare and the potatoes were so satisfying. We shared an order of grilled vegetables and had a carafe of the house red which we enjoyed. In fact, we loved everything about our experience. The food, the vibe, the service was all amazing! For dessert, we shared the tiramisu and the strawberries with mascarpone cream. The tiramisu was the best we've ever tasted anywhere. In our two week's stay in Italy, this was one of our favorite meals of the trip! To avoid disappointment, please make a reservation.

Came to a packed place sans reservation. Didn't have to wait. The Italian hospitality was through…read morethe roof. They made space for our party of 5 right in the center of a loud and and lively main dining room... where the energy and spark was so contagious. Just a marvelous setting for a night in Florence. Prepared dishes were family style. Every single choice was tasty good. The bread and bottles of Brunelo Montalcinos kept the conversation going. Florentine steak was not dry and forgettable. It went well with other pasta dishes like the Tagliatelle Con Ragù Di Coniglio or the Osso bucco, Pappardelle Al Ragù Di Cinghiale . . . of course with the Brunello & Chiati Classico The dining that night felt intimate yet party-like with nary a wiggle room. You don't get that often in the U.S. We never ever felt rushed despite the wait crowd out the door. Manager there was especially accomodating to us tourists. My 5 star rating has a lot to do with their boundless can-do spirit. A country house vibe rustic food with an outsized Italian howdy y'all. We will be back

Trattoria Ruggero is such a cute neighborhood place and happens to be right near our apartment, so…read morewe decided to give it a try for dinner. We arrived at 7:00 and were seated right away. We both started with Aperol Spritzes. Jim ordered the pasta alla carrettiera, and I had the roasted pork chop. We shared the fagioli all'uccelletto on the side. Everything was delicious, portions were good, and the prices were very reasonable--especially for Florence. We really enjoyed the relaxed, traditional trattoria atmosphere. Great food, good value, and definitely a place we'll be returning to.

Unless you're truly "in the know," chances are you won't find yourself dining at Trattoria da…read moreRuggero. Tucked away off the beaten path, it's not the kind of restaurant frequented by tourists. Lucky for the Mr. and me, I happened to discover this hidden gem during my research process. We had enjoyed a large breakfast, so we decided to share the pork loin chop, an order of sautéed zucchini, and the apple cake. Everything was delicious, and we especially appreciated the warm, friendly service and the rustic vibe of the restaurant. It was so charming! At the end of our meal, our server even offered to call us a taxi. It was well worth the walk to enjoy such a delicious lunch at this charming, off-the-beaten-path restaurant.

Great food and atmosphere. Other reviewers mentioned that the place seems to be family-run by four…read morebrothers and that looks like it is still the case. We were able to roll up without a reservation and only waited about 30 minutes total. Guy working the reservations/walk-ins gave us free prosecco while we waited. Food was fantastic, they clearly care very much about the quality of their ingredients and the presentation of the dish. Great hole-in-the-wall place and they have a clear passion for good music too as they would turn up the songs that they particularly liked. Place was a whole vibe. Highly recommend.

This place is absolutely amazing! The vibes are the first thing you'll notice. Great Wall art,…read moremusic, etc. Then there is the food which is incredible. We tried 4 out of the 5 pastas and all of them were excellent. The flower zucchini pasta is a must get. LOVED the caprese salad, so fresh and yummy. The parm on zucchini salad was perfection.

Great place! Food portions are generous. Food was delicious. You can add truffle to any dish for 10…read moreeuros. Husbands steak was super tender and better than any others we have had around Rome and Florence. Friendly service, good AC, big, clean bathroom. Would recommend.

I booked this restaurant through Google and arrived early for my 7:30 reservation, expecting the…read morecozy, atmospheric trattoria shown in the photos -- the one I had reserved. Instead, without even asking for my name or checking my reservation, a young host walked me out the door and across the street into a completely different dining area. The room I was placed in looked nothing like what was advertised: it was brightly lit, with paper napkins, cheap silverware, and visibly dirty walls. The whole place felt like a low-end lunch diner -- not a charming Florentine restaurant. They were blasting Highway to the Danger Zone and I Wanna Dance with Somebody while the main restaurant -- the one I thought I had booked -- played soft Italian music that actually fit the fine dining experience. The contrast was insulting. I was dressed in an upscale outfit appropriate for a refined dinner, yet I was treated as though I didn't belong. It felt discriminatory and dismissive. To make matters worse, at the end they tried to pressure me into tipping on the card machine -- in Italy, where tipping isn't even customary. The entire experience felt like a bait-and-switch, and I left feeling disrespected, singled out, and completely disappointed.

This was my first meal in Florence, and it was a beautiful welcome to a beautiful city. It felt…read morelike a lively party in someone's home. The room was packed, and the owner was walking around and holding court, sitting with people, moving chairs, dropping plates. Our friend who lives around the corner took charge (she may or may not have a slight crush on the owner), and she ordered it all. We started with finocchiona and head cheese and prosciutto with melon and continued with the rigatoni alla condatina and riso ai funghi porcini, and more pasta I don't remember. We were already full at this point, and then the secondi started arriving. Lombatina di vitello, braciole, beef carpaccio...I ate till I hurt, and drank entirely too much of the house wine encased in the straw baskets known as fiascos. It was a fiasco in every way, and it kicked off a great week.

I was shocked how many people were there before opening. We got there about 15 minutes before and…read morethere were a bunch of people waiting to get seated. Thank goodness we made reservations beforehand. I highly recommend. We ordered the prosciutto with melons, penne alla bettola, pappardelle alla rottanculo, crocchetteal limone, and tiramisu. The food was SO GOOD and tasty. The flavors were remarkable. I highly recommend coming here if you are in Florence.

Best Pasta, I've ever had. Stunning Place…read more Great Service. All in All best Italian Food ever.

oh my god...hands down the BEST pasta I've had so far during this trip…read more Truffle gnocchi (1000000/10): I'm going to be dreaming of this years from now. Creamy, perfectly salted, and the PERFECT truffle flavor. My mom doesn't like truffle and even she liked this dish. It comes out on a sizzling hot plate and the cheese on top is nice and crispy!! Fresh spaghetti with fresh tomatoes and basil (1000/10): sounds so simple but the spaghetti noodles were the best I've ever had. They were thicker and chewier and perfectly cooked! Everything was so so fresh Complementary bread was meh. Kinda dry and came with this olive (?) dip Hugo spritz (9/10): they don't give it to you in a cute wine glass and don't have mint so it's not aesthetic but was still very tasty! Basically like a fruity sweet white wine I'd definitely go back. Show up right when it opens and you'll be seated immediately!!

Was in Florence for a day trip and found this wonderful restaurant. We were met by Nicolo at the…read moredoor and made our experience memorable. The entire staff made us feel like home. Food and wine was excellent.! Would like to thank Mauricio as well. Thank you.

In a town of Bistecca alla fiorentina, this restaurant was recommended to us and it delivered…read more The gnocchi was a fantastic way to start our meal. Creamy and spicy, only if you mix in the hot parts. They come to table and weigh the meat in front of you so you know what you're paying for. It is cooked rare or medium rare. This is NOT like steakhouses in NYC. In its own category. It was presented with melting bone marrow, sea salt and cut off the bone. Extremely flavorful and tender. My only issue is that the fat doesn't render and there was silverskin in some pieces making it inedible, plus you've paid for this by weight. Great attentive service by Nick

Fantastic spot to try Tuscan regional specialties! Our fellow dining room companions were tourists…read more& locals alike so I feel like that was a good sign. It didn't start getting super busy until ~9pm - which is the usual Italian dining hour. We had the: *Prosciutto del Casentino - Le Selve di Vallolmo (Specialty Tuscan Ham of Free Range Grey Pork of Casentino, Tuscany (Slow Food Awarded Ingredients)) - MOVE OVER IBERICO. This was incredible - just melt in your mouth. You have to get this! *Ravioli di Peposo di Manzo al Burro e Timo (Ravioli Stuffed with Stewed Peppered Beef and Tossed in Butter and Thyme) - Peposo is a classic Tuscan dish that's usually tough cuts of meat cooked down in Chianti wine. Loved this 'twist' on a classic dish. They also so kindly split this portion for us which was perfect. The Peposo was perfection; if they just had Peposo as a dish, I'd order it! *Bistecca dell'Osteria (House Specialty Bone In Steak) - the star of the show!! While this isn't Chianni cattle or anything, this was fantastic piece of steak. Perfectly executed at medium rare. Love that the menu states "If you prefer your meat more so well done we would be happy to recommend another dish to you." Ha. Make sure you order a BOTTLE of wine! They have GREAT local options at super reasonable price points.

Restaurant opens right on the dot with no one answering the phone a minute beforehand (we tried to…read moresee if we could move our reservation but no one answered). Restaurant is nice with maybe 6-7 tables inside but service was quite slow. We made reservations in advance but a few others were lucky to walk in and get a seat. Enjoyed the pork cutlet as it was cooked perfect and had great flavors but the other pasta and octopus items we had were very small portions and tasted just ok and we left hungry. The bistecca looked amazing and large portion size from what I saw at other tables but didnt get to try that this time around.

The first time I came here was while studying abroad in 2017. The food was the highlight of my trip…read moreto Florence. Truffle in the fries were truffle-y but not heavy like in the states. Pasta was al dente to perfection. It left a great footprint on my memory. The second time coming was today. 9 years later. Thousand more Yelp reviews under this restaurant's belt. Sometimes it's true they say don't try to relive nostalgia. In some ways I'd agree. It was much busier this time but we were able to be seated & served promptly. The food didn't hit as hard but the fries stayed the winner. Thank you Za Za

After a heavy day of shopping, walking for 8 miles and dealing with the heat, we needed a good…read moresit-down dinner with a substantial meal tonight. We found Trattoria Za Za, but could not get reservations. We showed up with 60 people waiting in line like us. The line moved quickly and we were seated in a glass enclosure with nice views. The menu is vast and the food flying out of the kitchen looked amazing. An appetizer of lightly battered squash blossoms was unique and enjoyed by all. Our first choice was the green peppercorns and Cognac cream covering a steak with rosemary potatoes. This was the best dishes of our 17 day excursion. The steak was perfect while the sauce was incredibly delicious. The steak with argula salad was our second choice. It was also savory and highly recommended. The setting here is great, amazing food, good value and a truly relaxed environment. If you are in Florence, please treat yourself to a fine meal at Trattoria Za Za for that special evening. To the establishment, great restaurant and we will return. Congrats on a beautiful evening.