Florence, Family run restaurants

[pulled pork]

Will be looking for small family run restaurants while in Florence. Will be on a budget and wanting to eat more rustic meals than more expensive restaurant meals.

[nancyc4fun]

Can't recommend TRATTORIA IL CONTADINO enough. We were in Florence in 2006 and went to this place everyday. We looked at a lot of menus outside of restaurants and all we could do was compare them to the wonderful meals at Il Contadino. We also loved the small family-run atmosphere - this is were the locals go when they have a gathering or want a good meal. The gnocchi with gorgonzola is wonderful! The tiramasu on the weekends is great also. We are going back to Italy in 2008 and are specifically going to Florence & eat here.
TRATTORIA IL CONTADINO Via Palazzuolo 69-71r (down a side street from the train station towards Arno)

[pulled pork]

Thank you Cjt and Nancy for the updates. I am going to eat my way through Florence and never come home?

[psevil]

I've been reading review on this site for over a year and so far all my experiences have been great, until I follow the one about TRATTORIA IL CONTADINO. Right now I'm in Florence and my experience was so bad that I could not wait to reply to this message, I left the restaurant 25 minutes ago. We were a party of 3 adults and 2 children. We started with 5 pastas, 2 papardelle with meat ragu sauce, 2 spinach and riccota ravioli with tomato sauce and 1 spaghetti al pesto. We asked for half portions for the kids as we have done in every restaurant we have been in Florence. We could not eat the Papardelle since it was way overcooked (I thought we never have to asked for pasta al dente but they proved me wrong), when we complained they said all pasta is precooked, we did not order main course after the disaster with the pasta. To our surprise they charged for all the dishes. In the case of the papardelle I can understand if other people like it that way, but they charged full price for the kids dishes when they were clearly half portions, on top of that the full menu for primi, secondi, dolci and water is 11 Euros and they charged 6 Euros just for the pasta and and the water was separated. So much for best quality/price.

[CJT]

We have eaten at Contadino on 3 different occasions and found it really offers a good price/value equation. Last visit, we had a fettucine with pesto which was excellent. Grilled swordfish was OK, not extraordinary. But we didn't expect for 11 Euros that this would be the culinary highlight of Florentine dining. Maybe you went there on a bad day -- it happens.

[LotsC]

Trattoria Marione, very rustic and very authentic and very reasonable (sorry too many ands) but thought it was pretty good; also try Vini e Vecchi Sapori which is excellent and very reasonable and tiny....so try and book beforehand

[CJT]

Here's an abbreviated list of places we liked on multiple visits to Florence. This was written about December 2004, but should still be accurate regarding food if not prices. We will be back in December 2007 to re-assess them and find others.

1. NERBONE, Mercato Centrale Always great to visit the markets of an Italian or French city/town and see what’s available. Although there are other food places within the Mercato Centrale, the best is Nerbone, a food stand about 25-30 feet long facing one wall of the market. There are some tables and chairs opposite the stand on a first-come basis, no table service offered. You select what you want and pay for it at the cash register. There you can also order from their daily menu of hot dishes, or pay for a bollito sandwich, then stand in line at the other end of the counter with your receipt waiting to get your sandwich of sliced boiled beef on a panini roll. The meat carver wants to know if you want him to dip the roll in broth (bagna) and if you want salt, salsa verde (mostly parley in olive oil), or hot peppers on top of the meat. Your sandwich is handed to you in a piece of waxed paper and you leave the line. Sandwich is quite good and reasonably prices (2.30 euros or so) I also ordered a bowl or ribollita, the great Tuscan bean and cabbage soup, at the counter and it was one of the best we ever ate in Florence, certainly the least expensive. This place was full of local workmen having their lunches and friendly bantering with the counter staff. Overall rating: don’t miss the experience. Bollito and soup great! The scene is real and down-to-earth. Everybody wears a smile.
Before or after you eat at Nerbone, visit a market stand just 1 row up and 1 over from Nerbone: PERINI. This is a meat/cheese/salad purveyor of high quality products. They regularly put plates of food to sample on the counter and you can help yourself: slices of prosciutto on bread crisps, olive spread, marinated tomato spread, marinated garlic cloves, cheese, etc. In fact, it the food makes you thirsty, just ask for some wine and they will pour you a cup or white or red. But remember they are there to sell products, so taste and buy parmigiana or boar salami to eat later.
2. LE MOSSACCE Via Proconsolo 55/r (about 3 doors north of Via Corso on west side of Proconsolo) Another favorite with local clients. Primi: penne in fresh tomato sauce with chucks of pumpkin (great combination), canneloni with spinach and cheese in a meat sauce (thin sheets of pasta wrapped around the filling). Contorni fagiolini (beans) with oil and garlic, spinach. Just a light lunch at 20 euros with a ¼ carafe of house wine + water. Overall rating: if you want to mix with local diners, this is the place. Small quarters, but excellent basic Tuscan fare at low prices. Great for lunch because it iss only a few blocks from Duomo.
3. TRATTORIA MARIONE Via della Spada 27r ( not far from S. Maria Novella) Ate lunch here in 2001, went for dinner this time. Primi: pappardelle salsa coniglio (ribbon pasta with rabbit sauce) and raviolone (3 large pieces of flat squares of thin pasta wrapped around filling of mushrooms and truffles). These dishes were both excellent and very flavorful. But this restaurant fell down on the secondo: tagliati, sliced grilled beef over a bed of arugula, was virtually thrown together by the kitchen and apparently waited a while there before arriving at our table. Arugula was chopped pieces of almost dry leaves with somewhat tough slices of mediocre beef. Potatoes served with it were tepid. Would not recommend this dish. Also a lot of non-Italians that night. Saving grace: excellent pasta dishes at low price. Overall rating: good place for a lunch when in the Tornabuoni (Strozzi Palace) area. Stick with the pasta, ignore the rest.
4. TRATTORIA LA CASALINGA Via del Michelozzi 9r (Oltrarno, short walk from Pitti Palace). Another good local restaurant with real home cooking, few non-Italians. Man seated next to us was eating a half chicken (stewed in a clay pot) and stalks of celery with nothing else and the chicken was enormous. Primi: we shared a rigatoni-type pasta dish with sauce of tomato, sausage, onion. Secondi: arrista (roast pork but on the bone) and coniglio (roasted rabbit). Very satisfying lunch at moderate prices (28 euros). Overall rating: an excellent choice for lunch after a morning’s visit to the Pitti Palace or Boboli Gardens. To find it: from sidewalk front of Pitti Palace look for Banca Toscana across the street; narrow street next to bank leads 1 short block to Via Maggio; cross Maggio and Casalinga is on your left a few doors down.
5. TRATTORIA IL CONTADINO Via Palazzuolo 69-71r Passed this place many times but didn’t go in because it advertised Prezzo Fisso (fixed-price menu): we thought that might not lead to good food. But finding it listed in the ACCESS: Florence & Venice guide gave us hope it might be worth trying. What a great find! Two rooms fill up with local workmen at lunch and dinner. We expected a fixed-price meal would have maybe 2 selections, but there were 6 choices for primi and secondi and 4 for contorni. Primi: riso con salmone e crema (not risotto, but rice with smoked salmon, parsley, and cream which was very good and almost a creamy as risotto), farfalle (bow-tie pasta) in a cream-based tomato sauce with ground veal. Secondi: stracotto (beef stew made with wine, tomato, carrots). Contorni: spinach and a green salad with thin slices of fennel included. Fixed price in 2003 of 10 euros per person includes primo, secondo, contorni, vino, and acqua (plus caffe if you want). Overall rating: best quality/price value we found. Don’t go for price alone, go for the great home-cooked food with wide variety of choices. Fresh fennel in the green salad was something we never saw in more expensive restaurants. Highly recommended for the food, but it is not Michelin star quality if that is what you want.
6. VINI DEL CHIANTI Via del Cimatori 38r (3 narrow doors in from east side of Via dei Calzaiuoli) This is not a sit-down restaurant, but a sidewalk sandwich/wine booth where people stop for a quick panini at lunch or in early evening. There is a list of the ingredients available for the sandwiches and you can order a glass of wine to go with it. You just stand in the street and eat/drink what you bought. Panini can be had with meat, tuna, veggies, etc., and cost 2-3 euros each.

7. TRATTORIA ANTICO FATTORE Via Lambertesca 1/3r (100 feet from Uffizi through archway on west side of museum courtyard). Second time we ate dinner here and will return again! Primi: tagliatelle sul daina (ribbon pasta with deer sauce) a wonderful taste and their best dish: gnocchi tartufo nero (gnocchi in black truffle sauce). This Gnocchi dish is the best I have ever eaten anywhere! Secondi: scalopini de vitello (veal with mushroom sauce) and osso buco (good sized portion with marvelous flavor). Only time we ate a dessert: torta della nonna: pie with cream filling topped with pignoli (pine nuts). Drank Ruffino Torgaio, a Tuscan wine similar to chianti. Excellent service, a few non-Italians (given is proximity to Uffizi and Pazza della Signoria, this is understandable, but the food is very good. Overall rating: this ranks at the top of our choices for restaurants to visit on any trip to Florence.

[GretchenS]

Our experience at Marione was similar to CJT's: go for lunch, stick to the pasta, and you will not be disappointed.

[Uptown Dave]

I will heartily second LotsC's recommendation of Vini e Vecchi Sapori. We just had lunch there yesterday and we thought it was our best meal in Florence (we also ate at Quttro Leoni and di Cambi). I had a tagliatelle with zucchini which was perfect . I have to figure out how to make this at home -- so savory and buttery but not heavy or greasy; I think there was white pepper in it which gave it a tiny kick. The zucchini was sliced into paper this slices the size of a quarter, and the perfectly al dente eggy noodles were made from fresh rather than dried pasta. My wife had a ravioli ragu which was also quite tasty. We finished the meal with great biscotti and a tasty vin santo. The atmoshpere was very warm and friendly. I got the impression that a number of people we saw there eat there frequently if not every day. Oh, by the way, the sign outside the tiny place just says, "Osteria" I am attaching photos, but alas, none of the food because we were just enjoying ourselves too much. You might, however, get a glimpse of the place in the background.

[CJT]

CAN YOU OR LotsC PROVIDE AN ADDRESS FOR VINI E VECCHI SAPORI OT TELL US WHERE TO FIND IT? WILL BE IN FLORENCE IN DECEMBER AND WANT TO TRY THE PLACE..

[Uptown Dave]

Vini e Vecchi Sapori is on Via dei Magazzini which is just beyond the north end of the Pallazo Vecchio (the square where a copy Michelangelo's statue of David hangs out).

Here is a Google maps link to Via dei Magazzini:

<http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&h...>

[CJT]

Appreciate the address, will try it out

[LotsC]

La Casalinga is good too, as is Trattoria Marione - if it is chilly the sausage and beans there is just what the doctor ordered. However, both of these lack the charm of Vini e Vecchi Sapori....have a marvellous time - I look forward to hearing about VeVS winter menu as have only been there late Spring.

[Doreen]

Giglio Rosso on via del Giglio is really great food at reasonable prices. Down from San Lorenzo.

[mssreatalot]

We just got back from Florence last week. I won't tell you where to go.
But, I will tell you where NOT TO GO. Trattoria da Benvenuto. Not far
from the Uffizi. It's written up iin Frommer's as a "This is a no-nonsense place, simple and good, and Gabriella is a no-nonsense lady who'll get exasperated if you're not ready with your order when she's ready to take it. Da Benvenuto's is basically a neighborhood hangout that somehow found its way into every guidebook over the years. Yet it continues to serve adequate helpings of tasty Florentine home cooking to travelers and locals seated together at long tables in two brightly lit rooms. "

This is a horribly out of date review. The place was crammed with tourists and the food was absolutely the worst meal we had in all our weeks in Italy. DO NOT GO HERE!

Otherwise, enjoy your trip.

[Jankf]

We were in Florence in September and had this restaurant recommended to us. We did not have a problem with the food, but the waiter, who didn't realize that someone in our party could see him (there were four of us), made very demeaning gestures to another customer he appeared to know, as he pointed to us. He did this more than once. We were very cordial the entire time we were there so were puzzled as to his behavior. The only explanation was that we were Americans. We were VERY upset with the waiter's behavior so I would add that Americans should beware before they choose this restaurant. I have been trying to figure out where to put this information and was happy to see your comment so I could reply.

[jen kalb]

Here's a couple in that category

Trattoria Mario, nr the San Lorenzo market, Via rosina 2r (red), great ribollita soup, excellent ragu, meats.
Ristorante della Fagioli, Corso del Tintori, 47r, near Santa Croce toward the river, good soups (especially the pappa pomodoro) and meats, pinzimonio (raw veg dipped in olive oil - the offer the unusual chestnut "cake" - its actually more puddinglike of the region - but I dont much care for it.

[pulled pork]

Great info, thanks. I think the idea of soup and meat ragus will sound so much more appealing come February when I am there.