Il Rosso della Paola — Restaurant in Casciana Terme Lari

Hot July evening. We had been driving in the heat, and we got lost on a narrow, winding up-hill road, wondering is we were going to end up at the top of a cliff. We reached an intersection, looked up the left-hand steep up-hill turn to see a castle perched on cliff we were afraid of, so we took the right-hand downhill option, and just around the corner was this restaurant. We got there 30 minutes before they opened. The chef and a waiter were eating their supper outside. I asked, in Italian, if they were open. They said yes, if we could wait 20 minutes. Very friendly smiles. We ate there four times in three weeks. The chef greeted me (Floyd) with a hug every time we showed up. He spoke some English, but quickly realized that I wanted to try and use my pathetic Italian, so he spoke Italian slowly. I ate something different every time, even though I loved what I had already had on previous occasions. The local wine was smooth and excellent. We talked about the "town" of Lari, 700 pop., and over 1500 years old. On our last day, the waiter showed us his garden behind the restaurant where they grew lots of their vegetables. They they brought us some champagne to thank us for coming so often. Then we took a picture of the four of us. This restaurant was the first place we found to eat out, and their friendliness and food made it difficult for us to leave Italy. We...

We were lucky to be introduced to this wonderful restaurant by the owner of our vacation rental on our first night in Lari. We were exhausted and it was late, but they set us up with a great take out dinner for 8. During the course of a week, we ate from here 4 times and each time was excellent. Im pretty sure we tried almost everything on the menu. Marco and his father are warm and inviting and the staff is very good. Don’t miss this place if you’re in the...

We was a wedding party of 33, I was recommended this restaurant by the Villa owner and he did not disappoint. I emailed the owner, who was more than accommodating. We pre odered our food for ease and speed. The staff all spoke good english. The service was great and we all felt really looked after. When we was leaving the chef came out and gave us all a case of his own pasta sauce as a Thank you. Highly recommend the restaurant and the...