Ristorante Il Frantoio — Restaurant in Colle di Val d'Elsa

Wonderful restaurant which does a lot of things really well but can also improve in some areas. Starting with the positives: great location in the old city centre, I sat outside and it was awesome. Nice vibe. Menu is interesting, definitely not your standard Italian fare. Loved the amuse bouche, the octopus and the highlight of the evening the smoked spaghetti! Best dish I have had in the past week in Italy. Staff was not all up to the standards I expected. Asked for olive oil with the bread and it never appeared. But some staff went out of their way, explaining more details about the dishes and offering extra wine. Biggest disappointment was the filetto di manzo; I expected them to do something interesting like they did with other dishes. Instead it was a thick chunk of beef as opposed to the nice think steak quickly grilled and often served in rocket with balsamico. I had some mashed potatoes and a foam that fell away completely and did not add anything to the dish. This really needs work. Also, if you offer wines by the glass and sell a customer a new glass, explain that it is a different price category all together. It was lovely but you need to communicate this, either through a menu or verbally.

Had a great time and will...

Exceptionally good! Very high quality for the price.

I took the meat degustation menu (55 EUR for 8 dishes!) And my girlfriend took the vegetarian menu (50 EUR for 8 dishes!). Everything was extremely good!

The "Uovo Fritto, Spuma di Burrata, Asparagi e Liquirizia" (vegetarian) and the "Spaghetto Affumicato, Aglio Nero, Polvere di Capperi e Colatura di Alici" (fish) are sensational!

The staff is very friendly and professional. They will help you find the best wine for your table, and won't push you onto the expensive options. The bottle we eventually took was only 25 EUR, and is the best Chianti I ever had.

The restaurant's high season is in winter. So don't be fooled if you go in the summer, the place might be empty, but the quality is as good and great as in the winter. Everything was as fresh as it can be, and all was delicious! I was suspicious when we were only with four people in the restaurant, but after the first dish my doubt became delight :-)

Tip: Ask for the degustation menu. (It is a separate menu card).

Highly recommended, would give 7 out of 5 score if possible :-) One of the 5 best restaurants I...

Great place. Located in a basement that used to be an olive press, and still has the original crushing stone and the pressing machine. So the ambiance is very special.

We came on an off season night, and almost everything was closed on town.

5 of us ate great starters (chicken liver pate, roasted tongue are the ones to remember) Main dishes were also very tasty. The meat for the Bisteca alla Fiorentina was the best meat we had in Toscany. It could be scorched a little less on the outside, but it wasn't something to complain about.

The waitress was a wonderful lady who truly cared about us. She was also very professional.

Highly recommend (even if I am...