Trattoria 4 Leoni — Restaurant in Florence

UPDATE: REVIEW FROM THE SECOND DAY (AUGUST 14) This feedback is for the lunch service. Thus, I did not return for the dinner reservation. First, I'm an equal opportunity reviewer. I discuss all experiences. Nothing personal. Here goes: this is my third dining experience at 4Lenoir. Today, the food was fantastic per usual. The guests at the table beside me ordered dishes that I reviewed and showed my posted photos to their waiter. Now my waiter clearly had some cultural (racial) issues, at least I perceived he did, but didn't want to make a rushed judgment. He didn't greet us. He asked us what we wanted to order and when we were not ready, he walked away. We had to request ice, and I had to ask for a spoon to dip the ice into my glass. When my sliced steak entree was served, blood was running from the meat. I rejected it and he td me I had to tell him how I wanted it prepared. No, he should have asked me how I wanted it prepared. He didn't ask about our day or how our meal tasted. Yet, he joked with the white male guest at the table beside us (we spoke with him as well). He chatted with the two white female guests at the table behind us, he even laughed and joked with the Asian-American guests, a table of 5, in the corner behind us. When I asked for parmesan for my spinach, he scowled and said, "on spinach??!?!" (as if to say it's a cardinal sin) I said, "yes." Finally, when I asked for the check, he brought the check and stood with the portable credit card reader at the table and said nothing. It was the most uncomfortable feeling, as he hovered at the table, staring at us in silence. At this point I'd had enough. I told him to give us a few minutes. Now it gets good... I called him back to the table, we paid in and I said, "I have a question to ask you. I noticed how you treated the guests at every table around us. And every guest was either white or non-black. So tell me, do you not like black people." The look of surprise as if I'd seen his thoughts flooded his face and he floundered. His next words were ones for the books: He said, " oh, I play the blues, I like Etta James, and Muddy Waters, James Brown, the artists of the fifties..they play the good music." As my guest and I watched in silence, this fool kept babbling about black musicians Then he choked, "no one has ever said that to me." Well, sir, it is about time someone has pointed out the obvious. And if that is his response to a DIRECT QUESTION about whether he likes black people, the answer is obvious and my intuition was correct about him. Mr. black hair, ponytail wearing, sparse facial hair 4Leoni waiter, we see you and now others will as well. And for what it is worth,this black woman Iikes a little shaved cheese on her spinach and her steak prepared medium well! Ciao!!

REVIEW FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE (AUGUST 13)

I visited in 2018 and never forgot the pumpkin dish. I returned and was seated and expeditiously eventhoigh I didn't have a reservation. It pays to be kind because many were turned away without reservations. The food is absolutely a flavor burst. This is definitely a place to return to for every visit...

We reserved this place after hearing from various people just how amazing it was. I made a reservation about 3 weeks before we arrived to Florence and this was our first dinner here. When we were here (in July 2023) it was scorching hot in Florence. As we arrived for our reservation I asked for an inside table but was told they only had tables outside. My wife, having heard that this place is a must, agreed to sit outside. Within the first 7 minutes we were not only sweating due to the heat but the jerks next to us finished their meal and thought it appropriate to smoke cigarettes and make our experience that much worse. When I asked the hostess to get us a table inside she was extremely rude and dismissive. The was an older blonde lady, maybe the manager or the owner, who knows, but she certainly needed to get her arrogance in check.

After I told my wife I wanted to leave she went inside and dropped some big attorneys name she knows who eats there all the time. Within 3 minutes we were being escorted to a very nice inside table. Why does it have to be that way? It’s so pretentious!

Food was decent, wine was great, attitude of our servers was good too. We had a young lady who didn't know much as she kept asking one of the older servers questions every time we asked something. She was nice but it got a little annoying. so the next time I wanted to order a bottle of wine, I simply asked her to get the older server to come.

All in all this place is way to hyped up and it's gone to management's head. Would I come here again, not proactively as there are many amazing little places in Florence.

If you are reading this (management), you guys should really go back to your roots and back to hospitality. Having to drop a name to get things just to be taken care of properly just says way too much about how you view yourselves and your customers.

Skip this overhyped place with...

We happened across this place on a back alley walk to the Pitti Palace. It was 1 PM. The place was busy with Italians, always a good sign in our minds. We were greeted by on older woman who asked if we had a reservation and we said no. She looked perplexed said she could fit is in but we had to leave on an hour and half (This ploy is used by busy restaurants around the world to turnover the tables, which does not bother us). The menu was in Italian, but she excitedly described the specials. After she left for us to think, a table of regulars next to us suggested their favorites. We ordered the Ravioli with pear, ricotta and asparagus, ossobucco (my favorite food in the world) and the deep fried zucchini flowers. OMG. The ravioli had a slight sweetness from the pears, but was delightful in every way. The ossobucco was so tender you could cut it with a fork. The zucchini flowers had a tempura like batter that was fantastic. The cheesecake with berries was to die for as well. This was the best meal we have had after 2 weeks in Italy. The woman, Rosella, who sat us, also served us. She was a joy, even though she was as busy as any Italian server. The last thing I'll say is that I am so glad I did not read the reviews. We learned a long time ago that the servers in Europe more often appear to be "rude" by American standards. But they are not. They are just busy. We have found that we can always elicit a smile from our "rude" server with our own smiles and appreciation of the food...