Buca San Giovanni Frigest — Restaurant in Florence

DO NOT SUBJECT YOURSELF TO THIS RESTAURANT. The WORST dining experience in all of Europe. We should have read all these reviews before going. Our visit to this restaurant was nothing short of a nightmare. We had to seat ourselves, clear our own table and had no cutlery or a clean table to eat at. We asked multiple times for cutlery and our table to be wiped and cleared but the staff responded rudely and ignored us, leaving us to eat with dirty dishes all around us. The whole restaurant was extremely unhygienic and patrons were forced to eat at dirty tables with previous customers leftover drinks and plates of food. You could tell that everyone was uncomfortable but due to the inattentiveness (or more likely deliberate ignorance) from the staff no one was able to get their attention to raise concerns or request to leave. As soon as the waiters sensed that you wanted to raise a concern they avoided your table like the plague and pretended they didn’t understand English.

We had to ask multiple times to order, and when our drinks came they were terrible. I’m not sure how an Italian restaurant can butcher a Aperol Spritz as badly as this restaurant has. The Statue of David could have made a better espresso martini. We finally got the waiters attention to ask him about sending our drinks back he looked at our drinks and ignored us for over half an hour until we stood up and asked him again about our drinks. When we tried to speak to him he yelled at us and stated ‘I’ve been making these drinks every day for years and have never had a complaint’ - even though we saw TWO more tables send their drinks back before ours had even arrived. He slammed the bill down and yelled at us when we asked to not to have to pay for the drinks that we hadn’t drunk and that had been taken back to be bar half an hour prior to attempting to pay for the bill. When we finally paid for the bill, the waitress yelled at us and aggressively threw the receipts in our direction.

I strongly discourage everyone to steer clear of this terrible excuse for...

We had the strangest experience at this restaurant. What seemed like a lovely location, sitting outside under the umbrellas enjoying the Duomo and the square turned into an ugly situation. The waiter accidentally spilled olive oil and balsamic all over me as he pushed a menu, it hit the bottles and the oil crashed to the ground bouncing oil all over my legs and shoes while I caught the balsamic, it was upside down and drained out over my arm, raincoat and lap. It was quite a mess as you can imagine. I excused myself to clean up in the bathroom (inside, downstairs). My husband asked that they delay delivering the food as he didn’t want our food sitting and getting cold as I was otherwise involved. I exited the restaurant 10 minutes later to my food being delivered and my husband was not sure if we were staying or going, based on my outfit and shoes. I reassured him I was OK and we proceeded to eat our now not hot food, and it was terrible. It was luke warm, salty and not appetizing. We decided at the point to ask for the bill and get out of there. The waiter was very rude to us. We knew the spill was an accident and didn’t blame him for what happened but I do blame him for what happened after. He was very rude to us, kept yelling “kill the baby” at us (which we had no idea what he was talking about), made faces about my husband with other staff and at me, he ripped off the receipt after taking the credit card from my husband and through it my direction even though he was standing next to where my husband was sitting. We received absolute disrespect from the waiter and we just needed to remove ourselves. This was our worst experience while traveling for 3 weeks and left us both questioning the whole episode as it was so strange. I would not recommend this restaurant, the food alone was sub par and the service was absolutely abysmal and...

I had the unfortunate experience of dining at this restaurant recently, and I must say, it was an absolute disaster. From the moment we walked in, it was clear that the staff had no interest in providing even a basic level of service. We were completely ignored for what felt like an eternity before someone reluctantly seated us.

The nightmare continued when we ordered drinks. I can only describe the concoctions they served us as vile and repulsive. It's as if they mixed random liquids together without any consideration for taste or quality. I couldn't take more than a sip, and my dining companions felt the same.

The service, if you can even call it that, was beyond terrible. Our server was nowhere to be found most of the time, and when they did grace us with their presence, it was with an attitude of annoyance and impatience. They forgot to bring us utensils, and seemed utterly disinterested in our satisfaction.

The entire experience was a reminder of how a restaurant can fail on every level. The lack of attention, the revolting drinks, and the abysmal service all combined to create an unforgettable evening of disappointment. I wouldn't wish this experience upon anyone, and I strongly advise avoiding this restaurant...