Cantina Barbagianni — Restaurant in Florence

Overall saddening experience for me and my partner - and of all days on Valentines Day. We came inside and were promptly welcomed. Navigated down the awkward stairs but all was good and we were seated in a pleasant environment. We quickly had our starters (within 10 minutes), however this is the end of the happy story. Although my partners tagliatelli was tasty, my starter was particularly bland (im really not a picky person, either) and so bland my partner offered to swap our plates before tasting it, then tasted it and said we should probably send it back. Which i did, hesitantly. I was impeccably poilite, i explained how it was and kindly asked if we could have something else instead. This was met with a rather negative response. Although the waiter said it was fine, it was obvious he was gritting his teeth at this request. He couldnt help but question why i didnt like it (which was fair enough) but it was very apparent that he was not happy at all. Which was proven by us sitting there for a whole hour before we get any more food. My parter decided to not eat and wait for my next plate to come so we could eat together rather than she eat alone and her food went completely cold in this hour. Worst part was despite my smile and trying to take her mind off things (which is absolutely not what should be necessesary - we should be enjoying the moment!!) she still began to cry. It is unreasonable to try to make us feel bad because we didnt want eat something bland and then be punished by made to wait an hour with no service because of this. It was absolutely disgusting and we did not enjoy our time there in the slightest. I went into this restaurant with 200€ expecting to spend most of it. We spent only 40€ and left.

I cannot in any way recommend this place from our experience; it was...

Tasty Food in a Wonderful RestaurantWe read about Catina Barbagianni online and booked it. Even though I had high expectations the food and service far exceeded them. We arrived about 20 min before our reservations and were promptly greeted and seated. The waiter spoke splendid English and was very familiar with the dishes. We ordered some wine to pair with our food and it was also a delight. In terms of food we started with the octopus which came with a red wine sauce. The octopus was soft and tender and the sauce complimented it wonderfully. The flavors blended beautifully, and were subtle. As a main course we ordered a steak which came with a delicious savory sauce and the Gnuti. Both were wonderful, tasty, and good portions. We had some desert which was...

Had a fabulous evening meal dining as a group of five at this small restaurant...do not be off put by what appears to be an absence of free tables or a waiter (we almost were) as there is an intimate cellar. We shared some tasty appetisers, homemade bread and I always like a free amuse bouche. The primi were overall not bad - the odd ingredient adding nothing but a name on the menu. The highlight was the Fiorentina steak I shared with my chum, well cooked, well seasoned, just delicious. There was one slightly underwhelmed diner who chose the pork but two fish dishes were complimented. We were all too full for dessert, although we polished off another bottle of red (from a reasonably priced list). Service was some of the more engaging we encountered...