FrancescoVini — Restaurant in Florence

We had an incredible dining experience while in Florence, Italy this week. We checked into our AirBnB and searched for a local restaurant and were lucky to find that FrancescoVini was close by. We used Google Maps to navigate to the restaurant and were struggling with the exact location when a door opened and a charming fellow asked us if we were looking for his establishment. He was on the lookout for his 8:30 reservation and saved us the challenge of finding the precise address. I know, we could have been looking for the sign but our eyes were glued to the phone — you can laugh until you do the same thing in a strange city.

Quickly seated we proceeded to have an excellent meal. My wife and I decided to try the locally famous “bistecca alla Fiorentina” which is a massive T-bone steak that is sliced before serving. It was delicious, served medium rare at our request, even though chefs in Florence insist it needs to be rare. But of course we had to share a pasta for our first course. We sampled the thick spaghetti with boar ragu. The pasta was perfectly cooked — you would think we were in Italy ;o)

We enjoyed the suggested local Chianti. We discovered that in Florence, unlike many other places in Italy, they do not typically offer a local house red by the ½ litre which is usually such an amazing value.

As good as the food was, the best part of the meal was the amazing service. Enthusiastic, charming and informative service is a rare treat these days. We were treated with respect and good humour which made us feel valued as customers. After dinner we were spoiled with a visit to the wine cellar which dates to 24 B.C. What an incredible way to end an awesome dinner.

It was a pretty expensive dinner but consider that the beef we chose is priced per kilo and the most expensive option on the menu. The price for the two of us was 150 Euros. The couple we dined with had a less extravagant but equally high quality meal for 100 Euros which also included a bottle of wine.

All of us highly recommend...

What a wonderful experience! My wife and I arrived around 1800 without a reservation. We were treated with utmost hospitality and shown to a table for 2 outside. When ordering, our waiter actually suggested we were ordering too much food for the 2 of us as I was ordering the Florentine T-bone which was going to be about 1.5 kg. We started with a terrific Caprese salad with the freshest mozzarella I've ever had and absolutely perfect prosciutto along with it. When the steak was presented alongside our table our waiter helped with distributing pieces of what was a steak the size of a small roast. It was absolutely delicious - perfectly seasoned. I even applaud the steak knives - sharp slicers instead of silly serrated rippers like you get at many so-called steakhouses. I'm taking off one star for my only complaint - the steak was ordered medium-rare and was actually rare. I know it's very difficult to prepare a 7cm thick steak with a bone in the middle to perfection, and there will always be rarer parts near the bone, but this was too rare - blue along the bone. It was delicious still and my wife and I truly enjoyed the food, the atmosphere, and the superb wait staff. If I ever return to Florence the Francesco Vini will definitely be on...

Highly not recommended. Tasteless mashed potatoes, dry beef. Quality not commensurate with the price. More expensive drinks than average (4€ for Coke and 3€ for water). Coperto up to 3 euros. Disappointing restaurant. It ruined my mood for the day perfectly.

I don't know how to reply to owner comments so reply here: We came to this restaurant because we read it had high reviews. We don't think the food here is good because we've experienced better versions. We decided not to order water just because we didn't think it was reasonable to spend 3€ for a bottle of water. As for your repeated emphasis that we don't pair wine - that decision not to drink alcohol for that meal doesn't mean we don't know what good food is. The beef that has been charred at the bottom will not taste better when paired with wine. I don't know why you keep attacking our taste for this. Also, the price of coperto doesn't seem to be written on the menu, and we expected the average price in Florence to be around 2 euros. In the end, we eat up our food because of the morality of cherishing it, nothing...