I’Brindellone — Restaurant in Florence

Visited l'Brindellone on the recommendation of a tour guide. It was absolutely fantastic, I cannot say enough good things. We arrive just after they opened ~7:20p, evidently this is a restaurant that typically requires a reservation, but they were able to seat us sharing a table with another couple who also didn't have a reservation. I was initially hesitant about this but the table was quite large and it was not a problem at all. We ordered the pasta of the day (egg noodles with rabbit), the floretine steak (our reason for choosing this restaurant), and their vegetable of the day- which was described as a fried squash. Our waiter also brought us a plate of their white beans in red sauce to try. I also ordered a glass of their basic Chianti.

This dinner was beyond my wildest imagination - everything was perfectly spiced and cooked - our steak was basically just seared, so very very red in the middle and incredibly tender - and HUGE - did I mention that? The steak was definitely a 2 person endeavor - it filled an entire serving platter! The thing I was most surprised about was the beans - I am NOT a bean fan and would never have ordered them, but these beans were REALLY good - I started with a small taste and ended up going back for multiple additional spoonfuls. Our waiter said the restaurant is quite famous for their beans, and after trying I can see why. And I can't forget the squash - literally every bite of this meal was an experience. At the end of dinner our waiter also brought us a limoncello - a perfect end to a perfect meal. I am so glad we were able to get into this restaurant.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge the kindness of the staff at the restaurant- I mentioned earlier that the waiter brought us both the beans and limoncello to try - he did not charge us for this and in addition was just generally very kind despite us obviously being tourists with little Italian language skills. I felt they really took care of us, with much more attention than generally is given in other Italian restaurants we've visited. We had a wonderful dinner and I want to recommend l'Brindellone...

Tourists should avoid this restaurant.

Very poor service and food was not good. We chose this restaurant based on the reviews and were sorely disappointed.

First, this place caters to locals and based on our experience was not tourist friendly. The place is very small and we had to suffer through all the nasty stares from the locals.

It took forever to get served - we were basically ignored. Finally we were served some really dry bread (probably semolina) and water. We then ordered the filet mignon and waited and waited.

I had to ask the waiter twice where our food was.

When the meal finally arrived, it was some type of fatty steak but definitely not filet mignon and it was basically raw. So I asked that they take my steak back and cook it some more.

And of course, I had to ask again where my steak was after waiting another 15 minutes. When it arrived, I was so fed up with the terrible service and bad food, I asked for a bag to take it with me.

And of course, I had to wait again. The to go bag arrived and I immediately asked for the check.

And of course, I had to wait again. Finally, I asked PLEASE may I have the check and after a few minutes it arrived.

It seemed like they were treating us so poorly because we were not "locals". It was very obvious that the customers (the locals) in the restaurant were not too happy that we were there based on all of the nasty stares we got.

This restaurant should realize that tourists account for a very large portion of the economy of Florence. Our money is as good as anyone else's.

If you are a tourist, avoid this restaurant like the plague. There are so many better places that that will treat you with respect and serve you good food.

I wish Google allowed for zero or negative stars because this place deserves zero...

Walking in here for lunch, I couldn't hear any English/American voices, only Italian. This is a rare feature for a restaurant in Florence in July. The staff were so friendly - put up with my terrible Italian but also had fantastic English.

The interior is simple, comfortable, homey. It's kept nice and cool in the summer heat with fans and air con.

We came wanting steak, to try Fiorentine steak, and we achieved this with aplomb (the photo really doesn't do it justice). It's relatively cheap here, and what I really appreciate is the transparency around price - they brought the steak out to show us before hand and told us the weight, meaning we knew how much we were going to pay.

The steak was massive - we split between 3 and it was plenty - and very tasty. Good char, well seasoned (simply with salt and pepper, nothing else needed), very tender, and wonderfully beefy. Highly recommend.

We had 2 sides, the seasonal veg of fried potatoes, and some white beans. These were much less impressive - €4 for a very small portion of some (admittedly very nice) chips is a bit steep. The beans were a little tasteless and watery - maybe try the tomatoey beans instead which looked great.

Our veggie member of the party had the pasta pomodoro - she absolutely loved it, said it's one of the best bites of food she's had in Italy. Highly recommend the pasta.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this restaurant for authentic, well priced, delicious food with really good...