L'Osteria di Giovanni — Restaurant in Florence

This is THE place to go not just for a great Florentine Steak, but for impeccable service. We quickly greeted and asked to wait while they prepared our table and before we sat we were brought to the bar and offered a complimentary glass of champagne. The service for our dinner was unbelievable. The server was happy and energetic, answering questions and making suggestions. Several of the dishes, like our tortellini, was served table side. Not only did the server cut the last tortellini in half and split it so my girlfriend and I split the dish evenly, but he scraped the serving platter and deposited the extra sauce directly onto our pasta. Of course, the star of the meal was the steak. We received a very large Florentine expertly seared. The steak was cooked rare throughout, not a bit of it raw (which the girlfriend would not have been ok with). It also had a sharp line between the seared crust and the center, often when these big steaks are not cooked hot enough, there is a gray rind in between. That was not the case. The service was so great that while I finished off the steak and zucchini flowers, my girlfriend ran to the corner and pulled out some Euros so we could leave a large tip for the staff (I guess adding a tip on your card is uncommon in Italy). That was before the dessert. Not only did they give us complimentary almond biscotti and dessert liqueur (our server was kind enough to inform us we were supposed to soak the biscotti) but when they saw we were too stuffed to eat more than a bite, they brought us a plastic bag of the biscotti to enjoy later. Now as much as I enjoy a fine dining experience, I am a bit of a barbarian at heart. We did ask to try their homemade limoncello that my girlfriend had read about and I drank mine like a shot. It was great, but when the server saw that mine was gone while she was still sipping on hers, he brought the bottle back out and insisted on giving me another pour. I also just have to add that the bill was much less than I thought it would be, under 200 Euro. I easily would have paid 300-400 for that meal. I have not stopped raving about this restaurant since I returned home and honestly I think my friends and family are getting a little sick of it so I had to...

My husband and I went here for dinner tonight. We made reservations and when we arrived the worker told us he had a table waiting for us in the “wine cellar”...sounds great, right? Well it’s literally a basement with file cabinets where the stick the wine and have about 4-5 plywood tables covered by tablecloths - nothing fancy or esthetically pleasing in the least. In fact, it seemed like they were seating most tourists down there if they weren’t 50+, white, and “distinguished”. Such a let down since we went through the process of intentionally choosing this restaurant but didn’t even get to experience the ambience of the main dining room and majority of the house.

The food was good but was not amazing - we have had better most nights out of our stay (and a more welcoming environment). Our waiter disappeared after serving our dessert and eventually a different worker showed up so we could get the bill. We got charged 2€ more for the house wine than what the menu stated but at this point I was upset and tired so we didn’t bother mentioning it.

I would recommend going elsewhere during your stay in Florence. The food was not good enough to make up for the fact that, despite having a reservation, we got banished to a basement where they sat the people who don’t fit their image (mind you we were also well dressed and are young professionals who make decent money - it’s not like we were stretching our dollar to go on a fancy date night). Pass on this place and go to a restaurant that cares about your presence and values the effort you put in to experience the food...

The best food we have had in Italy (Capri, Positano, Rome, Florence tour)! Upon entering, we were greeted nicely by an older gentleman who showed us to our table. The restaurant was full and everyone’s food looked delightful. Their table side bread was unlike any other restaurant in Italy, perfectly crisp, fried puffs of deliciousness. If these were served after dinner, they could have been the dessert with a little honey or powdered sugar. Next the server helped us select our wine based on what we told him we liked and he was spot on. Our first dish was the Pici Al Sugo Di Salsiccia E Cavolo Nero, which was the very best pasta dish we have had. The noodles were a great texture and consistency, the sausage was fantastic, but the sauce was unbelievable. Next came our steak, cooked medium rare, pre cut and it was like eating little slices of heaven. The texture was consistent and tender all the way through. Not one bad bite in the whole steak. Next, they give you a cold gelato type dessert which cleansed the palette, service with dessert bread that went well with our espresso. Finally, the tiramisu arrived and it was the icing on the cake! We finished our bottle of wine and the server brought us lemoncello! Every bite of food we had here was unbelievable to our taste buds and left us craving more so much so that we booked another reservation and will eat here again! 12/10 this place is great. We asked several locals about their favorite place to eat and they all mentioned this place in their...