Locanda Fiorentina - Duomo di Firenze — Restaurant in Florence

Your experience at this restaurant apparently depends on what staff are working when you show up. Clearly many guests have a very good experience based on their reviews but ours was quite poor. We (one couple) arrived exactly on time, were greeted nicely and seated immediately at a nice table, but our server was horrible and ruined our visit. We asked questions about the various steak offerings on the menu and he immediately began pressuring us to buy the most expensive offering which was priced by the kilo (95 euros per kilo if I recall correctly) and had a minimum order weight of 1.2 kilos, which is 2.64 pounds of beef. Even considering the weight of the bone that is a lot for two people. We asked about other options but he kept trying to convince us to order the huge cut he originally suggested. His behavior and attitude was very much like that of a street vendor or small shop keeper trying to convince a potential customer. I was astonished. I had frankly never encountered anything like this and I am very well traveled. He was pressuring me so hard I finally asked to see the cut of beef he was talking about and he showed me a massive T bone over 3 inches thick, which he said was 1.5 kilos (3.3 pounds). I protested that it was way too much meat and he finally agreed to bring us a different menu item with a 600 gram minimum weight. The resulting steak had great flavor but was way overcooked, almost well done, apparently the result of our trying to order medium rare to medium. Being aware that Florentine style steak is traditionally cooked very rare we had tried to get it cooked a little bit more but apparently trying to do that is a huge mistake. Interestingly another American couple sat down next to us and acquiesced to the server’s insistence on ordering the same 1.5 kilo steak he had shown us. When it arrived it had the same thickness as the raw cut which had been displayed but the amount of sliced meat was a fraction of the weight that would have resulted from cooking a raw steak the size of the one displayed to us. It was...

It is impossible to believe that food this good is so close to the Duomo, which is just surrounded by touristy locations. A longtime friend of mine who was born and raised in Florence and still lives and works here took us, and the food was spectacular.

The chef came out and introduced us to our bistecca before cooking it, and it was incredible. The menu range even satisfied some picky child eaters among us. Having heavenly Florentine options from fresh truffles to bistecca alla Fiorentina to pizze and great vegetarian options is incredible. Probably going back on this visit and will definitely come back more often!

I honestly don't usually leave reviews for restaurants, but this one was so good, and it worried me that it wasn't crowded, and I really want it to thrive, because I want to eat here every time I come to Florence! Though I will be sad if I have to make a reservation next time...

Also, as someone from a colder climate, having air conditioning and shade in the midday Tuscan sun is always such...

We v had many steak across Italy. We are steak lovers who live in London and had tried all ranges of steak from supermarket to A5 wagyu.. we came here given its 1000+ reviews on the Florentine steak and we ordered the almost 100 euro T bone… it disappointed us from all angles… the cut was bad , it felt like the chef was in a rush and the T-bone steak was cut into all random shapes..some even the size of my fist…. Then the meat was I can only say supermarket quality. 1/3 of the meat is not chewable that’s the worst… it’s not tender, it’s not chewy.. it’s just not chewable at all like we had to spit them out in the end… also some pieces came with skin?! I was surprised to see steak with skin in the 20th century. Though we could be the unlucky one where the chef happened to had a bad day or out piece of steak just happened to be the one bad piece out of a thousand …. The wine was average, and the bread and salad was a total disappointment too.. I would not...