Osteria Vecchio Cancello — Restaurant in Florence

Came here our first night in Florence, a Thursday, after a long drive from Sorrento. Place opened at 7pm and we arrived at 7:10pm, we had tried to call before to book but obviously they were closed so got no response and decided to just risk it and show up since it wasn't far from where were staying.

The place is down a fairly unassuming side street off a main road so quite quiet outside. When we came in we were worried that without a booking we wouldn't get a table but the wait staff were very accommodating and advised us that they could give us a table that was reserved provided we would be done before 9m when their prebooked customers arrived. We assured them this would be plenty of time for us and thanked them for finding space for us.

Upon sitting down my first impression was that the decor was very warma sn welcoming, giving a very homely feel, as well as a very old style Italian feel too, like you'd gone to visit a very well travelled old Nonna's house or something, haha. The lighting was all excellent, great use fo lamps, and every table was a good one, no awkwardly placed ones or anything I'd be annoyed to have been sat at.

The wait staff were all super friendly, spoke excellent English (very helpful for my non Italian speaking lazy self), and also surprisingly very funny too, something quite hard to do when speaking in your non native tongue, so I was quite impressed. I'm also very picky about jow wait staff perform their jobs too having worked in restaurants before, and so believe me when I say these guys did an exemplary job, not one single mistake was made the entire evening. Took a drinks order right away upon being seated, brought bread over immediately (and kept it topped up throughout), brought menu's over in a timely manner, waited perfect amount of time before coming back to take order, followed correct protocol for wine testing etc etc, not a foot wrong throughout, perfect score for service.

Finally the food: man... It was good. Really, really good. Even the olive oil on the table was really nice. We only had a starter to share, pasta first course each, and then a meat main dish each, no dessert (Italian portion sizes are quite large we've discovered and so knew we wouldn't eat that much). The menu isnt huge which actually is a relief as I'm not a fan of poring over a giant list to find what I want. What is on there though all looked and sounded divine, and we were happy with our choices (but suspect we would have been happy with pretty much anything on that menu). Truffles ate in season at the moment so most of what we ordered had them on. I won't say what we ordered exactly as I don't know if their menu changes regularly.

We ended up choosing some of the more pricey dishes on the menu and so the final bill came to around $120 euros or so, that was for the shared starter, and a first and second course each, plus a couple large bottles of fizzy water, and a couple glasses of chianti (their house red was a chianti and it was very good), which considering the quality of the food and the impeccable service I didn't actually think was that bad at all. You couild easily just go and have say a starter, a main course, a glass of wineand some water and have it come to just 40-50 euros.

All in all, if you visit Florence, I can highly recommend this place, though be sure to book if you can and don't rely on luck and gracious wait staff...

WOW dinner here was amazing!!! You must make a reservation to eat here they will be booked up if you try to walk in! We were able to reserve the day prior. Walking in, this restaurant is definitely unique. Each wall is filled with unique decorative items and it feels like you are in a well established place. They are known here for the Florentine Steaks, which is primarily the reason we wanted to come here. When in Florence, trying the Florentine steak is a must! They have 2 options for the steak and opted for the filet cut. Both are big enough for 2 people as they’re basically 46oz portions. We did the side of vegetables and potatoes.

The bring the raw cut of steak out to you at the table to show you the cut and weight before cooking. Once being cooked, it came out quickly!! Their recommendation of temperature is medium rare, which we opted for. Service was nice, they bring out a hot plate before the steak comes and assist you in dressing the first piece.

The steak is pre-sliced and the server will serve the first piece, put some olive oil and black salt on it before letting you dine. That was cool to see!! The salt and olive oil taste so good on there. Between the 2 of us we left just a little steak behind and were able to eat mostly everything. The oven roasted potatoes were so tender and well seasoned. Great side choice. The vegetables were not cooked fully and were hard but that's ok, we still ate them and everything else was amazing.

On the way out we were stopped by someone who appeared to be the owner who asked us how the meal was. He stated he had a gift for us and gave us a bottle of the house wine which is made specially for the restaurant. How cool!!! I couldn't thank him enough what a great dining experience! Highly recommend Vecchio Cancello especially if you want to try Florence's...

TLDR: poor for allergies, especially nut allergies. They use nut oil mixed with olive oil in almost every dish.

I informed the restaurant in advance that I had a number of allergies, including a peanut allergy. Unfortunately, I was informed only after ordering my meal - the dish I chose initially was the Pici Pasta - that almost all dishes on the menu are cooked in nut or peanut oil (the restaurant uses a hybrid olive/nut oil, though they couldn’t say which specific type of nut oil). I was told I could only have the steak and a few other possible side dishes due to the pervasive use of the nut oil. The allergen menu is also incorrect, as the nut oil is not listed as an allergen on any of the relevant dishes, despite being used in almost every dish. Given that we informed the restaurant in advance of my nut allergy, it would have been courteous of the restaurant to inform me during booking that almost all of their dishes would have been unsuitable. The allergen information on the menu also urgently needs updating. I cannot recommend this restaurant to people with allergies.

Edit, following response from the restaurant: I am surprised and disappointed by the unprofessional and dishonest reply from the restaurant. Our waitress spoke to the chef directly, who confirmed that nut oil mixed with olive oil is used in all pre-prepared dishes (so everything but the steaks, basically). In light of this, the restaurant must add a nut warning to the relevant meals urgently. To not do so puts the lives of any customers with a nut allergy at serious risk. I am surprised that a restaurant with such high levels of 5-star ratings does not take this more seriously, and that the response from the management was not more professional. This leads me to suspect that a number of the favourable reviews may...