Salsamenteria De' Ciompi — Restaurant in Florence

This was the BEST meal I have ever had in Italy in all three of my visits to the entire country over the past 10 years.

The establishment is so unassuming and humble. The host, Faizel, isn't pushy to get you in the door and is one of the reasons the meal was just so enjoyable. He is very friendly and willing to work with your requirements and needs.

The restaurant utilises fresh produce from around the neighbouring areas of Firenze and the taste in quality and freshness is there in abundance.

We had the Gigli Bolognese and it was like no other Bolognese we have had before. Real pieces of melt in your mouth beef meat mixed up with the beef mince. And to make things even better was that the portion size was phenomenal. For the money we paid we couldn't believe the size of it.

The meal was rounded off with the Tiramisu and for a peoplr that generally don't eat it because usually it is a massive let down, we have to say it salvaged our hope in this dessert.

Overall, I could not fault this establishment and the limited number of tables make this for a very cosy setting with all round excellent home style cooked meals.

Would I go here again? For sure. Would I recommend this to anyone else? You best believe it. In fact, I might say no matter where you are in Italy, make a trip to Firenze just to have a meal here...

Wow, what was that? I want to know what our waitress was smoking, because she didn’t have a clue what she was doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has been fired since I was there, because she was terrible at her job. It took 3 attempts for us to remind her to bring water to the table, and we were waiting for about 20 minutes for the food to come out. Not only that, but I had to go to the counter to pay (after again asking her 3 times) because she was too incompetent to bring to the bill to our table.

Also, what is with the fake pasta tray they put out at the beginning of the dining experience? Am I supposed to chose which pasta I want? Or is this some weird way to try and attract tourists to your restaurant?

My carbonara dish was okay, in all fairness, but my girlfriend’s pasta with vegetables was below par - and didn’t even come with any sauce.

Save yourself the time and don’t bother, you’ll find way better service and food in Florence. This place doesn’t deserve the 4.4...

Not what we expected, a little disappointed : no waiter, you come pick up your food, and eat in plastic plates with only a fork. For the antipasti : too much salt on it but if you take it off they're pretty good (truffle croquettes are very good ; gorgonzola ones not really, they're a little dry) For the pasta: they're homemade which is very nice, the sauces are ok but nothing exceptional. In conclusion, very good prices so go there if you wanna eat and be full, or take a drink and antipastis for a good price! (30€ for 2 persons with antispatis,...