Trattoria Giovanni — Restaurant in Florence

Came to have dinner with my girlfriend, the service was fast and the bartenders that served us were just ok. We ordered two pasta dishes, one with truffle sauce and the other with a sauce made with cow cheeks, a grilled beef steak and a bottle of wine. Everything was very good expect for the Pasta with the truffle sauce that it was below average pasta dishes that we had tried during our days in Florence. As someone that worked in a restaurant for years, I understand the time of waiting and the not perfect attention by the bartenders, that was never an issue but, at the time of paying and, counting that the bottle of wine was 29€, ( which it was very good price quality) the rest of the food was already a bit overpriced as we payed 95.50€. the main problem comes when the manager or the person in charge, at the time of paying, kept on repeating that the tip is not included and that if we want to gift the bartenders, that is the way of doing it. We considered that the tip is, as he said but clearly didn't meant, the tip was not something that we thought the restaurant deserved for all the reasons previously mentioned. After politely saying goodbye, he followed us outside saying: goodbye and thank you anyway, even if you don't tip, anyway, thank you. This felt like some sort of manipulation and with the objective of making us feel bad for not giving something that, according to him, it was voluntarily. We kept on thinking if we had to communicate this or not but, this had an impact in our night so it clearly affected our experience tonight...

AVOID UNLESS YOU WANT BAD FOOD AND HARASSMENT FROM THE STAFF The headwaiter was very rude and dismissive towards us and other customers from the get go, telling us we had not made a reservation, despite the fact we had. Additionally he kept making snide and aggressive comments towards other customers. If only we had walked out then. The restaurant was overcrowded and we were crammed in a tight corner. The service was very slow and other wait staff seemed bored. The food was below average, my mushroom pasta was flavourless and slimy I am usually a mushroom lover, but I the texture made it so I could not finish it, which was a first! The carpaccio was okay but nothing special, the only good thing was the bone marrow but it did not make up for the rest of the experience. We were excited for the tiramisu only to find it was a large bowl of cream with only 2 sponge fingers and no layers. The chocolate cake was dense and stodgy although it seemed to have good quality chocolate used, again we could not finish it. Despite the slow service at the end they could not wait for us to leave, with the bill being thrust upon us and we were constantly reminded the tip was not included but we should add it. Then straight after we paid we were ushered out with the head waiter forcefully following us and slamming the door right behind us. Certainly far better places to eat just round the corner with better food, atmosphere and...

We have been traveling through Italy for more than a week, eating in nice restaurants each night, and Trattoria Giovanni had the best combination of ambiance and service we have encountered yet! We did not have a reservation (we were actually waiting in line at another very popular restaurant nearby when it started to rain), but were seated right away at one of the few open tables. The restaurant is small and charming, with tables spaced nicely apart and not on top of each other. Our waiter was fantastic! He took our orders promptly, offered friendly suggestions (without any pressure), and made sure we enjoyed the meal. For food, we ordered the pecorino starter and really enjoyed the three ages of cheese with delicious onion jam & honey. The table bread and house olive oil were also very nice. We each had a pasta (ricotta & spinach ravioli and tagliatelle with boar sauce), and while not the best we had in Italy, both good. We then shared the sausage main dish and it was truly delicious, with a subtle heat and strong fennel flavor. Even though we had no room for dessert (the waiter suggested tiramisu but wasn't offended when we declined), we were offered complimentary limoncello. Again, best service we've had on our trip and we're so glad we stumbled across this lovely restaurant! Under 50 euro per person with shared starter, two pastas, shared main, and four...