Trattoria Il Contadino — Restaurant in Florence

❌Avoiding Trattoria Il Contadino ❌

There are many beautiful places to eat an authentic Italian dinner in Florence, but Trattoria Il Contadino is ‘NOT’ one of them.

Upon sitting down, our female server was rude, curt, and apathetic. She didn’t welcoming us nor asking if we’d like a drink. We waited nearly 10 minutes for her to return to take our order. When she finally did, she spoke incredibly quickly and walked off to chat with her coworkers down the street…

When the food arrived, the portions were much smaller than what the online photos had led us to expect. I’ve submitted my meal for comparison. We went with first promotion, priced at 15 euros with a drink and a side plate, initially didn’t seem too bad.

Then came the worst part: I ordered grilled eggplant, and the dish that was brought out looked good at first glance. However, upon eating it, I discovered that the eggplant was ROTTEN!!! What made this experience even worse was the waitress standing by the door, watching me eat it. She knew she was serving me spoiled food because when I looked up in terror she rushed over, saying, “Yeah, I thought so.” Can I get you something else?

They replaced it with potatoes, as a replacement. I finished the meal and left in a hurry. Please, choose somewhere else to dine. It's one thing to receive bad service, but it’s another to be knowingly serve people...

Tried this on a Thursday evening during holiday season, inspired by the good reviews. Staff was very friendly and professional, even during a busy night. The food is really good, especially the meat and desserts. They offer very convenient packages for a full meal, on the range between 12 € and 25 €. I picked the tagliata meal which came with a first course dish (I chose pasta) and water + wine or soda, and I added dessert and coffee. Spent 25.5 € and was very satisfied! The pasta dish was a little too oily for my taste but the beef was perfectly cooked and accompanied by really fresh lettuce and radicchio. There was a short wait but they were honest about timing. Only down side, the room where I was was cold when door opened, so I recommend going with a big group or booking in advance and requesting the main room, the one away from the door. Overall I WOULD definitely go back. Ps I was born and raised in Italy, so my food standards are...

I am really surprised at all the positive reviews written about this trattoria. It was literally the worst food we ate during our 9 days in Italy and I have no reason to believe that it was just a bad night for them. Within minutes of ordering several dishes that sounded good, we were served the food. My primi was a braised rabbit, my wife ordered a pasta dish, daughter #1 got soup and daughter #2 got ravioli. Everything obviously was pre-cooked and just came out of a food warmer. My daughter who got ravioli described it as "Chef Boyardee" and you could see the grease separating from the gravy. Yuck. Our wine went in water glasses because, as I was told, real wine glasses are not for house wine. I've never experienced that and was told I couldn't have a real wine glass. Our food was dry, greasy and very disappointing. We did not stay for dessert...