Macelleria di Testi Massimiliano — Restaurant in Vicopisano

I had a really hard time figuring out how rate this restaurant because on one hand, there were things that I liked, and on the other hand, I felt we were ripped off. To note: They are first and foremost a butchery. Their cuts are excellent, and I've been here to pick up meat before and have never been disappointed. However, this was my first time having dinner at the restaurant.

It's usually pretty busy during dinner, so I recommend a reservation ahead of time. After being seated, the waiter presents the menu verbally. You won't know unless you go inside to read the pricing on the back wall, what there is and how much it costs** I'll come back to this.

We started with antipasti, traditional meat cuts, cheese, and split a bottle of red wine between the 7 of us. The waiter took our order for the steaks so they could prepare them while we talk over the appetizers. No complaints about the antipasti until the bill came, discussed later.

About the steaks:

I live in the United States where we are known for our steaks and our cuts and you can pay anywhere from 12.99 at Outback or Roadhouse to over $100 per cut at a private steakhouse in Vegas or elsewhere. One of the best steaks I've ever had was a $20 cut at a steakhouse in Texas (considering what I cook at home). But I live in Ohio, where local beef is a common thing. Moving forward...

The steak was good here, you'll eat well, this is for sure. Could have used a little more salt and seasoning, but I liked the peppercorns and the overall serve. BUT if you ask your customers what heat they prefer, and you don't cook to order, you lose some confidence. The entire table ordered a medium heat. By USA standards, they served 2 of the 3 steaks rare. Perhaps the Italian standard is different. The third to come out was correct, and tasted the best of the three, considering seasoning and cook to order requests. Note: I prefer a rare steak, but the rest of the table was a little disappointed. One even asked if there was salt on the table. The Fiorentina had a very hard, chewy crust on the outside and cool red center inside. I felt like I needed a sharper knife.

Service was a little on the slow side, but they were busy, so I can excuse this. What I really have an issue with was the pricing. A group of 7, we paid $270

$129 for 3 steaks split between 7 people, even too much meat for how many we were. $8 Bottle of wine $5 for a small beer $8 for 4 bottles of water $8 for 2 orders of potatoes $30 for 6 desserts An espresso **A whopping $70 for 2 plates of antipasto.

I'm ok with everything we paid for except for the antipasto. There's no way their price for this is justifiable. To be fair, on the wall inside the restaurant, they specify that antipasto is $10/head...but if you're eating outside you don't see that. We paid $35/ea board of antipasto. Had I known how much the antipasto cost, considering what was on it, I'd have passed it by. Could have ordered two more steaks for that. Again, there is no menu given to you at the table, so you seemingly have no idea what you're paying and the waiter just asks, antipasto for the whole table, and generally...

We ate dinner here in October 2019, a group of four Australians. After a disappointing introduction to 'Bistecca alla Fiorentina' elsewhere, Ristomacelleria Testi was recommended to us by a local.

After a conversation about steak in Tuscany, the butcher informed us that if we want to eat authentic Bistecca alla Fiorentina we should not go to a restaurant with their fancy out of town chefs, rather we should go to the source that grows and nurtures its own produce. Ristomacelleria Testi provided us with arguably the most delicious meal we had in the whole of Italy after travelling the length of the country, dining in places including Milan, Dobbiaco, Venice, Rome, Florence, Greve, Bari, Matera, Ostuni and more.

The dining experience at Ristomacelleria Testi was like no other. It did not feel so much like a restaurant, but an experience that we were not so sure about, feeling a little apprehensive. The food was so perfect for us, we ate with gusto and awe that we had at last, experienced the real Bistecca alla Fiorentina in its traditional form at a local level.

2 years later, this particular dining experience has entered our folklore of great moments in travel. I would love to come back here again and with Tuscany already booked for another trip in 2022, it is very much a...

Ci rechiamo in questo ristorante avendone sentito parlare bene (da Pisa). Si presenta bene, ampia selezione di carni, ottima la morucha (65euro/kg), così come gli antipasti e la tartare. Buona selezione anche di vini e prezzo giusto (70 euro per 2 bottiglie) per chi come noi apprezza il bere e il mangiar bene. Una bottiglia di vino portata per sbaglio ma che non ci siamo disdegnati a berla lo stesso anche se ne avevamo ordinato una diversa; fa sempre bene conoscere dei vini nuovi, anche senza averli scelti. Non abbiamo badato al risparmio insomma e dobbiamo dire che siamo rimasti soddisfatti! Direte voi, perché 2 stelle? Per aver pagato: due antipasti in più (cosa che avevamo detto di volerne uno e dividerlo per lasciare più spazio alla ciccia. Ad arrivare al tavolo per carità è arrivato un antipasto abbondante ma senza aver chiesto nemmeno questo ma trovandolo nel conto, beh pensavamo che avesse abbondato il proprietario perché simpatici!) per trovarci nel conto un contorno in più non avendolo nemmeno ricevuto ma la cosa più sgradevole è stata dietro un prezzo totale di 237,50 euro in 3 vederci offrire con tanto di contentezza due amari dal proprietario nei bicchieri da shortini per poi ritrovarli addebitati nel conto al prezzo l'uno di 5 euro. Ovviamente, abbiamo pagato, riso e ringraziato come siamo abituati a fare. Tanto la parte del pellaio come si dice qui l'ha fatta il proprietario, non noi che però ci sentiamo in difficoltà a consigliarlo nonostante la qualità non fosse male. Peccato sprecare così un lavoro per fare i pellai...