Al Tranvai

Wonderful food and atmosphere in a tiny little restaurant. Asked an italian lady on the street where to go for lunch and she pointed us to Al Tranvai. Food was tasty and hot. fun selection of items on the menu from the expected to the traditional, tripe and brain and sweetbreads. They do have one English menu, we passed it around. We were the only none Italian speaking customers there. Would go back again if the opportunity should arise.

Yrsterday was dinner and today lunch. We just had to come back to try some other dishes.
The place sits about 30 people, and it is clearly popular, so a reservation is advisable.
If you really want the taste of home made style food, this is the place to visit.

This little spot is just around the corner from our house. We pass by it all the time and finally went in the other night. The service was quick and casual and the food was delicious. Our fellow diners were all Italian. It is the perfect spot for a quick meal and a cozy atmosphere.

Came here our first night in Florence and had the best time. Great prices, just a short walk from the Santo Spirito plaza. Food was excellent: Gorgonzola Gnocchi, Bruschetta, Panama cotta, and the TIRAMISU. I have never had better Tiramisu, so make sure you save room for that. I wish we were hungrier so we could have tried more dishes as everything that was coming out of the kitchen looked excellent. Get out of the centre of the city and enjoy this gem in Oltrarno!

Marvellous little «trattoria» one of the most famous in Florence. Quite small, resembles an old tram station (from which it takes its name «Tranvai»), very good simple food open for lunch as well.

We met my friend and her husband at Al Tranvai on their recommendation. The place is cozy and with a relaxed atmosphere that reminded me of casual and lingering lunches with family. The owners cook and serve the food, and the service is really friendly. As we were accompanied by an Italian, and we managed to piece together some broken Italian ourselves, the server came by a few times to tell us some jokes in Italian. It was a fun lunch!
And now onto the food. We started with assorted appetizers of tomato bruschetta, liver pâté bruschetta, zucchini salad, and a salumi plate that would make your mouth water. We washed that down with their house wine, and followed up with maltagliate in a duck ragú and penne with salsiccia. So good! The tomato bruschetta was so fresh and bursting with flavor, the zucchini salad was unlike any salad I’ve had before (perfect dressing, thin zucchini mixed in with fresh chopped salad), and the penne salsiccia was so good I can still conjure up the taste from memory (and we ate there 10 days ago). It’s always a good idea to try restaurants in areas where locals eat, and Al Tranvai is the perfect example of a local success!

This is a smaller place, with about twelve tables and a cozy feel. They were accommodating to tourists, but it didn’t seem like a touristy place. There was a bottle of red wine on the table, which was ‘pay-​for-​what-​you-​drink,’ and very affordable. I had a cod, leek, and potato casserole, which was quite good, and my husband enjoyed his chicken. For dessert, we got panna cotta and ‘tiramisu with strawberries,’ which tasted more like strawberry shortcake. A great place!

Highly recommend — great, fresh food and VERY friendly and helpful staff. Returning here the next time we’re in Florence for sure

This is a very authentic place, with no English version of the menu, luckily the waitress was very nice and translated the menu for us. We had the special pasta of the day, which had mussels and they gave us some crushed red pepper to make it spicy, it was really good. We had fried zucchini and fried zucchini flowers, they were both good. I tried the rabbit, it was very well done, but I think rabbit just isnt as tasty as chicken (thats my personal preference). They also had more exotic items like cow brains, which we didnt try. The tiramasu was also really good.

Hidden gem
We were able to walk in on a Friday evening without a reservation. The food was excellent.
The staff was friendly and helpful as we understand very little Italian.
Fresh flavors and ample portions

Though the restaurant is tiny, the food experience is huge! The food is wonderful and I would say it is the epitome of true Tuscan home cooked comfort food done very very well.
Tucked away far from the tourist trap, this little restaurant is worthwhile to search out to experience flavourful and soulful Italian food. We started with superbly crisp seasonally fresh fried artichoke (tempura like) and the special of the day fried zucchini flowers (tempura like). Hot, crispy, and not a spot of heavy oil made these a delight to start out dinner.
We followed up with several primi /​pasta dishes… a large plate of spicy tomato on top of linguine, ribollita (hearty bread stew with a strong flavourful vegetable taste … the combination of black kale and carrot was really nice), spinach gnocchi made with ricotta was light and fluffy and the gorgonzola sauce was just perfect (not heavy with cream but more potent because a high amount of creamy gorgonzola), and a penne dish with a red wine sauce, tomato, and sausage. Every plate was polished and everyone agreed that the food was wonderful. The prices were a steal for Florence… most items sat around 8 to 14 Euros for mains and 6 Euros for appetizer.
We completed our meal with incredible desserts. The tiramisu was creamy yet light with a strong bold coffee front taste that quickly followed up with a dark chocolate note and the sweet wine gently enveloping your taste bud. The chestnut budino was creamy and the spices are reminescent of fall like flavours of a pumpkin pie. Crème caramel was silky smooth and the caramel was rich and thick to coat each bite.
Service was lovely… a young lady worked the room tirelessly with a happy smile. Though she was the only one, we were never lacking anything and all food arrived to the table either bubbling from the oven heat or the stove.
Complete gem! Avoid the tourist trap and walk the extra 10 minutes to get some wonderful dishes that will make you believe you’re eating at a Nonna’s kitchen table with family all around.

Nice friendly place with good food: cow brains (cervelo con fiori), rissoto, pasta dishes, nice house wine

…toskana wie sie leibt und lebt und kocht!
Innen dekoriert wie eine Straßenbahn (schönen hölzernen Bänken), mit Fotos der alten Straßenbahn in schwarz und weiß und sogar die Frontseite des Restaurants sieht ein wenig aus wie eine Straßenbahn.
Die Antipasti toscano (crostino mit Leber, geröstete frische Tomaten, Schinken, finocChiona für 7EUR) waren genialgut, die Hauptgerichte — z.B. ein Fleischeintopf, Pennette, etc — alles war völlig anders und sehr sehr gut. Obwohl die Nachtische absolut super aussahen, ging nichts mehr rein, das können wir euch leider erst nächstes Mal erzählen. Nirgends wurde übertrieben oder SchnickSchnack dazu gepackt — dann kam die Rechnung und wir waren positiv überrascht. Wir gehen dort auf jeden Fall wieder hin, wenn wir wieder mal in Florenz sein sollten