Del Fagioli

I would recommend this place to anyone looking for a delicious and traditional meal in Florence. Reservations are a must because they are fully booked every night.
The menu is all in Italian but the waitstaff is happy to help you navigate it. For me the highlight was the Bistecca alla Fiorentina. It was honestly the best steak I’ve ever had. Perfectly seasoned and cooked. 45 € per kg and most of the steaks are around 1 – 1.5kg.
Amazing value for such high quality beef.

Had a wonderful meal. The service was excellent and the food divine! Started out with the best meatballs I have ever had! We had them fried, with no sauce. Then on to the main attraction, a huge Florentine steak. It came beautifully rare (they don’t even ask), with sides of porcini, fagioli, and salad. A perfect meal.

We decided on this location because we wanted to try out this famed Florentine steak (only in Florence, supposedly) but not spend too much. This was the perfect spot. We ordered a steak, which weighed about 1.2 or 1.3 kilos (that’s over 2.2 pounds, but it includes a big bone), for 55 euros — not bad at all! The meat is cooked really rare, though, and I think we all would have preferred it to be more cooked, but when in Rome… er, Florence… They brought the steak out for us to look at first, and it was a nice red color. Steak was pretty good, though slightly chewy. We also got a side of green beans (which were fabulous — they came in a delicious spaghetti type of sauce) and spinach (average). Bruschetta was good but not the best I had in Italy. I didn’t like the bread, but it was typical of the bread found in Florence — no taste whatsoever. I’m guessing they make it that way to you can taste the olive oil/​vinegar better? No idea, but I stayed away from bread in Florence. We managed to finish the steak and everything else. There is a service charge at this restaurant, but it was under 3 euros pp I think. They speak English and the waiters here are cute! Dessert was a slice of lemon ricotta torte, which was good. Oh and they charge you by how much wine you drink out of the carafe, so if you don’t want to drink all of it, you don’t have to. I like that — wish they’d do that more here.

GET THE MEATBALLS. THEY WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. we love this place! Definitely the best meal I’ve ever had. The people working there were so nice, and they explained the menu to us completely. But seriously, get the meatballs.

This is one of the best for traditional Tuscan: fresh, seasonal veggies, local Chianina for their bistecca and family-​run service atmosphere. A must eat for visitors and locals looking for a great eat near Santa Croce

Wow. The Florentine Steak was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had and I’m from Chicago, which is home to some world class steakhouses. The entire menu is handwritten in Italian and everyone around us was speaking Italian (hint hint). Priced reasonable, service outstanding. Bravo

This restaurant was recommended by our local host. She and her husband go there when they go out and we understand why.
We had a florentine steak that was 1.7 kg! Even four of us could not finish it. We took it home and had salad the next day. What is amazing is that they cooked that huge steak, 3.75 lbs, to perfection!
We had a wonderful selection of appetizers including antipasto, bread salad (you have to try it!) and tomato «soup». Our sides included green beans with tomatoes, white beans and green beans with zucchini. Everything was wonderful. We also split the house red which was very good.
We had a wonderful experience and were very lucky because reservations are a must during the busy tourist season. Our waiter explained the entire menu to us and we chose to let him select for us. We would do this again in a heartbeat.
Total cost for the evening was € 35 each and it was money VERY well spent.

Wow! Best meal on our two week trip. Yes, make a reservation (same day is ok). Super friendly and helpful staff. If you eat at a place call fagioli… makes sense to try the fagioli, which were amazing. House wine — super! Homey, cozy vibe… don’t miss it!

The best meal in Florence during our visit. I had the Tripa Florentine, my wife had the «Nero Fagoli» soup. Both were very tasty. The tripe was tender and the sauce good. We also had the cheese assortment. Dessert and wine to finish the meal. Service was spot on, the house wine one of the better ones we had on this trip for house wines. The owners were helpful and friendly. Be advised that they do close for the afternoon and are closed on weekends. They are a local place. I would go back in an instant.

Definitely coming back!
This restaurant was highly recommended to us when we were in Florence in 2004, their Florentine steak is so delicious, fresh and cooked to perfection! I understand why this restaurant is always packed; their food will speak for itself.
Well fast forward to 2013 my whole family returned to Florence a few years ago and relished every bite of their Florentine steak and all the sides we ordered, I can tell you… it was well worth the 45 minutes wait, everyone reveled every bite of our steak and OMG it was super delicious, scrumptious, heavenly soooo savory!!!
Cream cake for dessert was truly Sensational!!!
WAITSTAFF: Excellent!
FOOD RATING: Outstanding!
OVERALL EXPERIENCE: Best Ever! Ci Rivedremo!!!

This was mine and my fiancé’s favourite meal in Florence. The bistecca alla Fiorentina has ruined us forever for steak because it was so amazing! Grilled and seasoned to perfection, it is the BEST steak I’ve ever had! Atmosphere was lovely and romantic, and the staff were kind and attentive. Must try in Florence for all steak lovers!

Passing by Ristorante Del Fagioli and seeing the handwritten, Italian-​only menu posted at the door was enough to draw me in. They’re a family-​managed Tuscan restaurant that has been in business for nearly 50 years; refreshingly not catering to tourism, they have a changing menu that incorporates fresh, seasonal ingredients. The meal was incredible, and is on my short list of favorite meals I had during my trip.
From what I could read, the menu sounded great. Trying to understand the items unfamiliar to me, our waiter swooped and gladly provides a thorough explanation on how each dish was flavored and prepared, in what was likely the most comprehensive and professional English menu explanation I got during my whole trip.
I ended up getting a 6 dish meal that included:
— Antipasto — Soprassata, a Tuscan salami, and the local Pecorino cheese – amazing quality stuff, and completely worth the € 8.
— Pumpkin Tortelli, which was topped with pecorino cheese, pepper, and olive oil, and filled with liberal chunks of pumpkin, further complemented with lemon. The pasta was incredibly fresh, and included 5 large pieces. The flavorings blended together incredibly well, producing one of my favorite pasta dishes I’ve ever had. I wanted more.
— Lombatina di Vitella (veal), which was served with the bone but pre-​cut into bite-​sized pieces and flavored lightly but effectively. Very tender. As with Florentine Steak, it’s served by weight (though it’s not nearly as thick). Good, but not quite as essential as the Steak.
— Artichoke vegetable side dish. The only time I had artichoke while in Italy. It was delicious, flavored with little more than olive oil and salt.
For dessert, they have gelato, freshly baked torte cakes and cookies, or cheese. I went with the Chocolate Ricotta and Pear torte – which, was as phenomenal as it sounds. There was a layer of dark chocolate over a thick base of cheese. I enjoyed every bite, all the while lamenting over there not being enough desserts in the US that use ricotta cheese.
The meal ended up being around € 35 per person. And, fully satisfied, I was happy to pay it. (Without having gotten the Florentine steak or any wine.) I came in as a party of 2 at 7:30, just as they were opening, and didn’t have to wait. Reservations may be needed at a later time.
Definitely do not miss the Pumpkin Tortelli if it’s in season, which was the most essential dish I had here.

Authentic. Delicious. One of the best meals I had in Italy. Doesn’t get much better than this! The house wine was amazing. The whole restaurant staff was attentive and beyond nice.

We were treated out to dinner here by family and couldn’t believe how delicious and authentic it was! We had a large group (11 people), but since you have to make reservations it wasn’t a problem. It was listed as extremely expensive, but unless you are getting the steak, it is reasonably priced. I got the ricotta e limone torelli and it might be one of the most amazing dishes I’ve ever had. Wonderful cozy atmosphere, we truly enjoyed ourselves!

Found out about this place from our taxi cab driver.
Had the following meal for 2 people for about 100 euros total:
— Antipasto Tuscan misto: various smoked meats, 2 types of crostini and 1 bruschetta
— Tortelli pasta with ricotta and lemon filling
— Bisteca alla Florentine: 1.25kg cut
— Side salad
— 1L house wine
— Bottled water: unfortunately no tap offered
— Cream cake
— 2 cappuccinos
It was an amazing meal. Would have been way cheaper if we didn’t get the Bisteca at 45 euros/​kg, but how could we resist?
Service is top notch. The servers speak English and were very patient with our broken italian and explained every item on the menu with great detail.
Loved it. Our best meal on our entire vacation.

We found out about Del Fagioli from a very friendly professor we met at a restaurant 2 nights ago. He recommended Fagioli as his favorite restaurant in all of Florence so we had to see for ourselves and couldn’t have been more pleased. While there may be fancier meals (that come with a higher price tag) available in Florence, Del Fagioli was our favorite overall meal experience. Everything from the atmosphere, coziness, homey vibe, to the amazing food and delicious wine (and VERY reasonable price tag).
Definitely make a reservation for your visit. You don’t necessarily need to do it well in advance (we called an hour before and got a reservation for a party of 2), but they appreciate reservations as the restaurant gets extremely crowded. They don’t want to rush anyone but if you are a walk in, then they will have to rush you out to make room for an upcoming reservation. Some other reviews complained of being treated worse without a reservation and I think that is more a product of the fact that the restaurant is so busy they can’t afford to let you linger if you didn’t reserve ahead of time.
Other point — the restaurant is CASH ONLY. They were kind enough to tell us this when we made the reservation so we came prepared. The atmosphere is everything you’d want from a quaint family style Florentine restaurant. The menu is all in Italian but the waiter was nice enough to go through the menu patiently with us and give us recommendations for some traditional Florentine dishes.
Don’t even waste time with the other wines available. The house wine is absolutely fabulous. They bring it by the liter, but you only pay for the amount that you drink. It’s 10 euros for the whole liter, we drank a little less than half the bottle and were charged 4.5 euros for essentially a total of 4 glasses. Amazing. The tables are family style, but somehow still intimate. They grouped 6 of us Americans together, so it was fun to see what each other ordered but still had plenty of privacy to enjoy the meal with our own partners.
We had the bruschetta with pomodoro to start. The bread was soft from being doused in delicious olive oil but also somehow still grilled crispy at the same time. Super fresh tomatoes. For our courses we shared the pici pasta (thicker spaghetti with sausage and tomatoes) and a meat main that was recommended by our waiter (who may have been the owner as well). The main was similar to a veal parmesan but obviously more amazing — tender meat with a light breading in a tomato sauce with Florentine potatoes that were delicious and tender. The whole meal was the perfect size for two and the total bill with cover charge, bottle of water, half a liter of wine, an appetizer, a pasta, and a meat course was 33 euros. More than enough food for two at a very reasonable price and amazing quality food. I can not recommend this restaurant enough to anyone visiting Florence for a truly amazing experience.

When 1kg is the smallest chunk of aged meat you can get, you gotta bring your A-​game and your wallet. At 45 Euro/​Kg, you’d better come hungry. Is Bisteca Fiorentina the greatest piece of dead cow I’ve had? No — but it is still pretty darned good. And if you ask nicely, they will cut it up and grill some chunks longer for your insane friend who likes meat cooked more than rare or even more than medium rare.

Excellent restaurant and one of the best steaks.
Price was excellent as well. Florentine steak for two with two sides, bruschetta appetizer and a half liter of wine only cost 70 Euro.

Modestly tucked between small local shops away from the main stretch of high-​end boutiques and restaurants, del Fagioli is the type of place you go to when you’re in need of a warm atmosphere and comforting home-​style food.
It’s one of those places that feels out of a movie; Chianti bottles hanging from the walls in their signature straw baskets, a dining room mixed with actual Italians harmoniously dining among curious travelers. A no-​fuss handwritten menu featuring some of the region’s most popular dishes (yes, including bistecca alla Florentina) at a fraction of the cost of most other neighboring joints.
Weary from a long day out and about in the rain, we mistakenly (perhaps fortunately) let our stomachs order instead of our brains. And while we both agreed that we ordered entirely too much food, everything was delicious and was expediently brought to our table without much lag in their über-​friendly service.
We started off with a crostini appetizer topped with none other than silky melt-​in-​your-​mouth fatty lardo and rosemary; local bread grilled just enough to give the lardo a bit of warmth. We followed it up with two pasta dishes: rigatoni in a rich veal ragu for him and the most amazing and simple tortelli, freshly made and stuffed with ricotta and lemon in a bright tomato sauce. Every bite of my dish was perfect; the cheese’s richness cut with a nice balance of acidity. At this point in the meal and halfway through our bottle of wine, I was just about ready to roll over and go to bed. But then the entrees came. Involtini for him and a plate of Bollito Misto (mixed boiled meats) with a side of fagioli (white Tuscan beans, their namesake). As we tried to eat as much of these dishes as we could, we had over-​estimated our hunger. His dish was dense, rich, and comforting; mine being a complete protein on protein fest. The meat was tender and savory; the beans, petite and plump– delicately flavored with local olive oil and a simple dusting of salt and pepper.
This is the meal you want after a long day. When it’s a little chilly and you want to feel warm from the inside out. If in Florence and looking for a good hearty meal at low prices, del Fagioli’s got what you need. Reservations are highly recommended.

I need one hundred stars to rate this restaurant. BEST meals of our lives.
We spend 4 days in Florence and the concierge at our hotel recommended this restaurant since day one. I wish I would have listened since day one because I would have eaten here every day although that would have beaten the purpose of trying different places in Florence.
So, we showed up our second night, without reservations, and when we walked in the owner greeted us and gladly sat us down in one of the available tables. Now, the tables here are family style, meaning it is a long table that sits 8 – 10 people but you don’t feel crowded at all.
The menus are hand written with the current date so I imagine it changes quite frequently but they keep the popular items like the bistecca florentina among others. We could not understand the handwriting very well so we ask our server, which BTW was the owner of the restaurant and spoke a little bit on english, what he would recommend. He obviously recommended the florentine steak (bistecca), along with a smaller version of the florentine steak, and some kind of pork tenderloin. We decided on the mini florentine steak and the pork tenderloin. More on that later. BTW, because we wanted to try everything, we would always order two different things and share it among the two of us.
So, we decide to start with the bruschetta. WOW. Ok, so 4 small pieces of toasted bread, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and a little basil. Super simple and I know it’s just bruschetta but it was sooooo freaking good. I don’t think it lasted more than 1 minute. We knew this was going to be the start of an amazing meal.
For our entrée along with the meat, the owner recommended the florentine potatoes (I have no idea what they have on it) and marinated artichokes in (some) sauce. Ok the potatoes and the artichokes were to die for. Very creamy and delicious and the perfect compliment to the meat.
Ok, so when you order your meat in Florence, don’t you dare tell them the cooking term you want. You are going to get rare/​med rare (for steaks) and that is it. And believe me, it’s going to be the best thing that has ever happened to you. Personally, I had never eaten something less than a medium. But WOW, WOW, WOW. I have never in my life had a meat with so much flavor as these. The florentine steak was rare, maybe medium rare but what amazed me is that 1) it was HOT all the way through and 2) not a single drop of blood came out of that steak. It was out of this world. The pork is cooked medium well and was equally flavorful, delicious and amazing. I don’t know many good adjectives but I would use them all for this meal.
We paired this wonderful meal with the house red wine. It is actually brought out in a really neat bottle and it was the best wine we had from our whole trip.
My BF made an attempt to speak italian to the owner and asked him for his recommendation for dessert. I think he appreciated that. He smiled and said, in italian, «don’t worry». He went ahead and prepared a plate with a small piece of all the desserts he had in the display. How awesome is that!!! I’m beating myself because I don’t remember what the desserts were and I forgot to take a picture but I can assure you that they were amazing. I do remember, thanks to Coy W. review, that one of them was some type of cheesecake with pears on top.
Guess where we had dinner on our third and final night? Yes! Start reading at the beginning again because it went exactly the same.
A group of 8 people (some italian, some from switzerland) sat next to us this second time. I know maybe 5 words in italian. My BF knows maybe 20 words in italian. Somehow we were able to hold a conversation with an italian guy from this group about our trip, where we have been, where we were going next and how much we loved Italy and his love for Italy too. That is why I loved the family style table concept in this restaurant. You can strike a conversation with somebody that speaks a completely different language than yours and somehow it works out.
Reservations are highly recommended. For our second meal there we asked the hotel concierge to make a reservation for us. Prices are ridiculously low. I think we paid 50 euros for the whole meal. Recap: bruschetta, steak, pork, potato side, artichoke side, sample of 3 desserts, and one bottle of wine. 50 euros! Can you believe that? Also, they only open Monday through Fridays. Not open on weekends. To quote from the lonely planet website: «You have to respect a restaurant with the courage to close all weekend long».