Hostaria Il Desco

Portions and taste were ok. Nothing special. As a plus the restaurant offers half a glass of Processo at arrival and biscotti when finished.

This restaurant was absolutely amazing. The ambience was lovely, and the service was attentive. I am lactose and gluten intolerant and was given many options on what I could eat. Plus they brought complimentary gluten free bread and soup, as well as a small glass of prosecco and little biscotti pieces for an end-​of-​meal treat. Our food was perfection, the best prosciutto I’ve ever had, and a wonderfully made tuna special. We went to this restaurant 2 out of 3 nights we were in Florence. It was perfect!

We had 3 nice dinners in Florence and this was for sure #3 best. Just okay nothing that great. Service was a little slow. Definitely no locals eating here. No olive oil for the bread. The Ravioli was pretty good and so was the gnocchi but the rest was just average.

Reservations are helpful for this local delight. Small and intimate the regular diners enjoy wonderful lively conversation. Visitors are greeted promptly and a little less attentively but the food more than makes up for this extremely tasty meal.

Very good and reasonably priced dinner! The restaurant itself is elegant and intimate. Food was delicious and we enjoyed the welcome drink and appetizer soup as compliments of the house. When traveling in a different country, and i have so many choices for dining out, I really do rely on the recommendations on Unilocal… so I’m trying to pay it forward with adding pics and a review for this wonderful and highly recommended dining experience! Ciao!

We live in Florence six months a year and enjoy dining out. Il Desco is definitely at the top of our list of favorites. This is another family owned restaurant where every detail from the flowers to the music and the food is carefully considered. The atmosphere is a little more elegant than typical Florentine restaurants and the food presentation is always a delight. Dinner guests are welcomed with a glass of prosecco and usually a small complementary anteprima. We recommend Il Desco to friends visiting Florence and are invariably told that it was outstanding. The ambiance is intimate, romantic, classy and upscale, however dress is casual. Some of our favorite dishes are: coccoli, gnocchi with pears, risotto, pears with cheese, grilled meats for two, and carpaccio. Many local business people come into the restaurant for lunch and/​or dinner and the dining room is generally filled. Be sure to make a reservation.

Our best meal in Florence. Bistecca alla Fiorentina was tender and perfectly seasoned, ribollita soup hearty and delicious. They have an extensive gluten free menu, too. We tried to return another night but hadn’t made reservations and they were full.
The waitstaff were very pleasant both nights, very apologetic the second time about having to turn us away

We had 24hrs in Florence and squeezed in two meals there since our first dinner there was outstanding. They had the most extensive gluten free menu for my wife and often adjusted the daily special for her as well. We received separate bread baskets to start, with her receiving several different breads and crackers. All of our food was creative and excellent, not just your typical pasta and pizza at every other restaurant.
Pricing? I saw the negative comment by another and he is wrong. It is an extremely reasonable restaurant for the creativity and quality of the food. Their specials were the highlights and often included water, wine, coffee. Espresso only 50cents? I had to tip as there was no service charge.
We just want to thank the staff at Hostaria Il Desco for two of the best dining experiences on our introductory trip to Italy.
Previously posted on trip advisor.

Like so many others have said; the wait staff is haughty, arrogant, Ill mannered, bored, impatient, and rude. I wouldn’t go here again if it was free. We live here, I will do the best I can to make sure I tell EVERYONE I know never to go here

Living in Florence center city we go here at minimum once every two weeks if not more frenquently. Don’t be intimidated by the look, you don’t have to dress fancy to go there. It gains popularity in the summer with English speaking patrons for dinner. Lunch and late dinner is where you will find most Italians. The staff is wonderful and very helpful. But you do have to get their attention (remember you are in Italy and the custom for servers is it is rude to constantly be at your table asking if you want something. They will leave you alone because this is your table to enjoy for the whole night if you like.) As for food, try the gnocchi or Bistecca Fiorentine. You won’t be disappointed. They have daily menus for lunch and dinner which is cheap for the center and plenty of food. There are lots of special little touches that make this a wonder dinner event.

This is where Unilocal falls short. There is no ability to rate businesses in more than 1 category, only an overall rating, which is hard to do for certain places (in this case Il Desco).
We had done some research online about Il Desco and decided to try it out for dinner 2 nights ago. We’ve been very lucky for the most part, being seating without more than 3 minutes wait without having reservations.
As usual, we were seated quite quickly. Already, I was disappointed by the fact that most of the tables were occupied by English-​speaking patrons (all tourists), so I was skeptical as to the legitimacy of Il Desco.
Long story short, we waited a good 30 minutes before we placed our drink order. We just decided to order everything at once in case the server never came back for the food order.
The food is very very good. This has to be the only reason to come here, because the customer service won’t cut it. We ordered a beef carpaccio with raw veggies julienned on top (carrots, radicchio, lettuce, etc), and a Fiorentine Steak. The steak was perfectly cooked, salted and charred on the outside to give it a grilled flavor only the pros know how to make.
Unfortunately, having stellar food cannot be the only reason why you go back to a place in a city filled with other amazing restaurants where the wait staff are actually nice and attentive.

Great food, great price, very hard to find a table for lunch. 1euro for glass of wine and 0.50 euro for coffe is a good deal for lunch.

We first visited 4 years ago based on a recommendation of a local shop owner and love returning this year. What a gem! They are busy with locals at lunch time, reservations are recommended but not required. Great prices… they have a daily menu with great selections and prices between 7 – 10 €. Wine was 1 € and café was 0.50 € with the lunch. My kind of prices! We always love the food, every dish has been amazing!

We were so pleased to find this restaurant in Florence. I can’t say enough good things about it. The service is delightful and friendly. The food is out of this world good. I had the gnocci with zucchini flowers and parmesan and it was the best I have ever had. And as a bonus it was gluten free. The waitress told me that is just the way they make the gnocci there, it is not special just for the celiac crowd. But they do cater do gluten free needs serving bread, pasta etc. The wine list is great and the antipasti are delicious as well.

I feel bad for the previous reviewer for her experience wow but I have always had such a great experience at this place and I have lived in Florence since 2007! I normally go during lunch\-time because they have a special menu (7 – 10 euros) that always has great selection and even comes with water/​wine. I even had a soup made with beer which was absolutely awesome and I loved their tagliata di manzo sopra rucola e parmigiano. It’s very popular amongst the locals for lunch so I advise reserving ahead of time to ensure your not waiting too long.

After having a fabulous dinner at Giovanni’s around the corner the night before, we decided to stay in this area and stick with a local family restaurant. We stopped in Hostaria il Desco about 9:30pm for a late dinner. The place was pretty full but there were still some open tables. The two people working there got in an argument about seating us but eventually the waitress ended up seating us. This did not make us feel that welcomed but we proceeded regardless.
I was excited when I saw their menu as they had lots of vegetarian options, even a whole section with vegetarian selections. I picked out an antipasti and a primi piatti that were not from the «vegetarian section» but did not have any meat/​fish/​etc. listed. We waited about 20 minutes before the waitress came back to take our order. This was a bit unnerving but not too bad since they were busy.
30 minutes after ordering we finally received our first course. Mine was a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, and a fried bread/​cheese thing. When I cut through the fried bread/​cheese thing there was something mysterious looking inside. I thought it looked like prosciutto so I flagged down the waitress and asked her if this dish had any meat in it and she said «no, no meat». I proceeded to cut through and it just didn’t look right so I had my foodie extraordinaire taste it for me and he verified that it was in fact anchovies. I flagged the waitress down again and showed it to her and she said it was fish, not meat. Tip #1 — vegetarians in Italy, apparently fish is not considered to be «meat». I told her I was a vegetarian and she said it was listed on the menu and I told her it was not. She grabbed a menu and sure enough, it was not listed on there. She took the dish away and she told me it’s better to tell them that I’m a vegetarian beforehand, I annoyingly responded that there was no meat/​fish/​etc. listed on the dish so I didn’t think it was a problem. I verified that my second dish was in fact vegetarian and she said that it was. She offered to prepare me something else but since it already took 30 minutes to get this dish (it’s after 10pm at this point) I didn’t want to risk it (they close at 10:30pm). The waitress was actually very nice and apologetic about it.
After foodie extraordinaire finished his first course we waited another 20 minutes for our 2^nd course to be brought out. (At this point the restaurant had cleared out and there were only two other groups there). I ordered the gnocchi with gorgonzola and pear. It was simply awful. I literally took two bites and couldn’t stomach anymore. I felt bad and tried eating more but it was awful. I moved my food around to make it appear as if I had eaten some of it so I wouldn’t seem rude but I think they caught on as they asked if everything was OK and insisted that this dish was in fact vegetarian. I just responded that I wasn’t very hungry (which was partially true as their awful food caused me to lose my appetite).
We hurried and finished and promptly asked for the bill (it was after closing at this point). We waited 20 minutes and still no bill. We asked our waitress for the bill again and she said it’s coming. A gentlemen came by and slammed the bill down on our table. Sure enough, they had charged me for my first dish that I didn’t eat (because of the meat). I flagged our waitress down and she said it was a mistake and she would fix it. I was hungry, tired and sick of this place at this point and didn’t want to wait another 20 minutes for them to fix their mistake. We just left cash on the table and on the way out told them that our dinner had been an awful experience and walked out. This place was such a disappointment.
Bottom line, the food here is awful and the service is even worse. I wouldn’t waste your time here, go to Giovanni’s around the corner for an excellent Florentine meal.