La Borsa

Walk along the Via Por Santa Maria towards the Ponte Vecchio. About 200 yards before the bridge is the store H&M (you can’t miss it). Next door to this is a most fantastic restaurant. We visited twice, on the second occasion greeted like old friends. The food and service are second to none. Prices mid-​range but worth it. Careful what you order as portions are ‘generous’. I started with an antipasto Tuscanos. I have never seen so much on a plate. I followed by Lasagne which was so authentic. Their vodka on ice is, I judge, about a quadruple over in the UK.
Well worth hunting out if you like good food and good wine.
A tip, try their bottle of Rosso Tuscanos. Wonderful wine for the price.

I ordered the tortellini which was great and my husband ordered the T-​bone steak which was also cooked to perfection. Try the vegetable soup. It was delicious. One thing though, the bathrooms were downstairs in a nasty and smelly area so I wasn’t so sure how clean the rest of the building was if the bathroom was that nasty.

They sold my wife a piece of moldy Torta Della Nonna tonight for takeout. She got some cookies that were stale, but sometimes that’s hard to judge. But the cake has visible spots of green mold on it. The counterman was efficient and friendly, but I have to think that he saw the mold and sold it anyway.

It could really go both ways depending on your mood and your needs, but while you can’t expect too much out of this place, they do have quality service and okay food. Definitely do note that when places offer free Wi-​Fi and use it to advertise their restaurant… there’s generally a catch to it and usually the toll is taken on the quality of the food.
But 1) it was cold that night after walking around Florence all day, 2) it was nearby, 3) hunger partially hinders one’s judgement… However, it actually wasn’t so bad. I had the Salmon Pasta, which was alright. They used smoked salmon, so that was a nice little change to the usual Salmon alla Vodka pasta.
The highlight is still the service — they were really nice and even offered hot water on this cold and windy night at no extra charge.

Not bad but not amazing… Had the steak. It was cooked nicely and tender. It looked good but could have used a little bit more seasoning to balance out the balsamic sauce. The side potatoes and house red wine were great. Overall would have been a better value if the prices were lower and the seasoning a bit more fine tuned.

I understand that Italians are more laid back than Americans but the service was WAY past laid back. It was just straight up ignoring us. We would have to flag our waiter down a couple of times before he even looked in our direction. And it wasn’t even busy. There were probably three or four other tables dining, who all seemed to have the waiters’ undivided attention.
The food was actually not bad. I had the pasta alla Amatriciana. But it didn’t taste like anything I couldn’t make at home from a cardboard box — and I’m sure that’s not what the Italian pasta experience is about.
Save your time and go elsewhere.

I liked my strawberry gelato, but my colleague didn’t like her tiramisu gelato. The 2-​stars are because there were lots of empty tables, so we sat down to rest… since we were paying customers and all.
The waiter came up after a couple of minutes and told us that the tables were for «paying customers». I pointed out that we were, but he said that gelato was for take away only and made us leave. Maybe I would have gone back, but not now!

Horrible! Don’t waste your money. Worst meal we have had in Italy. Lousy service. Waiter forgot to bring us bread and our salad. Food was substandard.

Outstanding Lasagna served in an outdoor dining venue with great view of Ponte Vecchio tower. Highly recommended!

Near a very touristy place. We passed by and bought a gelato cup, which was pretty delicious.

Two stars, first of all they have tables in front of the street, where they’re closer to pedestrians. The host made an excuse: «it looks like it’s gonna rain,» it rained thunder & lighting earlier, but it’s cleared out by now. .. . so he walked us to the back of the street away from the main pedestrian traffic. Fine, we’ll take this table! Right after we ordered, the couple behind me smoking like crazy and the smoke is making my eyes water, and decided to move farther to the corner (still) where there are empty tables. I’m happy — so far! It’s OK by our waiter, too.
I ordered the Seafood Pizza. It didn’t even look like the photo! It was 85% huge calamari slices, 2 shrimp and a few mussels. I thought this would be the last time I’ll order anything seafood! It ruined it for me, but hubby helped me ate the calamari. Hubby ordered Vegetable Soup, he said tasted fine, but it was too thick you can actually eat it with a fork!
We thought it was average, it’s just that they used cheap ingredients!
The bathroom, was downstairs, and you either turn to the right (which I thought was for Men), or go back up steps and/​or have turned to the left (before going all the way to the bottom of the steps), and find a dirty, SMELLY toilet, and the flusher is so high up, nobody in their 5′ height can reach! I just left without flushing, and outside was a man waiting to use it. LOL OK, I guess it’s for either gender!
With that MINUS a star!

Be sure to ask how much the cokes are before ordering unless you like to pay 8 Euro per soda. They are served in huge glasses but no coke is worth 8 Euro… that is like $ 10 per glass of coke. A total rip off but the location is really nice on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. Better to pick up a sandwich and can of soda in a deli and find a place to sit and eat… Food was okay but nothing special.

If you’re in the mood to spend more than 16 euros for a pair of cappuccinos and croissants, be sure to seek out Bar La Borsa the next time you’re in Florence.

I ended up here because I was too tired and hungry to keep looking for the place I really wanted to eat. The location is prime but like other posters, I have to agree that the food is overpriced and not anything to write home about. One exception would be the ribollita, which was overpriced but really quite delicious.

This review is way way way overdue, but I thought I’d write a review to make a mental note in case I ever find myself in Florence again. This place is definitely a tourist place but with that definitely comes some upsides such as prime location, spaciousness, and good service. My steak was slightly expensive, but not a total ripoff and they are definitely cool with splitting it (the hostess at the front suggested it) since my friend and I clearly couldn’t eat a massive steak with sides by ourselves. The food was good but not amazing.

You know when you search high and low for a restaurant that isn’t touristy, isn’t going to rip you off, and the food is so good that you will continue to have vivid memories of it, long after you have digested it??? This isn’t it. Mountain Man was still on the hunt for a reasonably priced, if not cheap, lager and thus we walked and walked, searched and search, passing up loads of places with really interesting menus. In the end… we ended up here. I’m not sure why, I think at some point we were all so hungry and Mountain Man finally looked interested… which is strange because he is the type of person who avoids the touristy places and seeks out the local haunts. This was a fail… on all accounts.
The menu was nothing special and of course they had a tourist menu, which should be a sign to everyone that you could very well be ripped off and you may not get a taste of the local food… just the generic stuff they think you want. Our waiter was friendly enough, he seemed to be enthralled with the fact that Work BFF is from Boston. I had trouble finding something… not because I am a picky eater, but because nothing really sounded super interesting on the menu. When I am in another country, I want something unique to area/​region, I want something that not a lot of tourists are going to venture ordering… there really wasn’t anything like that on this menu. Work BFF and Mountain Man had pizza and I had pasta. Work BFF and I did not really enjoy our food, Mountain Man on the other hand kept saying that his pizza was pretty good… he could have been genuine, but I also wonder if he thought that this was his choice so he better enjoy it, even if he isn’t.
I will be completely honest with you, I only remember that I had pasta, but no details about it. While I think details are important for reviews, I also think that if you cannot remember what you had (even the vaguest idea…) then that says quite a bit about the restaurant too. My friends are completely amazed that I can remember specific events based on what everyone was eating… like the time I recounted all the dishes each person had on one of our field trips to Lincoln… so when I cannot remember details about what I had, that is a sign… and not a good one. Mountain Man went in search of the toilet while Work BFF and I pouted over the check. Apparently there isn’t a toilet in the restaurant, however, there is a building that the outdoor seating hugs and there is apparently a toilet there, but apparently not for the public. After Mountain Man came back, he informed us, but we had to go… this called for a Super Secret Spy mission. Work BFF and I will never be spies because we get the giggles and that automatically gives us away. We went on our mission… 1) don’t use those toilets, they were absolutely disgusting and you need a clothes pin just for the smell! and 2) we got told off by the waiter as we speed walked away…

Touristy bar in the heart of Florence. Located in a small pedestrian lane at the corner with the street coming from Ponte Vecchio, La Borsa has a number of outdoor tables on the lane and a small room inside. OK for a coffee or a juice, I wouldn’t really recommend it for more. Slightly overpriced, but I have seen worse around the city.