Paoli

I visited Ristorante Paoli for lunch after walking to the top of the dome of Il Duomo, so needless to say I was starving. I ordered the Lasagna al Forno. It was some of the best lasagna I’ve ever had! The restaurant location is also very nice: on a side street, easy enough to find but away from the crowds in the square. Definitely a great place to go after some sightseeing.

Note the seal of approval as you enter… You have to go here for the fabulous ambience as well as the food and solid service. This place has hosted intellectuals since 1824 and as soon as you step inside, you can see why… what a beautiful interior, like eating in a museum, right? Bring a great companion for a stimulating conversation… you won’t be rushed because this is Tuscan slow dining. Relax with a house Chianti, which they will proudly show you the bottle… it is not swill that you get at the tourist traps. The green salad is very fresh, the sauteed spinach side is flavorful with just enough garlic to be interesting. Their ravioli with butter and sage is a classic. You won’t regret it!

Un restaurante de verdad en plena zona de trampas para turistas y locales de moda en los que no había forma de conseguir mesa; vamos, que acabamos aquí de chiripa y tuvimos mucha suerte por ello.
El interior es precioso, varias naves abovedadas con decoraciones medievalistas mezcladas con inspiraciones mediterráneas, me hace pensar que en un momento dado esto fue una iglesia o un silo o algo similar.
El servicio estupendo a pesar de ser un sitio enorme, el personal se movía que daba gusto y se les veía profesionales y experimentados, más que acostumbrados a lidiar con las hordas de turistas que quieren comer barato y no tienen claro dónde han entrado, porque barato tampoco es que fuera.
La carta muy clásica de la zona: algunos entrantes fríos, unas cuantas pastas y arroces, varias carnes y pescados. Nosotros optamos por el típico entrante de fiambres y mozzarella fresca y luego un par de jugosos trozos de carne, y la verdad es que muy bien, aunque se lo cobran con creces; claro que esto es el centro de Florencia, justo entre el Duomo y la Galleria, ¡no puedes esperar otra cosa!

Nice menu– prices are just a tad more than the tourist places in the square and the experience is 10x better– great truffle pasta!- the ceiling and walls are covered in murals — the restaurant is 200 years old

yes it does look like some tourist trap but I promise you it isn’t. I’ve been coming here since I was a child and I love it. The best things are the «tartara» which they assemble right in front of you and the «pappa al pomodoro», but really, everything’s worth a try. The quality is high and the prices fair, the waiters are old fashioned and polite. Love it

Been there a few times over the years!
Always delicious, Don’t judge this book by the cover, the exterior is nothing to write home about.

The design is a nice complement to the meal; it felt like we were dining in a museum. The grilled lamb with zucchini fries is delicious. The eggplant parmigiana is decent. The chicken liver crostini was underwhelming. All in all, nothing to write home about. The tray of desserts looked interesting but we didn’t have room for it.

Like other reviews say, the atmosphere is very nice… old décor, frescos, paintings. The service and food was good, but a little overpriced. We had the lamp chops, which were fairly fatty. The truffle pasta was good, the tiramisu very good! You pay for the ambience for sure. Not sure if I’d come back, for first timers definitely an option!

Had our last meal of our fantastic trip to Florence at this great restaurant last night, our tour guid to Pisa recommended it and both my wife and I were glad she did, the setting inside was great and what I was looking for our whole trip like jumping back in time, it was without a doubt the best meal we have had since we arrived, the carpaccio duck I had was just stunning, and the black shoulder of ham my wife had was super, I watched as the waiter carefully de bone my grilled sole with expert presission, he should have been a surgeon! Lol and it was the best fish dish I have ever had, the puddings were again very nice, the service offered was brilliant, I would recommend this great place to anyone.

This restaurant left so much to be desired. While the venue was lovely, even on the patio, the service and cuisine was a huge disappointment. This restaurant was a recommendation of Frommers, so we were confident that it would meet our expectations, especially since all other Frommers recommendations had thus far. However, this was a huge disappointment. The sense that we got was that we were foreigners and clearly not worth quality cuisine or service, even though I tried to engage the waiter in italian since I am Italian American and speak fluently. After our food was served, which clearly was industrial, which we had hoped to avoid, the waiter was no where to be seen. Not once did he check on us to ask if all was ok or if we needed anything. I had to get up and go into the restaurant to ask for salt. The peas we ordered were mush, and the lasagna we ordered tasted as if it had been reheated several times over. Given the food quality and lack of service, this place was extremely overpriced. I will be writing to Frommers to tell them they need to recheck this recommendation, and until they do so, they need to take this off the list. Save your money… you are better off buying a piece of pizza from one of the many authentic pizza places and then getting a gelato at festival del gelato, another Frommers recommendation which did not disappoint us!

Twice while staying in Florence we ate here. The Lasagne Bolognese and the Spaghetti with Clams are incredible. So good we ate the same thing both times. On our second trip we splurged for desert and also were amazed. The almond, meringue and cream with fresh strawberries is heavenly. Our two waiters spoke fairly good English so anyone with limited Italian, like us, would have no problem. Don’t pass it up!

This is where I first tried Bistecca ala Fiorentina, back in 1995. I was really looking forward to repeating the magical experience I had then. The ambiance is still fabulous, but the food was a bit disappointing. The risotto was not al dente. My daughter and I had much better at another place recently.
As for the Bistecca, my memory is likely inaccurate after 18 years, but I don’t recall chewing quite this much. My memory was of a magically-​tender steak. This was tasty, but not the religious experience I hoped for. Feel free to discount this part of my review because I may simply have had impossible expectations.
The desserts were very good, and we enjoyed our time there. As did, best we could tell, a few large family groups there at the same time.

Schönes Ambiente im bemalten Gewölbe. Sehr leckeres Essen, die Cappellaci mit Trüffeln und Nußsauce waren ebenso gut wie das Schweinefilet mit Brandy-​Sauce. Aufmerksamer Service, man sitzt sehr angenehm auch nach dem Essen noch bei einem weiteren Glas Chianti.

From the outside, Ristorante Paoli appeared like an unassuming trattoria. Inside you’ll find the ceilings adorned with large arches and paintings as old as the early 1900s. Fantastic ambience and good service is what you should expect here.
They claim the food is authentic Tuscan. I enjoyed the tagliatelle pasta although my dining companion likes his more al dente. Also ordered the grilled lamb which still included the bones. The flavor was good but it was chopped in a way that left too many tiny shards of bone in my bites. Willing to overlook this because of the duck carpaccio appetizer which tasted so buttery and flavorful. The best I can describe the flavor is if duck and ham had an offspring and made the best tasting meat you’ve ever had. This dish is genius.

the BEST #Italian food I have ever had, beef carpaccio!

My travel guide «Florence & Tuscany Day By Day» recommends it and classifies it the best for traditional Tuscany cuisine.
It’s in an alley almost opposite Orsabmichele. The restaurant was established since 1812 and is in a 13^th century building. The décor is pure Tuscany with beautiful navy blue flower tiles and 18^th century frescoes. The vault ceiling is Renaissance style, the symbol of Florence’s history at its highest (political and economy). It’s very touristy though.
We ordered Duck Caparccio with Truffle, Tortellini Carbonara, Spinach Ravioli in Tomato Sauce, Pan Seared Cod, and of course Tiramisu. The best is Duck Caparccio with thin slices of truffle. I didn’t like tortellini because it was barely cooked. The ravioli was ok. I had best ravioli in LA, cooked by an Italian mama. The cod was so so. The Tiramisu was good.
The ambiance and the décor were good for experiencing the true Tuscany traditional cuisine. It’s pricey though if you order every course per person and it would be too much food. Recommend sharing starters and pasta.

We stayed next door in Residenza della Signoria and they recommended this restaurant. It was nice traditional food in a good atmosphere.

Came recommended by a resident of Florence. Beautiful setting. Friendly service. Unfortunately, the food was only adequate. The traditional bean soup was adequate but, although this is a simple soup, it really was quite bland. The Osso Buco was tough and nearly tasteless.