Trattoria Da Benvenuto

a local friend took me and it was one of the best restaurants I have been to in the year that I have lived in Florence. The staff was all very friendly and excited to serve me. The food was incredible. Very different from most other restaurants in Florence, which are usually tourist traps with high prices and mediocre meals. This is authentic italian at a reasonable price.

Tired of walking around Firenze, finding touristy restaurants that take your wallet to the cleaners only to leave you wanting a real experience of Florentine cuisine? Trattoria Da Benvenuto is the answer to that longing you have felt.
Located a mere two blocks from the Arno, the trattoria is a local, family establishment that seems to cater simply to anyone who wants to get a good meal. As a party of three, the first thing we noticed was the healthy mix of both tourists and locals. The interior feels simultaneously old world and modern. Portions of the wall reveal stone masonry, while large exposed timbers carry the ceiling. This is against the modern metal lighting fixtures and paint scheme on the walls.
On the menu you’ll find some of the best in Tuscan wines and a wide selection of Italian pasta dishes. When we first sat down, we started off with different styles of wine. I tried their cheapest Montepulciano from Abbruzo, while we nibbled on the complementary bread. Although a value, the wine was full bodied and rich, with a subtle spicy undertone. For my meal, I started with rigatoni al pomodoro with eggplant and cheese. The pomodoro sauce was fortunately applied conservatively to the pasta, accompanied with eggplant, herbs, and grated cheese atop the dish. My wife’s dish was the creamy cheese gnocchi. The pillowy gnocchi waded in a pool of one of the creamiest cheese sauces I’ve tasted. Both of the pasta dishes were superb, with the gnocchi as a standout. We moved on to the mains, both of us ordering the truffle eggs. I added a side of fried veggies that complemented the egg well. While the eggs were cooked a bit on the overdone side, the truffle shavings were of a generous portion considering the relatively low price of the entrée. Aside from the burned edges of the egg, the meal was rich, flavorful, and delicious.
Our meal was of such substance that we passed on their dessert menu, although the selections chosen by our dining neighbors looked decadent. The total price tag for the three of us hit € 62 including cover/​service fees, a real steal for a big meal in Firenze. Trattoria Da Benvenuto may not be making waves with a trendy or modern cuisine, but it excels in creating authentic Italian meals in a rustic environment for a reasonable price.

Like another poster, we stopped in here for lunch largely because the place had air conditioning. :) However, the food was excellent. I had pappardelle al coniglio for lunch, and it was delicious. Washed it down with a glass of house wine. For some reason the house wines in Italy are better than most wines in the US. Anyway, highly recommended.

One of my favorite restaurants in Firenze.
Trattoria da Benvenuto is probably the best value play in the city — the quality of food that you get at these prices is tough to find elsewhere.
My one recommendation is to try the sardine starter (if it happens to be on the menu while you’re there), you won’t be disappointed.

We fell in here by accident, walking through the crowds in the tourist center of Florence, and frustrated by wait times. What a fantastic place!
We discovered the high rating after taking our seats in the air conditioning (AHHH!) and looking it up on Unilocal with the free Wifi. What luck.
Great lunch at a reasonable price. Service is very professional and polished.
We sampled all over the menu: risotto w/​porcini, gnocchi, bruschetta, and smoked buffala mozerella. Tiramisu for desert. Everything was wonderful.

A hidden gem in Firenze!!! We walked and walked to find this place because of the ratings that this restaurant had and it was worth all the footsteps it took to come here and savor some authentic and most delicious Italian food.
I had the fish and it was delicately steamed and yet superbly seasoned and deboned. I must say I had to pay attention for the remaining bones but it was not difficult to find. The fish was very fresh and was very very tasty.
My husband had veal with some spaghetti on the side and this was the best spaghetti our entire family ever had. I have no idea how the sauce was seasoned but it was simply delicious and cooked al dente! The veal was of course perfect and so was the steak that my daughter had along with the sauce that accompanied it!
We had prosciutto and mozarella and it was to die for! A must try and visit if you’re in Firenze!!!

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Rome. Not cheap, but not overly expensive. The pasta with truffles was fantastic, as is all their pasta dishes. Not the greatest fan of their desserts, however they aren’t bad. They are more well known for their food however. Good wine selection, and their house wines are quite good. I go back every time I’m in Rome.

Do you want an amazing dinner while you are in Florence? Then come to Trattoria Da Benvenuto. Off the beaten path in an area not as crowded as others, you will experience real Italy food. Let’s just say there’s no pizza on the menu here! You won’t miss it.
I recommend the house wine, it was excellent (what was in it? I do not know!). Also, the spaghetti is TO DIE FOR. The best spaghetti in my life. No idea what they did to it but it was fabulous. We also had the sole, it melted in your mouth. Also, we had both the pepper steak and the truffle steak. The sauce on top was so fantastic, I was full but couldn’t stop eating. My son had potato ravioli with meat sauce, and it was so good he ate almost all of the adult size portion. We also tried the prosciutto with mozarella and it was yummy! The veal was also a table favorite.
Yes we ate our hearts out here. You will too! Bene, bene!

Food was ok and service was iffy. There were, however, plenty of open seats which we needed. The price was very reasonable. I wouldn’t send people to here but I also would not tell people to avoid it and I would eat here again if I were too lazy to search around.

This is a hidden gem. The quality of the food was above average even for Italy and the prices were probably below average for Firenze. I think we may have had deer pasta, which tasted better than it sounds. The steak with fat flakes of parmiggiano and sweet balsamic over arugula was divine.
It was also unpretentious and pretty empty, which made it easy to talk and ask a lot of questions to the waiter. Compared to a lot of other places in Firenze where there is a wait or a line and then it is a circus inside, we found this place refreshing. I definitely look forward to going back.

There were only two previous reviews on Unilocal,but we thought we would give this place a try. I must say, not only was this the best meal I have had in Europe (Paris, Dijon, Bern, and Milan), this was also one of the most reasonably priced and highest value meals we have had!!!
Typical Americans, we were the earliest guests…7:30 PM. After a long day of seeing the sites, we just wanted a good meal and head to our hotel.
Forgive my lack of Italian and probably poor spelling. I cannot tell you the proper names of the dishes we ate, but I will try my best at descriptions.
We started with a fresh tomato, basil, and olive oil bruschetta. It was so fresh and a refreshing starter. Next I had this «soup» that was not what I consider soup. It was a thick and hearty vegetable stew… just amazing! Next I had the veal cutlets with tomatoes and mushrooms… and a light sauce… again, amazing!
The family didn’t want so much food. My wife had a simple penne type pasta… a simple Bolognese sauce was just superb. My son had the simple spaghetti with a truffle cream sauce… so wonderfully aromatic and earthy. My daughter had a simple tortellini type pasta in sort of a carbonara sauce… again, just awesome!
For desert, we opted for two dishes… the tiramisu and a torta della nonna. The torts was amazing… hot and custardy center with nuts and a great crust top and bottom.
Service was great! They were patient with silly Americans and made great suggestions.

We just ate here tonight and it was wonderful! We ordered their house Chianti, Bruschetta Primavera (bruschetta with fresh tomato slice, fresh mozz, olive oil, garlic and a black olive), gnocchi Gorgonzola, steak over a salad type dish, and torta Della Nona (grandmothers cake) — my wife and I shared each and they were so delicious! Our total was $ 50 and it was PLENTY for us both! They were very kind about us sharing so much; brought us additional small plates w no hassle. We highly recommend!

Dining at Trattoria da Benvenuto is like being invited over to an Italian chef’s house for dinner — with the seating right in his kitchen.
We opened with the world’s best and simple crostini of cheese, tomato and a single black olive on some small pieces of wonderful Tuscan bread.
It was our first full day in Florence and we had been thoroughly warned about the tourist traps right on the lovely Piazza della Signoria, many of which serve over priced mediocre food to visitors exhausted from a visit to the art treasures in the Uffizi.
Benvenuto is very close to the Piazza, but just far enough away to feel like a friendly diner where the locals gather for straightforward Italian home cooking.
We opened with a primi of spaghetti with hot pepper flakes — perfectly al dente and with just a little hint of fire to separate it from typical red sauce.
Secondi was a whole sea bass — grilled and served with broth, potatoes, zucchini and onion. The no-​nonsense server expertly pried skin and bone off the wonderful fish like and made sure the every drop of savory broth made it onto the plate.
Our other secondi was a soothing plate of rigatoni with eggplant. Like everything at Benvenuto, it was super unpretentious while being perfectly cooked, spiced and portioned.
The house red blended well with our self-​selected mini-​grazing menu. Everything on the menu, including the wine, is amazingly affordable considering the quality and love that goes into each dish.
The kindly owner, using his limited English, surprised us with a delightful mascarpone cheese cake with fresh berries. We really didn’t have room to split one, let alone two generous slices.
But hey, it was vacation, so we sinned with the rich mascarpone, trying to convince ourselves that the healthy fresh berries would balance out our indulgence.
One side note of interest to people with disabilities. My wife uses a wheelchair and the kind folks at Benvenuto helped her through the accessible entrance and seated her with no problems. The restroom is not perfect, but that is often the case in centuries-​old buildings in a city whose very well-​intended preservation rules make it difficult to remodel even for wheelchair access.