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Duomo: Il Ritrovo

Via de'Pucci 4A , Phone: 055.28168

Closing day: Monday

Reviewed by: Kenn from CO, review #1769

When: 2005

Small nice restaurant with great food and a visit from the owner/chef.

Great Christmas dinner in a relaxed atmosphere. We loved everything we ordered. Chef is the owner, son is a waiter and wife is the sunlit basement dining room.

The pasta was great and the fried artichoks were wonderful. Dessert was a small but good selection. Cost with wine and dessert was about €50 a person. Waiter was helful with menu selections and suggestions. We ordered bottled wine but others said the house wine was great. Would go back again.

Reviewed by: Carol M from CA, review #1400

When: 2005

We had a lovely dinner here, very peaceful, warm atmosphere, very good food, very welcoming hosts (husband and wife). Cost €104 with wine; we shall return.

Directions: From the corner of Via Cavour and Via de' Pucci, walk east. The restaurant is on the left, a few steps down from the street level.

Reviewed by: colleenk from MA, review #1342

When: 2004

Lovely hosts present beautifully prepared food.

I enjoyed my meal here but did not feel it lived up to some of the reviews I had read. True, the hosts were very welcomming and started the meal with complimentary prosecco. The food was beautifully presented and seemed to be lovingly prepared. The House antipasti was really wonderful but the pasta and veal dishes were just OK. The restaurant itself was very pretty with soft lighting and candles. I think I would like to gve this restaurant another try, now that I have sampled many other Florence restaurants to see how it compares.

Reviewed by: Marian from NJ, review #1023

When: 2004

This is a decent choice if you are in the immediate area. But it is certainly not "worth a detour."

I ate lunch at this restaurant twice, and both times it was adequate but not great. Perhaps had I not read such glowing reviews from other STers, my expectations would have been more realistic.

First time I took friends from my language school there; the cost was €62 for the three of us. The second time, I tried it again with STers Suzy Kane and husband; cost was €46, with less wine this time.

Problem is not in the actual cost, which is reasonable, but in the fact that the young waiter (who insisted on speaking English) "pushed" the set lunch menu, which is quite reasonable. It's just everything else (indifferent house wine, eg) which is a bit overpriced and makes one feel a bit like a clipped tourist. Perhaps the experience at dinner is much better.

As for lunch, there are many other restaurants in the area that have equal or better food, in a much more pleasant area.

Reviewed by: ira from GA, review #642

When: 2003

A first-class, inexpensive restaurant.I absolutely agree {with the previous review on this board}. We ate there twice and had difficulty getting to €90 with desserts and wines.

Reviewed by: Dale from SC, review #446

When: 2003

My favorite restaurant in all of Italy.

Il Ritrovo is down a dozen or so steps from Via de' Pucci and you have to ring a bell if the door is locked. You are met by Rosetta, perhaps the most beautiful woman I've ever met and she is genuinely shy and reserved. You are led into a serene dining room that seats about forty and is the perfect foil to Marco's excellent cooking.

The food is pure Florentine and Marco visits with his patrons and will gladly give his opinions on virtually any subject.

As I recall, two people can get out of there for less than 100 euros including vino and grappa. The only time that number was exceeded was when we opted for Bistecca Fiorentina, a gargantuan slab that handily defeated my best efforts.

I was in Florence for four days and ate at Il Ritrovo four times. My autumn trip will include a diversion to Florence for a day. It's that good.

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.

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Duomo: Il Ritrovo

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