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San Lorenzo: Trattoria da Mario

Via Rosina 2 , Phone: 055.218550
www.trattoria-mario.com
Closing day: Sunday

Reviewed by: ktp from CA, review #3722

When: 2011

Great food, worth the wait

This place has plenty of great reviews, but here is one more! Cheap, fast, friendly, delicious. Worth the wait for fun communal seating.

Reviewed by: sw from USA, review #3268

When: 2009

Busy place that pleases everyone with great food

We went to this restaurant around 1 p.m., based on tripadvisor reviews and the Lonely Planet recommendation. It was well worth it. We grabbed the last table and sat on the stools. The place was very busy, and had a great vibe.

We could see the cooks behind the counter, and ordered the bean soup and steaks with some house wine. The bread was great. The menu is posted on the glass counter in front of the cooks, but there is no paper menu. An inexpensive meal, lunch only, closed on Sunday, so plan this restaurant as a must do. Our favorite meal of the trip! This is not a place of quietude and lingering however. Very fast-paced!

Reviewed by: Kevin Clark from Italy, review #1772

When: 2005

An amazing place for a good meal in the midst of absolute mayhem!

Directions: near Mercato Centrale

A crazy place with great food and extremely reasonable prices. It's only open for lunch.

The line was out the door even on a cold weekday in November, with about a 50/50 mix of Italians and tourists clutching guidebooks. Communal tables, very tightly packed, turned over very quickly and we were seated in around 15 minutes. We were a little late, so some of the menu items were sold out, and the waitress quickly rattled off our choices.

The bistecca fiorentina looked great, but I knew if I tackled one I’d have to head home to sleep it off for the rest of the afternoon!

Instead I had a minestrone di verdure and my wife had penne with ragu. The soup was hearty and very good. For secondi, she had duck and I had veal, both roasted. Both were excellent - flavorful and tender. Fried potatoes were homemade and very good. With wine and water, lunch was under €30.

Reviewed by: colleenk from MA, review #1264

When: 2005

Delicious home cooking in a fun, communal atmosphere.

Directions: In Piazza Mercato Centrale

Open only for lunch, Trattoria Mario almost always has a line to get in. And with good reason! This was my favorite lunch in Florence and perhaps even my favorite meal in this city of great restaurants because of it's simplicity, quality of ingredients and friendly atmosphere. Frequented by many tourists and locals alike, it is extremely reasonably priced and the food on both my visits has been delicious.

Last year I went on a Friday (which is fish day) and had a terrific mixed grill of fish which the waitress made up for us when we couldn't decide what we wanted.

This year, we arrived on the early side (12:30pm) midweek and were able to walk right in and be seated at a communal table with locals on their lunch break. Yes, you are seated on a bench in a very informal setting and that's why it's so reasonably priced. The menu is limited with specials each day which are posted. I had a spinach ravoli with a terrific, simple but so fresh tomato sauce and my sister had the most delicious and moist grilled chicken I have ever tasted. It was generously salted which we both liked. I also had a side dish of fagioli bianchi that was heavenly. We mopped up the olive oil and garlic on this dish with the tasty bread. Washed down with a 1/2 carafe of house wine and you have the perfect Florentine lunch for about €11 each. Sublime!

Reviewed by: KenC from MA, review #926

When: 2004

A popular place to have a nice lunch in Florence.

Trattoria Mario was delightful. Our wait was 20 minutes and a large crowd started to form after we arrived. Soon we were seated at a communal table with three other people and everyone seemed happy. We enjoyed a nice lunch with two first courses, a second course, a half carafe of wine, bottled water, and salad for €18! That’s hard to beat. Mario’s is a fun place to have a decent lunch in Florence.

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

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San Lorenzo: Trattoria da Mario

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