La Buchetta

Best meal I had in Italy. The osso buco was delicious and the service was great. Would definitely go back.

I definitely recommend this «Little Hole.» The atmosphere was cozy and inviting and the staff was friendly and funny. The owner Maurizio was kind enough to help me figure out what to order as I was by myself with nobody to share plates with. I had the ravioli and pretty much cleaned my plate as it was quite delicious. I noticed a bunch of people who ordered the Florentine steak were very complimentary to the owner about their meal on their way out. Like I said, I was dining alone so I was not about to order a huge steak, but all the customers who did were happy. The place was full with Americans as well as Italians and I took that to be a good sign. Prices were very fair so I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Great for the solo traveler, but also seemed like a wonderful place to dine with friends.

I used to live in Florence for many years, this time i was visiting the city with the family and they wanted to try the famous bistecca alla fiorentina so we came here with a bunch of friends that recommended the place. cozy ambient and friendly service, the chef greeted us with a selection of appetizers and good red wine. then we had family style pasta, ravioli with eggplants and garganelli with salsiccia and truffle sauce. grand finale, the steak!10 pound of dried aged porter house served with sides of veggies and roast potatoes. everything was delicious, we ended our light dinner with tiramisu, flourless chocolate cake, fruit tart, espresso and grappa!

Came here with a group of friends from Florence and really had a lovely experience.
We came with a large group and sat in the back of the restaurant which made it intimate. There is a lovely androne in the back that you have access to that makes for great pictures and a nice break during the meal.
We started off with the charcuterie platter which was ginormous and very very good. It’s filled which quality meats, cheeses and pickled veggies. We then had 2 pasta dishes. Our friend knows the chef so one was his speciality that’s not on the menu. It came out piping hot in foil with ravioli in a tomato based sauce with eggplant, capers and great spice. The other pasta dish was garganelli with salsiccia and truffle sauce; al dente and very delicious.
Finally, the steak!!! We had a 6 pound and 5 pound florentine steak. They were massive!!! Dry aged, seasoned well with just salt and cooked to perfection. This is definitely worth the trip to experience. The roast potatoes and veggies make this a perfect meal.
As if we could not eat another thing, we literally devoured the flourless chocolate cake, tiramisu and fruit tart.
Highly recommend coming here to enjoy the florentine steak and great service!

What a wonderful find. My girlfriend and I just had our last meal in Florence here and sat at the bar with the super kind and friendly owner Maurizio. We had two pastas and three desserts. I am a huge gnocchi fan and I either love them or hate them and I loved the gnocchi here. Over a lovely conversation I found out that Maurizio has trained with some of the finest chefs in New York and the world and it shows in the care he takes with his food and his customer service. Florence will be lucky when he opens his next restaurant with live music. We will definitely be back on our next visit.

I read a lot of tripadvisor’s review for this restaurant and they received 800+ excellent reviews, but I think otherwise.
1. Lots of people gave this place an excellent reviews on their food and their service. Which I disagreed. Why you may asked?
a. Service
I am not sure if it’s the way I dressed (casually) or the fact that I am eating alone, or I am Asian (doubt this is the reason) but I didn’t get any service at all! The waiter didn’t even asked me how’s my food or do I need anything else. They only service I received was my food and drink were bring to the table… Otherwise I was ignored the entire time, I COULD OF WALK OUT THE RESTAURANT WITHOUT PAYING AND NO ONE WOULD KNOW!!!
Beside above, the waiter didn’t bring any Olive oil or balsamic vinegar to my table until I am about to my main course! And the waiter literally brought the bottles of balsamic vinegar and olive oil from another table to my table without any small plate for me to pour. Also Did I mention this? THEY ALSO FORGOT TO BRING ME ANY UTENSIL FOR MY MAIN COURSE WHICH WAS A CHEFS CUT STEAK. ALSO THEY GAVE ME A LOOK WHEN I DIDNT WSNT TO DRINK BOTTLE WATER, wtf? Can I not drink other thing beside bottle water???
b. Food
I asked the waiter for his recommendations for wine selection that would go well with my steak. He recommends Chianti classicico (but didn’t mentioned which one, brand and where was made or the year) he literally just pulled a bottle from behind the counter and pour a glass for me. I didn’t even have the chance to taste if I want this wine or not. The wine itself didn’t go well with the steak in my opinion and the receipt didnlt state the wine was chinati classico, but other names that I don’t know.
For my appetizer, I ordered their tapa which was tomato, basil, and mazzerala cheese. The flavor was there, but was it excellent? I don’t know. I think it’s good, but that’s pretty much it.
For my chefs cut steak, the waiter didn’t told me what cut was it, nor anything. I literally just receive a plate of steak with some basil leaves and Parmesan cheese. Partially of my steak was over seasoned by salt and the other part was not seasoned at all. I don’t know what the chef was doing at all!
Lastly, the waiter and chef always smoke cigarettes by the front door while working. I don’t know how sanitary that is. But I wouldn’t want to get sick because of that. Also, protein should be refrigerated at no greater than 42℉ (5.5℃) but their steak were lying outside on the counter on a 30+℃ (86+℉) weather… I am not sure if this is against with Italians health code but I wouldn’t want to eat here anymore.

We ordered the carbonora, the ravioli, grilled vegetables, the insalata da capo, the pici la buscetta, and of course a Florentine steak. And as far as Florentine steak goes, this was very very good. the server came out with one of the biggest steaks I’ve ever seen in my life… a 1.8kg block of meat with marbling that is as beautiful as the galleries of Florence. It is the size of a plate, and as thick as a lighter. I’m fairly sure that in some circles that steak can double as a weapon. You are supposed to order the steak to share while also getting some side dishes as an accompaniment. While the pasta was alright (the ravioli and carbonara was enjoyable but not spectacular, and I would skip on the la buchetta), the salad was very well crafted with artichokes, dried tomatoes, arugula, lettuce, and eggplant. And as for the steak itself… Florentine steak is supposed to be cooked medium rare to rare, and this was certainly the case here. You were clearly able to experience the flavor of the meat, tender and deliciously dry aged. Though if you think it’s a bit too rare, the server will stand by and ask you which pieces you want re-​cooked so that it will get a little closer to medium/​medium-​rare. A bit expensive, but for that amount of steak it actually isn’t out of the ordinary. Expect to pay about 10 – 12 euro per pasta dish, and 50/​kg (or about 23/​lb for the steak). And you also get 10% off the bill if you mention tripadvisor.

The menu is in Italian but our host was very happy to translate it for us. He was attentive and conversational throughout the night while giving us our privacy. The atmosphere is quite cozy and intimate, and the jazz music is on point.
We had the antipasto della buchetta to start. It’s a platter of four types of meat (two prosciuttos, two salamis) and two types of cheeses. Our host told us which sauces to pair the meats with and it was delicious. It’s a surprising amount of food and after enjoying it we were worried we wouldn’t be able to finish our mains.
The carbonara and ravioli were recommended by our host and were both good. It was a nice experience for us, add a bottle of wine and it’s a solid date night. We also got complimentary limoncello at the end of our meal which was a nice touch!

Small, quaint atmosphere with a very friendly staff and host. Groove on Mauricio’s jazz playlist. The food was great and we felt very welcome. Listen to the recommendations as to what’s good!

¡Qué delicia volver a oír acento venezolano! Pero lo curioso es que en boca de un albanés, en Florencia.
Dispuestos a saborear nuestros dos espresos y el capuchino de la niña, entramos en La Buchetta sin saber la grata sorpresa que nos esperaba en su interior. A la hora de pedir, tras la barra, dos chicos. Uno de ellos, el camarero puesto que el otro era el dueño, se dirigió a nosotros en un perfecto castellano. Conforme iba hablando, su acento me evocaba a una querida pareja venezolana. Al preguntarle, nos contestó que él era albanés, pero su novia venezolana.
Pero eso no era todo lo que nos supuso entrar en La Buchetta. Mientras la niña y yo íbamos al cuarto de baño, el camarero aprovechó la ocasión para salir al patio interior del palacio con mis dos Juanes, y explicarles que, en ese palacio, se habían escrito las primeras partituras de ópera del mundo, así como nos explicó el significado del nombre del local.
Puesto que el trato que recibimos fue tan bueno, decidimos reservar mesa para nuestra última cena en Florencia.
Pasta típicamente italiana, con una carta no muy extensa pero muy cuidada y explicada con detalle por el dueño. Casera 100%, que a simple vista ya lo notas antes de probar.
Nos pedimos: antipasto de La Buchetta para compartir entre los cuatro, pici alla Carbonara, que para mí resultaron la mejor elección, Risotto ai Porcini, Ravioli Saporiti al Cartoccio, plato vegetal muy rico, y Scialatielli della Nonna. Este último plato lo presentan envuelto en papel de plata, pero lo que no me gustó es que el «ligeramente picante» pasó a ser «muy picante» para mí, que no me gusta la comida picante, lo que me hizo no apreciar el plato y por eso no le pongo las 5 estrellas. Por supuesto regado con dos copas de vino tinto, cada una de un tipo pero de los que no recuerdo el nombre ni siquiera de la uva, pero que nos gustaron, y agua para los niños.
El precio final de la cena nos resultó adecuado para la cantidad de comida y la calidad de la misma, pero sobre todo, por la atención y mimo con el que nos trataron desde el principio.
Un lugar que se merece volver a visitarlo si tengo la oportunidad de viajar nuevamente a Florencia.

This place was quite nice~
The plates were normally priced about 12 – 15 euros.
My sister and I really wanted to try bistecca fiorentina while we were in florence, so we got it and turned out to be quite expensive. It is about 5 euros per kg, and he brought us a 11kg steak so it was around 55 euros for us.
We ended up spending quite a lot here because of that steak, but it was nice. We couldn’t finish it so we took it home!
The ravioli was SO good. I actually liked the ravioli better than the steak but that’s just my personal preference.
The waiters speak English, and they were very kind enough to explain everything to us.

It is a great place to have a very good Italian dinner, a bit pricey but a good typical cuisine — as often both go together. We had a wonderful «mozzarella degustation» plate that was amazing but really too much much for two people only. You can share it for 4 people and yet not be starving. The waiter really should have let us know that it was so huge, and without a doubt too much for 2, because after that we were not so hungry anymore for our pastas.
The pastas were good, but a bit over salted (we both noticed it) for my taste. Carbonaras are cooked without cream, as the tradition requires, but were still quite heavy after the huge mozzarella tasting. It is a shame but I was not hungry anymore.
Besides that, wine was good, and the service was very nice. We recommend this place, but not if you are on a budget in Florence. It is a good opportunity to taste the traditional carbonaras and decide if you prefer Tradition or not.