The Red Garter

I LOVE this bar. It is one of my favorite spots in Florence. It was walking distance from my apartment so my roommates and I came here more than I’d like to admit. It is definitely geared towards Americans. There are a lot of people here from all over, some who are vacationing and some who are studying abroad. It does attract some creepy Italian guys who like hitting on American girls, so make sure you go with friends and stay with them all night.
This place is always crowded, no matter what day it is. But don’t let that deter you. It’s still fun regardless. Aside from the crowds, it is LOUD in the Red Garter, so prepare yourself for that.
I never tried the food, only the drinks. The drinks were very hit or miss. Sometimes the drinks were really weak and sometimes that were crazy strong, sometimes to the point that they didn’t taste good because they were sooo strong. Also, a lot of the popular drinks in America are not known by the Italian bartenders. Just get a simple drink like a vodka/​soda and you will be good.
There is also karaōke which is awesome! You need to do that when you come here. Don’t worry, they have American songs, not just Italian songs.
If you’re in Florence, make a stop here. It’s so much fun and totally worth it.

We came here with our Contiki group and were joined by another Contiki group making this place go off on a Tuesday night! It was a lot of fun, there were two parts of the bar — one part had normal music playing and the other part had the karaōke where everyone started to dance. The drinks weren’t super cheap and to be honest they were pretty awful, but the atmosphere is fun and we easily spent hours there. Had a really great time.

This bar is full of Americans studying abroad which simultaneously means it is full of creepy Italian men looking to get with American girls. I would give this place two stars because the DJ was like 50 years old and played really awful American music BUT one of the nights we were here, they played Latin music and I had an amazing time! The drinks taste fine but the bartenders have very limited knowledge of drinks outside of the menu. Plus they’re waayyy overpriced. This is a good place to go if you’re unfamiliar with the Florence club scene as I once was. However, once I found the good clubs, I forgot all about Red Garter.

Wing Wednesday (40cent wings) is my favorite day. They’re not the traditional crispy wings us Americans know, it’s authentic chicken «wings» with a huge selection of different sauces. The atomic sauce is outrageously spicy so be careful! Lol
I lived in Florence for 5 months and this was a great Americanish type place. good beer and good and music. Great place to watch a game with friends or even let loose at night on the weekend. Definitely a younger crowd, as well as the waitresses. They hire students every now and then which is pretty cool. Definitely a good place to go if you’re traveling and want a cheap meal for a kick of flavor

I only came here for the bar so I can’t speak on the food. This is a totally American geared bar if that’s your thing. If you’re studying abroad you can feel a little bit at home and meet some other students here as well.
The bar… don’t expect too fancy drinks. They don’t really know how to make long islands or an adiós and I eventually gave up and got cran-​vodkas. No big deal, just be aware they may not know your «American» drinks. That being said, it also can be sort of expensive. Drink before you go out drinking. That’s the true American way anyway, right?!
The great thing about this place is they have karaōke! Get on the stage and sing your heart out. Pick a good enough sing-​along song and you can get the whole bar in on it for a good time.
Also, let it be known that this is a sausage fest. There are a lot of Americans, but then there are a TON of creepy Italian men who don’t know boundaries. They tend to go toward a lot of the American bars and clubs.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a place to get a little taste of home while you’re away this is the place for you. And if you happen to be here for Independence Day, Memorial Day, or any other American holiday, come to the Red Garter. They will have a full out red, white and blue American celebration!

Red Garter is literally a beacon for all the American college students living in Florence. I studied abroad there during the summer and it was never empty on any given night.
They place all the popular American music (whatever it is at that time) and European favorites. There are two parts to the bar area: the front area where the actual bar is, and the back area where there is a stage for karaōke and picnic like benches on the ground floor and a lofted area over-​looking the stage.
The drinks here are pretty decent and super pricey either.
If you’re looking for a fun time, this is definitely one of the places to hit up, especially because it is so close to a secret bakery, which is prefect after a night of partying and drinking!

If you want a trashy yet entertaining night, this is the place to go. If your other plans failed but still want a fun night and have low expectations, this is the place to go.
I swear, red garter is ALWAYS crowded because there’s no cover charge and it’s a place that I’ve seen so many Italian men trying to dance and get with American girls. I’ve seen girls gets sloppy and throw up inside. Seriously, this place feeds into the stereotype of Americans not being able to handle their alcohol. It’s usually a huge sausage fest here full of drunk people and body sweat on the dance floor. An upside to this place is that there’s karaōke going on and it’s an actual restaurant next door. Downside is that there will probably be guys trying to push themselves on you if you’re a girl and make you feel slightly uncomfortable.

Always terribly crowded. It’s usually a sausage fest of overly horny men that don’t understand what a girl’s night out is. Music is cool.

Very good old-​fashioned American grub for the price and location (Italy?). Hard to find a place that offers bbq wings at 6.50 for a dozen! We had the hamburger and the wings and no drinks. Service was fast, sufficient, décor is a bit lacking and it’s usually full of loud tourists. Will go back to try the ribs.

This place was a very random find. It seemed to be American-​themed and was filled with tourists! We heard English being spoken everywhere, often drunkenly, by a happy and young crowd of people who were clearly having a great time studying abroad! By young I mean very young, I think my boyfriend and I were giving relationship advice to a 19-​year old by 1 am. They are clearly not going for a classy vibe — it’s sort of vaguely country? Definitely relaxed and actually pretty funny, for an American to see. We had trouble finding real «bars» in Florence, and this was just down the street from another bar, so clearly this is a good area to go out in if you’ve had enough wine for the rest of your life and just want to have a beer and yell «yeeee haw!»

Spent a bit of time at the Red Garter on New Years’ Eve because our tour group stopped here to celebrate. We had a private room in the back for Contiki (6 tour groups) complete with karaōke. Boy, do the Australians love karaōke! Anyway, as part of our deal, we had drink tickets good for certain types of drinks but you could combine them for a liter of alcohol too! So some of my friends went in together for a liter while others ordered a bottle of champagne or a tower of beer. Let’s just say after a while, there were some pretty drunk folks milling about. The nice thing was that once we were stamped, we were able to come and go as we pleased. The drinks were strong and they had American college football playing on the screens. It’s very much an ex-​pat type of bar if there ever was one. Apparently, they serve burgers and fries like the States. The bathrooms were a bit strange and cramped. For the most part, it got packed as the night went on.

As part of my tour — coming here was an extra excursion for New Year’s Eve. I think almost everyone added it on because it was NYE and they were supposed to have a special area for us in the back with service. We also got 2 drinks included and the entrance fee.
The place was PACKED. It’s definitely an «American» style bar. We didn’t have any of the food here, but the drinks were not watered down. Service was decent for the amount of people that were in the place. There is karaōke so of course as the night progressed it got more and more rowdy and stupid. We didn’t stay too long since our group wanted to go out into Florence for all the other things going on for NYE. We basically got our drinks, left, came back for more drinks and left again.
The bathrooms are a bit strange. We all complained about how the flushing of the toilets were odd and the lights were sensitive to motion.
They had ESPN playing on the tv, so it kinda felt like home.

I had one of the best nights of my life here! You really can’t go wrong with 2L cocktails and karoake! The vibe here was so awesome! Everyone was in a great mood! I would definitely go back!

Great place for a good old fashioned night out in a bar and American food — hard to find in Florence. Burgers and fries are just like they are in the States. In most places in Florence, there is no tipping. However here at the Red Garter, «tipping is sexy» per signage.
Don’t forget to put a pin on their map to show where you come from. It’s kind of cool to see all of the cities and countries that have patronized Red Garter.
Next door they have the club, which has karaōke every night. They offer vats… literally vats… of beer and pitchers of mixed drinks. I don’t think there’s any such thing as drinks by the glass. The night we went, we never got to sing… the system is kind of unorganized, but it was still fun to watch and EVERYONE sings along. It’s different from the States in that the karaōke crowd was predominantly 25 and younger. Someone said that everyone there that night kind of met up as arranged on the Internet. No one knew each other until that night. Crazy euros!

I’ve been to the garter many times for many different reasons, sometimes to dance, sometimes for beer pong other times for some American food and once in a while to just play a nice game of shit man when I want a lazy night out in Florence. While its not a grade A slice of chic you can usually always have a good time here if you’re not a snob and a half. Therefore, I would definitely tell you to give this place a shot and I hear the Sunday brunch is pretty good! The owner is also really nice which is something I admire in a business over (if you’re a dick I refuse to support your establishment, lets just put it that way). Have fun!