This is one of the best restaurants that I have eaten at in my life. Yes it is popular with tourist but the food and service was truly 5 star. Our server spoke fluent English and provided us with an English menu. We ordered a moderated priced Chianti, assorted bruschetta for an app, gnocchi and lasagna for 1st course, and shared the Florentine steak for 1 (plenty for 2). Some how we put down tiramisu for desert and took free shots of lemoncello on the House! read more

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AH-MAZING. Hands down our best meal in Florence! It was recommended by someone who was on our wine tour and I'm glad we listened. The restaurant was pretty small but we made reservations so did not have to worry about waiting for a table. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the size of the t-bone steak. We got 3 orders of Florentine t-bone steaks for 2 for our table of 6 and it was more than enough. So tender and flavorful. If you're a fan of your steak cooked medium well to well, be prepared for some blood - difficult to cook to your liking due to the thickness - best you'll get is medium. But it was all good and well. Tastiness all the way. As sides, we ordered the artichoke and asparagus. We topped off our meal with some limoncello and were all fully satisfied. Can't wait for the opportunity to come back one day! read more

Buca Mario - Bistecca alla fiorentina classic florentine t-bone steak for two with asparagus - Tuscan Near Me - Florence, FI

Went twice in a week, ate a plenty, left satisfied. Loved the florentine T-bone steak and all the other dishes. Had an entire bottle of red wine and washed it down with some dessert wines. I will let the pictures do the talking. read more

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Very old school establishment and inconspicuous from the street. This was recommended by our hotel for an authentic Tuscan meal. The service was superb. We shared the truffle pasta. I got the wild boar over polenta which was very good and interesting. My husband got the Florentine steak and was very happy. The fruit tart wasn't outstanding but enjoyable all the same. The cute take-home apron was a nice touch! read more

Buca Mario - Truffle pasta! - Tuscan Near Me - Florence, FI

Wow, just wow! Buca Mario is Florentine dining at its finest. My parents absolutely love this phenomenal dining establishment, so they took me here as a celebration on one of our final nights in the city. For an appetizer I got the apples with cheese and honey. So simple, but so delicious with all of the fresh ingredients. My main course was the lasagna, my all-time favorite Italian dish. Buca Mario puts a unique spin on their lasagna, using green noodles as part of the tasty layers. It was so perfectly cooked that I'm positive a fork placed on top would fall into the pasta with just the help of gravity. Each bite literally melted in my mouth. Apart from the remarkable cuisine, the service here is by far the best I have ever witnessed! All of the servers are incredibly friendly and prompt with whatever task they are asked to perform. The cherry on top of the wonderful experience was receiving a Buca Mario apron as a souvenir. I choose to wear it every time I cook and doing so always brings a smile to my face :) read more

Buca Mario - My mother proudly wearing her Buca Mario apron outside of the restaurant. - Tuscan Near Me - Florence, FI

Lovely dining experience in Florence. After some average meals in Rome and Perugia, we really wanted a good authentic meal by the time we made it to Florence. After a little research on our own and confirmation from our hotel concierge, we made a reservation at Buca Mario for our last night in Florence. Great decision. Delicious food, great service, friendly staff. Our dining experience was perfect. I should mention that we were in Italy for our honeymoon, so some alone time with great food and wine was definitely needed. The majority our group went to a Tuscan Feast that night. I'm do glad we opted out. We had our own Tuscan Feast in a cozy but fun atmosphere. We tried many dishes starting with a pasta and homemade lasagna, followed by the steak, zucchini blossoms and lamb. We had the tiramisu and fresh strawberries with cream for dessert as well as coffee and grappa to finish our meal. Needless to say we could not finish our meals, but we just wanted to try so many different dishes. The restaurant is on the expensive side but well worth it. There are definitely other tourists here but some locals as well. Great experience. We would definitely come back again if we make it back to Florence. read more

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Our favorite meal in Florence, hands down (and we're pretty picky!) This place was recommended to us from a born and raised Florentine man who loved this place for years- well before they received a Michelin star. We finally had a chance to try for ourselves and it did not disappointment. We loved it so much we came back twice. From the food to the waiters, it was spectacular. Go. Book the table. You won't regret it. read more

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The two times I ate at Buca Mario were the two best meals I've ever had, and as someone who tends to base travel plans on local cuisine, this is an extremely high compliment. This place is absolutely fantastic. The Bistecca alla Florentine was incredible, it was mind boggling... I honestly can't adequately describe how good it was. It was the single best thing I've ever eaten. It was so good I had my picture taken with it, not a picture of the steak, a picture of me with the steak like it was a person. I have dreams about this steak- literally, that's not an exaggeration. It was better than any steak I've had in famous steak regions- steaks in Texas, Montana, and the Dakotas don't have anything on their Bistecca alla Florentine. How they got a piece of meat that large cooked so perfectly and kept it so tender, I'll never understand. The potatoes were also the best potatoes I've ever had, small potatoes that were crispy on the outside and super tender on the inside. The tiramisu was also incredible- my wife had never been a fan of tiramisu until she had it here. I was perfectly happy with the prices here. They were not any more than you would pay for a steak at a really nice steakhouse in the States, and since there's no tax on the food in Italy it was really probably cheaper. The waitstaff were all incredible- they were friendly, they were funny, them and the kitchen staff made it the best dining experience of my life. The person with the dessert trolley was hilarious. He was trying to talk to the person next to us into getting dessert. She told him she was too full from the osso buco to eat dessert, to which he quickly responded "Osso bucco, it's mostly bone- that's no excuse to skip dessert." If you're in Florence, you have to go here. Let's be honest, if you're anywhere in Italy, you have to go here. I talked about Buca Mario for the rest of the trip like it was a person. I'm going to go ahead & call this for what it is- I have a man-crush on Buca Mario. It's truly an incredible dining experience, one that you will never forget- you owe it to yourself to eat here. read more

WOW. Thats it... WOW. Yelp is forcing me to write more so... Amazing. Delicious. Startling. Breathtaking. Great customer service. Grazie mille! read more

While spending a week in Florence we wanted to treat ourselves to one great meal of the local Tuscan cuisine. Our hotel recommended Ristorante Buca Mario, and they delivered, in spades. You will need a reservation, but take the tie to do so - they speak good English via telephone as well as in the restaurant. We had two full courses, plus dessert, so did not order an appetizer, but we saw several go by and everything we saw was sorely tempting. For the pasta I had the fresh papardelle with boar sauce, my daughter had the fettucine and my wife the pomodoro. The pasta was all fresh and excellent. My boar sauce was a 10/10! For second courses we had steak, risotto and the veal morsels. We had a bottle of the Varrazzano, a vineyard we had plans to visit. Delicious. The service was warm and welcoming, and very friendly. Everything we had was excellent, and the cosy, bustling basement atmosphere was a treat. I don't know if we'll make it back to Florence, but if we do, we'll be back! read more

I have eaten at Buca Mario 3 times and each time the food and service was exceptional. I have also recommended it to friends traveling to Florence. Everyone is always pleased. Order the house special stuffed pasta with truffles. read more

First off, MAKE RESERVATIONS or swing by early to get late night reservations. On my last night in Florence, me and my traveling buddies decided to hit up Buca Mario based on our hotel recommendation. Arrived around 7pm and was told that they were booked till 9pm! Wanting to try this place out anyway, we decided to take the 9pm reservations and had "1st" dinner at a nearby gelato place. Coming back at 9, the service was very professional, however, I felt very underdressed. This place is FANCY! At our table, we ordered: Risotto ai funghi porcini (rice with fresh mushrooms) Spaghettini tuscan ragu Cinghiale (wild-boar with grilled polenta) Filetto alla griglia (grilled beef fillet with roast potatoes) Mixed fried of artichokes, zucchini, egg-plant and cauliflower Everything was wonderful! Due to my lack of veggies in the last few weeks, the fried veggies were actually my favorite ... hahaha The homemade pasta was DELICIOUS!! Wild boar was tender and perfect Grilled beef fillet was the best beef dish I had all trip! The risotto was cooked to the perfect consistency the and earthly flavor of the mushrooms were spot on! Definitely worth a visit, but warning.. it's pricey and fancy! Dress accordingly! read more

Buca Mario - Truffle pasta, wild boar, fillet and fried veggies! - Tuscan Near Me - Florence, FI

Of all the Steak Joints in all the towns in all of the world, I had to walk into this one and be blown away! One word- AMAZING! Never in my life have I had a steak with so much flavor, perfectly cooked, melt-in-your-mouth tenderness, where have you been all of my life(?), this can never be repeated unless I go to back to Buca Mario! Growing up in Chicago, I thought we had the best dry aged steak anywhere. This was proven to be not the case after having the Bistecca alla Fiorentina (Florentine Steak) at Buca Mario! Enough said! read more

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I came here once many years ago & the quality of food & service has stayed exception. The pasta is superb. We had the spaghetti with tomato & basil - so tasty in its simplicity. The tomato with bread soup is more of a ragu than soup. The veal with shaved black truffle is heaven. Florentine steak is always good. Nice wines too! Save room for dessert! Strawberries with fresh cream Tiramisu as light as air They gave us limoncello to digest. Then an apron or biscotti on our way out. Always such a pleasure! read more

Buca Mario - Wonderful bottle of light red wine! - Tuscan Near Me - Florence, FI

My wife and I came to Florence on our honeymoon and had the restaurant recommended by my uncle. He said it was a good steakhouse but coming from Texas I was a bit skeptical. After eating here, it can safely say it was the best steak of my life. A fillet mignon perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, and smothered in shaved truffle, all over a homemade sauce with a side of mash potatoes. I didn't want it to end it was so good. The last few bites I cut into tiny pieces to make sure I could savor ever last bite. If you're note into steaks my wife had an amazingly simple and delicious homemade spaghetti with tomato basil sauce. Best we've tasted in Italy. The staff was super attentive, it almost felt like our waiter was reading our minds at times. To top it all off, the owner gave us a parting gift of a Bucca Mario apron. Awesome way to remember our honeymoon. You cannot miss having at least one dinner at this place! read more

Buca Mario - Tuscan Near Me - Florence, FI

One of the best pastas I have ever had! Get the pasta with truffles! Buca Mario had a great atmosphere. The restaurant seems tiny from the outside but it didn't seem to end when we were walked to our table. read more

Lightening has struck twice for us in Firenze, gastronomically speaking. We intended on dining at a different restaurant this evening, but when their reservations were full, we went to Buca Mario. We dined there before, about 5 years ago. The food was just as fantastic on this visit, and the service was impeccable. On our previous visit, the Florentine Steak was had over the lasagna. There were no regrets with the game time decision tonight. I would highly recommend either one. And for the second time, my wife licked her plate clean after enjoying the gnocchi. With wine, soda, a shared dessert and limoncello, our tab came to about 82 euros. Our waiter was Fabio, and he was such a delight. He's got a great personality and made our evening even more enjoyable. If you decide to try Buca Mario, and you should, ask for Fabio..the "new" Fabio! read more

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By far the best meals I ate in my 6 months in Florence. The prosciutto and buffalo mozzarella appetizer is the best in the city and so flavorful. Really any pasta dish is incredible! Florentine steak is raw but the meat in Italy is so fresh that is delightful. Also you must embrace dessert cart, no matter how full you are! read more

Yum! I had Tuscan cheese, apple, honey, burata, mushrooms as a side. Lasagna was my main dish. The food was delicious. The lasagna was heavy buy very tasty! The waiters were very friendly! I ate so much I really couldn't have e dessert from their old school dessert cart. One of our waiters noticed me eyeing the tiramisu and put a large spoonful on my plate as a taster. It was really good!! The ambience was very vibrant! People are friendly! I would definitely recommend this place! read more

Best restaurant in Florence, nobody beats their Fiorentina! Incredible service and very charming. read more

Buca Mario - Tuscan Near Me - Florence, FI

Found it by accident while in Florence. Hands down one of the best meals I had there. Had the steak and a pasta dish and it was phenomenal. The cappuccino was amazing and was decorated with Buca Mario stenciled/sprinkled on top. Great service as far as I can remember but the food is way worth the price. Definitely recommend. read more

Great service and delicious food. Captures salad was delicious. Light olive oil with fresh basil and homemade mozzarella. Pasta was great and their steak Florentine was outstanding! Service was great and they really treat people well. Will be back next time we're in Florence! read more

A known tourist stop - but locals eat there as well. Excellent service and food. Highly recommend.

Over rated, we made reservations on our first night in Florence. Much of the patrons were all from outside Italy and they too must have heard good reviews online about this place as I did, however after our dining experience I can say once is enough. The waiters were all very jovial and experienced talking to tourists and the food came out fast like being at a Chinese restaurant, perhaps they want to turnover the tables fast. We ordered the Tbone steak as everyone recommended, along with truffle pasta (30 euros!), lamb shank and porcini cheese Crostini. Sadly none of the dishes stood out. If you want great Tbone I suggest Osteria Del Cirghiale Bianco, make reservations. read more

Beautiful restaurant in Florence in a cellar (literally). As most of the reviewers have said, the food was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed my first ever Florentino Steak. Please order it rare as it's meant to be! read more

Buca Mario - Amazing!! - Tuscan Near Me - Florence, FI

The BEST Florentine steak and Filet!! Actually, everything here is amazing!!! We went one night and had Nando as our server by random and he was so lovely. He made you feel like family from the beginning and provided great service. It was so good that while we were there we made a reservation for the following evening with Nando as well. The next night we brought another set of friends we met in Florence and Nando was wonderful! With Nando, it was not just a meal, it was an experience. You must visit and ask for Nando. He gets booked, so I would recommend making a reservation ahead of time. Enjoy!! read more

We ate here on our last night in Florence and really enjoyed it. We split the pasta with truffles and steak florentine and all were delicious. The service was great...would definitely recommend this upscale restaurant. read more

Wonderful food and attentive service. Reservations are a must. The florentine tbone is worth every bite. Make room for dessert, the selections are tasty! read more

Buca Mario - Tuscan Near Me - Florence, FI

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Absolutely divine and worth many return trips after. The service was warm, quick and friendly; the food was packed with flavor, world class and absolutely unforgettable - can attest to both the truffle pasta and florentine steak. Desserts looked great but had to pass as I was stuffed at the end. read more

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This was one of the most amazing meals during our Italian holiday. The Tuscan style meat was melt in your mouth. So much flavor & very generous serving. read more

This was a Michelin star rated restaurant that we were able to get a table without reservation but the last table they had available. So cute the restaurant actually goes down stairs. I was on a mission on this vacation to try every gnocchi possible, so I tried their gargonzola gnocchi and it was amazing, creamy and not overwhelming as this cheese tends to be. We order the tasty appetizer salmon and truffles crostini and it was so full of flavors especially the truffle one. The fish was really good we had steak the night before but looking at all the steaks coming around at all the tables - we knew that was the thing to order. Huge bone in steaks and depending on how many people it was going to serve they cut it up next to your table and serve everyone. The gnocchi was incredibly soft and I was in pasta heaven. I sampled my man's Bolognese pasta and it was so tender and flavorful it was freshly made pasta, so tender. We also got their tiramisu and it too was soft, creamy and huge and with the perfect cup of cappuccino. read more

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Fantastic dinner, the photo says it all! Also the staff was extremely friendly and helpful, Rocco was the best! read more

Buca Mario - Steak Florentine! - Tuscan Near Me - Florence, FI

Great restaurant on side street in Florence. Pasta with the Gorgonzola sauce and Bolognese were delicious! The service was excellent and the red Chianti wine was an excellent accompaniment to our meal. read more

Yelp reviews for Buca Mario fall into two batches: best meal in Florence and biggest tourist trap in Florence. We're in the latter. The restaurant came well recommended as a favorite of locals as well as tourists, but only a single Italian customer was detected when we were there. Welcoming staff, suspiciously over effusive in their scripts. The food - sheer disappointment, compounded with let-down of the price tag that ended the evening. 9 Euros for a mediocre mixed salad 18 Euros for a nothing special pasta 38 Euros for a tough, fatty bistecca Etc. 100 Euros per person later, with wine (4 of which were for the honor of a seating, coperto), we regretted wasting one of our few meals on Buca Mario and not returning to the small neighborhood trattoria where much more satisfaction was bought for much less money the night before. read more

We wanted a place to experience the famous Florentine Steak we have heard so much about. Great waiter service, large wine selection, and the steak was an impressive size of T-bone. Hard to impress those of us that have lived in Alberta, but it was a pretty good cut of beef, well prepared. Christa had the wild boar which was a little on the tough side we thought, but had a very tasty sauce/ragu. read more

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Great food, great Service, quite expensive! The lamb is probably the most tender meat I've ever had! It's real authentic Tuscan cuisine you can have. We were recommended by our hotel front desk to try the food! I highly recommend it if you want to spend some money while in Italy for some authentic Italian food. read more

Great place- I took my dad here on his birthday- the waitstaff was extremely nice and helpful, they even brought out a huge (fake) cake with sparklers in it to sing happy birthday to him!! We had fried zuchinni flowers, so good, steak florentina, and I cannot remember what else but I know it was great! read more

There's a reason you are seeing so many 5 stars!! If you want a fabulous meal and exquisite service while in Firenze, make a reservation at Buca Mario!! Our hotel had recommended it and I only wish we could have returned night after night. It is pricey, but worth every penny. We enjoyed the Florentine Steak (our favorite on the trip), the papa al pomodoro, zuchini salad, and asparagus. We honestly had too much food...but we learned our lesson. Fabio and the other staff reminded me of the Italian charm I have come to know in the States--very energetic and proud of their cuisine. At our departure, the hostess presented us with an apron from the Ristorante...I can't wait to pull it out and cook my first Italian meal!! read more

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Buca Mario is definitely the best meal we've had in Italy yet. The restaurant takes great pride in their food and the overall experience you get. Is it expensive? Yes. But if you're going to splurge on a fancy meal in a town with so many amazing inexpensive options, this is the restaurant to do it at. We had made a reservation online a month in advance before our trip based on a recommendation. The restaurant remembered that I had mentioned we were on our honeymoon when we entered and all the restaurant staff wished us congratulations as we passed by to get seated. The atmosphere is classy but casual and friendly at the same time. Our server was professional and yet also easy to talk to and full of recommendations. The restaurant itself is below ground and almost a cave-like interior that adds a very nice rustic vibe contrasting with the white table clothes and amazing aroma. We were immediately given two free glasses of prosecco (this seems to be standard at a lot of restaurants but a nice touch none the less) with strawberries. We went with a bottle of Chianti Classico Reserve, but in hindsight a slightly cheaper basic Chianti would have been just as good. We ordered the apple with pecorino and honey appetizer and it was simple and exquisite. Fresh apples, peeled with nice chunks of fresh pecorino and a delectable honey to drizzle over. A nice light appetizer to start with knowing heavier foods are on the way. For our pasta we shared the Fettuccine alla Buca Mario - fettuccine with tomatoes, bacon, mushrooms, and peas. Unbelievable. The freshest pasta we've tasted, and flavored to perfection. I highly recommend. For the main course we went with the bistecca fiorentina, because you can not come to this amazing restaurant and not order their most amazing masterpiece. The portion for 1 is 38 euros for 1.2 kg of steak, easily enough to share for the two of us and probably would have been fine for 3-4 people as well. The steak comes pretty rare, but after we tried it, our server had no problem throwing it back on the grill for a bit to get closer to a medium rare. I have not experienced enough steaks to know the best of the best, and while my husband said he's had a couple better steaks in the US, there was no denying that this was exceptional. Do not leave this restaurant without trying the steak. Just don't do it. We were too full for dessert, but the dessert cart looked incredible. A great experience for us in Florence. The price is high - to be honest, the steak is probably the most reasonably priced item compared to the cost at other restaurants. But the other dishes are higher than what you'll see at more casual Florence joints. But what a perfectly romantic meal to celebrate our honeymoon. As we left the restaurant we were congratulated again and they gave us a Buca Mario apron as something to remember them by. What an amazing meal, and an amazing experience. read more

An awesome way to close out the trip to Florence. This restaurant made its way to the radar screen by way of suggestion from the concierge at Palazzo Vecchietti who assured this restaurant served rustic traditional fare and was solid. We arrived a few minutes early and headed down the flight of stairs to the restaurant and checked in. They seated us shortly thereafter. I ordered the lasagna upon recommendation from the server as well as the Florentine Steak, sparkling mineral water and a bottle of wine. The lasagna came out piping hot, was fresh, and good. For lasagna comparisons for the trip it came in second to Da Giovanni's in Rome which was phenomenal. Appetite piqued, I was anticipating the Florentine steak. And when it came it was massive. The Florentine steak for two could easily feed three. Perfect amount of seasoning, tender steak. It came medium rare, which under normal circumstances would be ok but the menu clearly stated that it would come rare. So in terms of expectations it was a let down. If it came as advertised or the waiter cutting the steak corrected it sua sponte - 1 more star would have been awarded. Especially when the other tables steak came rare. With the exception of one couple ordering it medium well (sigh, butchering the steak experience - too each their own). No room was left for dessert. And I wasn't particularly enthused of ordering the dessert from the trolley that was paraded to all the other diners. Overall solid dining experience, a much better Florentine steak than the one I had a few years back at another restaurant in Florence. read more