Dario is a local (even international) institution, with his love of meat -- as something to…read moreprepare, something to cook, and something (in its origins) to be respectful of.
Going to Dario's is an event. We did it 15 years ago while in the area, and it was a priority to revisit when we knew we were returning this year.
FOOD / DRINK: So this is a meat-fest, just to be clear. There are multiple dining areas for a single-seating lunch and dinner, seating up to 250 folk at a time.
The party starts in the half-hour before seating, as glasses of chianti and lard-buttered bread are served out on the street to the folk waiting. Once you're in and seated, there's bread and oil, a huge fiasco of chianti, and multiple courses of meat (from tartar to beautifully prepped steak) leavened with potatoes and beans, etc. It's all topped off with coffee and grappa or vin santo.
Everything is fairly simple but high quality and tasty. Even stuff you don't think you'll like, you likely will (I'm not a tartar guy, but it was quite good). Meat is cooked rare to medium rare, and, no, you can't ask for it cooked differently.
There are also kid-sized portions, and veggie meal options.
Arrive on an empty stomach. If you leave hungry, you're doing it wrong.
AMBIANCE: Each of the dining areas -- two floors in the main building, the back patio, and a building across the street -- are decorated differently. Seating is at common tables, to encourage conviviality over the food (we didn't interact with our neighbors at all, but that didn't bother us). The place is pretty loud, with all the talking and service going on, but not uncomfortably so.
SERVICE: The waitstaff are focused on serving out courses, one after another. They are friendly and professional and efficient, which is effective for the setting but leaves little time or inclination for socializing or chit-chat. They're there to deliver good food, you're there to eat it, that's the deal.
Dario makes an appearance during "cocktails" outside, and provides pre-seating a powerful, enthusiastic announcement to the crowd, getting them to cheer for eating and meat and eating meat. He also took a swing through our (and presumably the other) dining rooms, glad-handing the venerating crowd.
But save for one staff member who invoked a similar crowd cheer at the beginning of the meal in our dining room, the focus of the staff and service was in getting things served out efficiently, offering seconds and thirds as available, and keeping things moving ricky-tick. That's not a bad thing, just not as exciting a thing.
NET-NET: The value here is undeniable -- great food, plentiful drink, for a remarkably low price compared to a lesser meal in Florence. The place still is an excellent place to eat lunch (followed by no dinner) or dinner (followed by sleep).
That said, the last 15 years have sanded down the sharp, wild edges of the experience, turning it more into "just" a great meal than a bacchanal of carnivorism. Darrio has slowed down (as have we all) and seems more focused on the butcher shop; the staff and deputy leadership are keeping things going efficiently and well, but without the same wild-and-crazy, burning passion of a decade-and-a-half ago.
Again, that criticism doesn't mean you shouldn't go. It just means it's a bit more conventional a meal -- despite its dimensions -- than it once was.
If we are back in Florence in another 15 years, I'll definitely be back.
