Food was delicious! Wine recommendation from the waiter was excellent! Ambiance was typical…read morefamiliar run Italian restaurant and just love that! Would definitely go back and might before we leave San G!

We came here onto mother-in-laws recommendation. She said they had the best gnocchi she has ever…read morehad. This being my wife's favorite, decided to make a special trip to San Gimignano just to try them out! We made reservations and I am glad we did because by 8pm, every table was full. The place is very small and dark, but they add a small LED light at each table giving just the right amount of light to read the menu. We reviewed the menu only to find that they no longer have gnocchi. She was disappointed at first, but absolutely loved her entree. We weren't vey hungry so no starters tonight, but they brought bread and some sort of potato fritter that had bits of octopus in it. I loved it, my wife stopped eating it when she found out about the octopus! She was fine before I told her. We order a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio and I went for the wild boar ragu while the wife tried I Fagottini Del Contadino, pasta stuffed with pears & pecorino cheese in a saffron and pecorino sauce. Spectacular! The pear had a little sweet and the pecorino a little salt and the sauce was velvety smooth and delicious! My ragu was very hearty with lots of pork. Simply delicious. They had crème brûlée, which is my wife favorite. We still had a little wine left, so she ordered that and I got the double chocolate cake with orange marmalade. We both enjoyed our deserts very much. While they didn't have gnocchi, we both thoroughly enjoyed our meal and will definitely come back the next time we are in town.

A very lovely spot located on a beautiful street. The mista salad was only fair because of the…read morebitter greens they incorporated into it. The pizza was good but not great and the Branzino was dry. Service was so so, we had to fetch the waiter to take our order. If we had had a great experience we would of course come back tomorrow.

Pretty decent but not over the top good authentic Italian. It tasted more commercialized than…read moreauthentic...especially the pasta.

This is one of the authentic restaurants that serves good and delicious Italian food…read more We came in a big group and everyone enjoyed themselves. We started with a bottle of wine supper soft and delicious. Then my mom wanted to try a Zuppa and she got the Porcini one. She ate it all. I ordered a Marguerite pizza. I loved it. The crust was so soft and crunchy at the same time. It really tasted the best pizza for me. My friend ordered but I can't remember the name of their dishes. But they love the food as well. The service was great. They were very attentive and helpful. I really enjoyed everything. If I was to go back I would go back there.

Must try! This is Tuscan food!…read more Very careful service and great beverage choices. We were the first for lunch. We were in San G for the day and went by all the cafe joints etc and saw this down a small street from the busy square. It wasn't open till noon but I asked my wife to wait 15 minutes. Well I created a buzz of some older tourist couples and they couldn't wait to try to by the time it opened. We went to the loft dining above and one server for his best to get lunch service underway. It wasn't quick but oh well. We all waited and savored and in the end it was Tuscan porcini soup from heaven, a roasted beef entree that was great! My porchetta dish was good but overheated and dried out. I saw how they did it when we left and if I knew better I would ask for a slice not cooked again. So much rosemary flavor! The most impressive part was our Tuscan tureen sampler with sauces and really good breads. The bomb. This was a splurge lunch but so worth it! They also had the care to bring my bottle of beer(wife drink wine I don't) with a frozen plastic cell bag to keep the bottle cold while I drink from the glass. Very impressive but simple service. Salads and desserts from other tables looked awesome and some older fellow next to us must be on Lipitor given the huge meat and cheese plate he ate as his meal! Kind of jealous but that was a better share dish for the table compared to the well crafted dishes we chose. But please folks don't dry out a wonderful porchetta slice!!!

My husband and I were driving around the country side and stopped here for lunch on a whim. One…read morefamily has owned this place for years. I must say that we were astounded at the quality of the food and the hospitality of the owner. THIS is the real deal. Gorgeous terrace and view, many locals, attentive and proud staff. The food is fresh and very well prepared without the pomp (and price!) of the mainline touristy places. A previous review said that the service was slow, really? I had to laugh: this is Italy! Anyway we have squash blossoms fried to perfection with a light batter, delicious but simple steak with some kind of umami sauce, and....the best pane cotta I have ever had. The wine was from their vineyard and complimented the food nicely. Another review said the wine was "decent", well that's just right. Have 2-3 glasses and you won't even notice! Go here!

Stopped here for wine tasting but stayed for dinner. Wine was decent but the food was wonderful…read more Loved the homemade raviolis. The clientele was a mix of local families, people staying at their Agriturismo, and people driving by. I would definitely recommend. The staff was quite friendly and the food was top notch.

Imagine going to visit family you have never met and they welcome you like you never left. That…read more Off the beaten path and better than anything you have ever had.

Amazing atmosphere! Owner was consistent and was so welcoming and really wanted us to stay because…read morehe enjoyed our company. I had the sliced beef and it was tender and seasoned so well! Cheap and very nice, highly recommend!

So behind on my reviews...having to much fun and phone service was out for a few days…read more Dining at La Taverna di San Giuseppe is was one of the coolest dining experiences ever. Our server told us that this previously a cave. How often do you get to dine in a cave? The inside of the restaurant is of this stone like space. We were immediately captivated. While it does not currently have a Michelin rating, we were told it previously had a Micheline rating. The atmosphere is that of a cave...cool, a little damp, and intimate. San Guiseppe has wine cellar, according to staff, date back. We felt totally and complete immersed in history and that was only the building. centuries of Sienese life. The cuisine honors Tuscan tradition while elevating it through precision and care. Each dish showcases excellent ingredients and confident execution, embracing regional flavors rather than reinventing them. San Guissppe feature traditional dishes such as handmade pasta, rich sauces, and tenders meats showcasing distinct flavors with bold seasoning. We order lasaguna and cheese salad...absolutely superb! Our servers were superior...waiting on you hand and foot. You did not ask for anything as it was already there. Our server, Marco, was kind, humorous and knowledgeable. Since it was our first time to the restaurant he was super patient and informative regarding menu items. La Taverna di San Giuseppe has s long-term Michelin recognition for a reason...superior food and excellent service in a very unique space. We savored every bite and sip we consumed in San Giuseppe. When we are in Tuscany again, we will make a beeline for this restaurant.

Taverna di San Giuseppe was a disappointing meal for us, especially in a city with so many great…read moredining options. We ended up here by mistake (confused it with another spot), and unfortunately it didn't live up to expectations. The restaurant fills up with reservations for two seatings, and from the moment we sat down the pace felt rushed. We ordered drinks and a starter while deciding on the rest, but multiple staff members kept coming by trying to take our full order. It felt like they were pushing to move things along quickly. There were a couple positives. The chicken livers to start were quite tasty and something we didn't see often on other menus. The primi were underwhelming. The pasta didn't taste fresh like many other trattorias in Siena, and the dishes overall were just average. The lasagna in particular was mushy, and the sauces didn't stand out. The secondi were slightly better -- pork ribs, Barolo-braised beef, and a "small chicken" -- but still nothing that justified the higher prices. They do have an underground wine cellar built into a cave, which is interesting to see, but there are other places in Siena with much larger and more impressive cellar spaces. Also worth noting, they add a "10% tax" charge rather than the typical €2 coperto per person. Overall, a rushed and fairly mediocre meal at a higher price point. With so many better places to eat in Siena, this is one I'd skip.

Best Home Cooked Italian food I have ever had in my life! My Grandmother would slap me with a…read morewooden spoon but I telleth the truth! Went 2 nights in a row! Freshest selection of everything! It's this type of place that makes life worth living! I continue to fantasize about this wonderful eatery Every now and then! Bottom line it's worth flying here just to smell the fabulous cuisine wafting from the kitchen! Do they deliver?

Il Fornacino has an adventurous menu that I was excited to try. Like every restaurant in the area…read moreit offers the traditional Tuscan tagliata di chianina (is there a law?) but there's also rabbit stuffed with veal and truffles and a very on-trend Swiss chard, ricotta, and truffled egg raviolone. I started with the latter, which was delicious -- but the powerful flavour of cheese and the egg yolk drowned out the chard. My wife's potato flan was quite nice, but it arrived buried under a heap of truffle shavings that tasted of nothing in particular. My main was a special of roast suckling pig with potatoes and a savoury tuile made with the pork drippings. The tuile was gratuitous -- a chef-y touch that didn't actually taste very nice. The suckling pig was beautifully cooked but the potatoes were weirdly inconsistent; some crisp and others mushy. Il Fornacino is a good restaurant that would be the best restaurant around in most places, but the five-star bar is set pretty high in Tuscany. But the prices were very modest and the wine selection was great. It's a tremendously good value for what it offers.

I can confirm what has already been posted here. Yes, it is hard to find (look for the Hausbrandt…read moresign, see pic). Yes, there is in fact a grandma cooking the food (just as Jeff J. said, two in fact). Yes, the food is amazing. Maybe the reason this place is so hard to find is that it is a hidden gem that feels so authentic that you only hear whispers about it. But it is real folks. We started our meal with the fried polenta with ragu. The combination is a meal in itself. You can tell the ragu was fresh and well made because you could see the chunky bits of garlic, mushrooms and meat. The next course was the lasgna. It was rich with the ragu and ricotta. The noodles tasted homemade. It was a delicious dish blessed by a nonna. The last course was the steak Florentine. You can order it by weight. My conversion math may have been off because we got a HUGE cut of porterhouse. But it was absolutely tender and delicious. We enjoyed this delight to the bone. The service was exceptional. We were the only non-Italian folks in the restaurant but we were treated like family. I will also add that while I enjoyed our food selection, I noticed that the pizzas and pork/veal shank were also very popular and looked incredibly appetizing. My only regret is that we found this gem of a restaurant on our last night in Barga. I wish I had more time to taste more of the menu. The family owns another restaurant in Lucca (la Donna Clara) and one that's 3 km away that does seafood.

Writing this review is ridiculously painful because figuring out how we got there and its address…read morewas impossible. Their "webpage" is on Facebook, but their address on Facebook is inaccurate (stating that it's in Lucca city). On the receipt, there are two addresses, their page on TripAdvisor is matches one of the address on the receipt. When I put down the address here, the location on Yelp doesnt seem right. I tried to Google Map this place, but street images were taken in 2011, and this place wasnt opened yet. Long story short, we were driving down from Renaissance Tuscany Il ciocco resort on the SP20 looking for a restaurant, and happened to turn into this one off the side. It seemed like a traditional Italian restaurant you see on TV with cozy red chequered table cloths, a wood fire oven, and ladies behind the counter busy making pizza and pasta for you. We ordered a 4 seasons pizza (6EUR) and a personal sized lasagna (8EUR) - both of which came out of the wood oven! It was so delicious. We came in just before noon and there was only one other table filled but as we were leaving this place filled almost to the max and when we were driving out, people were waiting for our parking spot! WIth a beer and capuccion, our total was only 18.50 for too and we were so full.We really felt it was traditional Italian home cooking - awesome comfort food. We are still wishing to go back!

The pizza is the best I've had from Venice to Como, Cinque Terre and Florence!! Handmade, oven…read morebaked by the slice or whole pie. Delicious!! And, the staff is very friendly and provide great service.

I was dying. I had…read moreto get up this morning at 7 to get dressed and eat breakfast but by 1pm and still not having any legit lunch, our group ended up on another tour around this area. The problem was that our tour guide said the tour will be at least an hour before we get lunch. I had an idea though... I decided to when the group was distracted with the WC that I would run up a side alley and find some food. Enter Riccapizza. You almost wouldn't believe its there if you walked by too fast. But this place is legit. I was able to sneak in, order a pizza and sneak out in a matter of minutes without my party knowing. Best part? This pizza friggin legit. I love how big the slices are and the sauce is reallllllly tasty. If you are in the area and need a quick bite I HIGHLY recommend. It was so good, I had to shamefully get two more slices hahaha...