Food was excellent and the staff was incredibly friendly. The rigatoni and the tagliatelle with…read moreragu were two out of our favorite pasta dishes throughout our Italy trip. Highly recommend

We read good reviews online for this place, but it was a bit disappointing. Service was super…read moremediocre but they charged us $5 euro for service gnocchi was so so so salty. Like is salt free here or what? Plenty of space in this restaurant. Cheese plate was good with some cheese I never had before. Out of all the pasta places I been to in Italy, this is my least favorite

Food was good. You are spoiled with the great food and wine in this region, so anything less than…read moreamazing is noticeable. We had a fine meal and the price was cheap. Ciciano is a tiny town and if you happen to be driving through this is a very solid choice.

From the owner: Un ambiente curato, come a casa della zia di campagna. Torte fatte in casa, un posto fuori dal…read morecomune

Couldn't wait to return to Florence just to eat at Sostanza. We arrived a few minutes before their…read moreactual opening time and we were seated. And I think in the best seat in the trattoria...were I could watch the food being cooked on the charcoal grill. If I saw one Florentine Bistecca being grilled I watched twenty. However, we ordered the Butter Chicken and the Tortellini with a Ragu Sauce. Both dishes were outstanding. Service is relaxed. Atmosphere is awesome watching all of the happy people. Don't be surprised when people are seated with you. Just relax and enjoy. We did. The place is small and very cozy. Already thinking about my next meal! Highly recommend and most definitely make a reservation.

I have a friend who lives in Florence, and this is her favorite restaurant. That probably tells you…read moreeverything you need to know, but I'm going to say more anyway. The best food in Italy is simple. It's when a kitchen takes outstanding ingredients, and prepares them in a straightforward manner. Sostanza excels here. Everything we ate was so simple, and so delicious. The trattoria itself isn't much to look at, just a casual space on a tucked away street. The staff will make you laugh, and guide you through the menu. We started with some cured meats, and the artichoke omelette. It looks like a little tornado of egg with artichoke in the middle, and it's excellent. We moved on to tortellini in brodo, and tortellini in ragu. Both preparations were nice, but tortellini in brodo is the move if you can only pick one. One of our wives actually tried to order a chicory salad, but our waiter told her that we were big men and needed to eat meat. (This isn't the reason I love this place so much, but it didn't hurt.) The butter chicken is obviously not the ubiquitous Indian dish, but young chicken breast that is grilled, and then finished in a sauce of butter and lemon. It is so uncomplicated, and perhaps the best chicken you could ever hope to eat. Don't skip it. Despite that being the best chicken I can remember, my favorite thing I ate at Sostanza were the "fresh new beans in olive oil." These are not to. be confused with the "white beans in tomato sauce" (this is how these dishes are listed on the menu...again, simple) which were also mind-blowingly tasty. But the fresh beans must've been picked that morning, and they just tasted like the platonic ideal of beans. Wash all this down with a quality bottle of wine (you can't go wrong with the list), and it may just be the best lunch you've ever had.

If you want an amazing, authentic Italian dinner when visiting Siena look for further…read more There are so many positives that I just do not know where to begin. It is off the tourist street. As soon as you walk in you will feel like you belong. The food is inexpensive. Be like a true Italian and order in each catagory. TIP-get your vegetable order with your meal and not as a starter. When we got there only one other table was enjoying themselves. By the time we started eating the place was full. I absolutely loved that with the exception of one other table the restaurant had residents that eat there often since they were all known. The restaurant is charming and cozy. The staff made me never want to leave and I wanted to be part of this Italian culture. The prices are unbelievable!!! That is another reason that we ordered to much food. Most likely the least expensive meal we enjoyed while in Italy. My ONLY regret was that we did not save room for dessert. We had already paid when I saw most other tables being served tiramisu. With the food as delicious as it was I can only imagine what the tiramisu must have tasted like. I will 10000% choose to eat here again if we return to Siena. Also from what I have seen in other reviews it seems that the prices are still the same. That is to be applauded.

Everything here was delightful. The food, the staff... Even the house wine was delicious. We ended…read moreup eating EVERYTHING. Even used the bread to soak up all the sauce on our plate at the end. We had bruschetta as a starter and it was perfect. One of the best I've had in Italy. Leaving a review so that I know to come back here in the future! A full meal that was delicious and easy on the wallet!

Excelent "homey" vibe. Very casual and simple atmosphere. Food was amazing. I had an Oxtail that…read morewas generous and flavorful. My girlfriend had a pasta that was delicious and perfectly cooked "al dente". House wine was good and everything came up to less than 15euros per person including wine. Definitely a hidden spot out of all the attractions the walled city of Siena has to offer...

Came in here with a large group to order dinner…read more The restaurant is a very authentic Tuscan trattoria where everything is homemade and locally sourced. They sent out some warm Tuscan bread and focaccia to start and then a series of appetizers; Tuscan bruschetta with chicken liver, various salumi, grilled vegetables and various cheeses. The table ordered several types of local wines and I found the Morellino Di Scansano to be the best among them. For dinner I went with the papardelle cinghiale (wild board) ragu which was absolutely amazing. I managed to sample a bite of each dinner everyone around me had ordered and they were all delicious. For dessert they brought out vin santo, limoncello and coffee along with several types of dessert. The hazelnut cake was the only one I tried and it was outstanding. Well worth a trip just to come here.

This is just a short walk from the piazza del campo and was obviously a spot that the locals enjoy!…read moreWe sat inside and the owner was our server. He had us place each course individually, which was different than what we were used to, but honestly I appreciated it. The house wine was very good and served by the bottle. For primi I ordered the Pici with tomato sauce, which was perfect. For secondi I ordered the grilled veal which was huge and really good. I ordered the artichoke side but this wasn't my favorite. For dessert we had the torta della nonna which was really good! We loved our time here and highly recommend it!

Siena wins as far as food goes. Papei wins as far as food goes. Ossibuchi king of the world…read more Arribbiata of the gods. Do this if you want to truly exist in this realm. We went to the duomo. We went to museums. You can skip all that. Come here. Do us all a favor. Perfect service. Exactly what the world needs is consistent settings like this. When I say perfect I mean this restaurant.

Exceptional food and impeccable service! You will feel special dining at this wonderful restaurant…read moreoutside the city walls of Siena. Momma's cooking is creative and presented beautifully. Matteo's service is impeccable and he is wonderful at recommending wine. This small restaurant is outside the walls of the city, but worth the effort. Be sure to call for a reservation. You will be glad you went.

Only 5 tables and sometimes only ONE seating per night -- so this is someplace special. Just Matteo…read morewho works front of house and "Mama" in the kitchen -- that's it. Feels like you are dining at someone's home so the service is first class. We drove there and after about 10min. found a parking spot -- so allow extra time for that. Just outside the walls so in a nice looking neighborhood. Small menu that changes so you may want to check first to see if there is something for you. Maybe call? We were the ONLY ones in there at 7:30 so Matteo waited to take our wine order until he knew what food we were having in order to pair it better. That was a first for us! A bit more expensive that the other places in town -- but why not splurge -- you're in Italy!

I had this place on my Yelp list for several months before our travels brought us here, and I am so…read moreglad that I trusted the reviews. We walked here from our hotel -- about a 10-minute walk -- and we arrived to find the place packed with reservations in waiting. They still managed to get us in! That's customer service! Fabio took care of us, along with another young lady whose name I did not catch. They were spectacular. I'm a Texas guy, and we eat beef for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was impressed with the Steak Florentine here. It was tender and was mildly flavored with herbs and butter. The roasted potatoes were OK. The cannellini beans in tomato sauce almost stole the show. What a wonderful combination of meaty white beans and sweet tomato sauce! And the tiramisu was divine. This place was packed on our visit, and it is no surprise, because they are very good at what they do. Still, it was comfy, and we were well taken care of.

Great food and service - speaks very good English - a great side dish is white beans in tomato gravyread more