Zio Gigi Restaurant
Zio Gigi Restaurant is located on a quiet side street just a block from the Duomo.
It isn’t touristy and I found a lot of locals dining there, which made it all the better. It is a very warm and lively restaurant that extends from the front room to the back.
The serving staff was terrific. They spoke English and they were very engaging and attentive. The food was very tasty, came in good portion sizes at reasonable prices.
My family started with the house antipasto and a very large plate of mussels. Both were amazing. The mussels literally melted in your mouth. When we were done with it, everybody took his or her bread to soak up the delicious broth. For dinner we all ordered different plates and we all sampled a little bit of each. The portions were so large and each was exceptional.
The Florentine-style steak was both delicious and a beautifully cooked piece of tender steak. It came with a side spinach and cannellini beans. The risotto with zucchini and shrimp was astounding. The salmon penne pasta was creamy and rich. Our waitress suggested to me that I try the pappardelle with wild boar sauce. It was immersed in a sauce rich with a red wine aftertaste. I am so happy that I listened to her. It was unbelievable.
The house wine was quite nice and affordable.
Then there’s dessert. We all had cappuccinos and shared cream puffs with chocolate sauce. Both were superb.
The highlight at Zio Gigi Restaurant was the owner. He was very friendly and sang to us in Italian. He came around to the tables and gave complimentary limoncello after dinner. This is was a great way to experience Italian family style restaurant and food. It’s unique and entertaining.
I would definitely recommend Zio Gigi Restaurant and would return on a future trip to Florence.
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Phone number: +39 055 215584
Address: Via Folco Portinari, 7-r, 50122 Florence, Italy
Monday through Saturday Lunch: 11:30 am to 3:00 pm.
Dinner 7:00 pm
Sunday Closed
