Rocco is one of my favorite restaurants, when I want to eat in a very quick and cheap way.It's not a not a poor sandwich to eat standing, at Rocco you can have a complete meal with all the simple and tasy dishes of Florence tradition, drink a glass of red wine, and have a talk with Rocco, the owner and also chef of this restaurant. Rocco is located inside the market of Sant' Ambrogio, in piazza Sant'Ambrogio; is only opened at lunch and closes around 14-14,30 because has to respect market's closing time. Market of Sant' Ambrogio is perhaps my favorite one of Florence, less crowded than San Lorenzo market, and with foods of greater quality (I'm talking about meat, fruits and vegetables), i recommend you a visit to taste some great Tuscany food.

Rocco is not link a common restaurant, with small tables, separated kitchen, etc. we say that it is more a widened kiosk, seems a train wagon, with small tables at sides, and a free central space where the waiters pass away. The kitchen is at the bottom of the " wagon" , and it is at sight. In the central space there's also a big container with food trays, so you can see what you're going to order.

Atmosphere is pretty informal: vintage prints representing old Florence, memories of a whole century... on the table a yellow paper, napkins and glasses are made of paper too. Rocco is a perfect host, he laughs, play tricks, sings traditional songs... The service is really quick, in a few minutes your meal is served, infact I would say that it' s more a fast-food-trattoria then a restaurant.

I really like Rocco's dishes: all the simplest traditional recipes typical of Florence, like steaks, chickpea soup, ribollita, beans soup, boiled tripe, and much more, always served with his own red wine.
All the dishes cost less than 4 euro, so the price for a complete meal, with 3 main dishes and beverages is about 15 euro... really inexpensive, but also really tasty... You won't go away with empty stomach or empty pockets!

I just love this place, everyone eats here, from tourists to italian businessmen, once here I even met some celebrities like football players of Fiorentina, the Florence football team.

Inside the market of Sant'Ambrogio

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I've been in this restaurant several times, i use to go there with my father because it's one of his favorite: he also used to take my mom at Latini when she still was his fiancée, beacuse food is soooo good, and atmosphere is very characteristic and informal.

Latini restaurant is located in via dei Palchetti, behind piazza Santa Maria Novella, it is not difficult to find, and probably you'll recognize the restaurant from the row outside: even if there are many seats and every night are made two or more turns, the restaurant is always crowded, therefore I always take my reservation some days before.

Anyway, waiting outside for the table he is quite pleasant, you can chat with other people in line, and periodically a waiter comes offering small pieces of pecorino cheese,a salame slice, a glass of wine, so you can enjoy while waiting.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is very characteristic, according to the traditional Tuscany style: big wooden tables, lots of small painting and photo to the walls, and thousands of hams hung to the ceiling. The Tuscany raw ham (much salty than the one form Parma, that's sweet) is the masterpiece of Latini, sliced quite thick by hand, tasty and salty: delicious! The restaurant has several rooms, the smallest ones has normal small tables, in the main room you can seat at the big wooden tables where you can eat side by side with strangers, and make some new friendships.

The red wine they serve is generous and quite cheap, the give you a big bottle and you can drink as much as you want, at the end you'll pay just for the wine you drunk, not for the whole bottle.

The waiters are always nice, kind and very friendly.

Here you can eat the traditional popoular Tuscany cousine: liver patè, tomato soup, chickpea soups, different kind of salame (really high quality), and sure meat: the famous Florence steak and other wonders. The meat is just gorgeous, soft and bloody steaks, just be sure to order it not well cooked, to get the real meat taste. However In Florence if you order well cooked steak it's like insulting the butcher (it would mean that you don't trust the freshness of the meat).

I surely recommend you to have a dinner at Latini restaurant, to taste some delicious genuine Tuscany food and to enjoy the pleasant atmosphere of the place.

For reservations:

Ristorante Il Latini - Via dei Palchetti 6/r, Firenze
Telephone: +39(055)210916
Fax: +39(055)289794
Il Latini

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