Firenze Ristorante

An authentic Italian restaurant. I have never been disappointed when I have the chance to go. The food is Italian comfort food that has been escalated. If you are lucky the charismatic owner Salvatore Lembo will be there to entertain and tell his stories of growing up in Sicily and Florence.
The best antipasti dishes are: Carpaccio, Prosciutto E Formaggio and Cozze E Vongole Saltate
The best main dishes are: Costolette Di Agnello, Cacciucco, Gamberi Alla Diavola, Spaghetti con Aragosta, Linguine Ai Frutti Di Mare and Gnocchi Alla Napoletana (they are all so good it is ahrd to choose just one!)
And do not forget to try a botte of wine from their outstanding selection of Tuscan wines!
I will be back this weekend :)

The food is nice, and tasty, the staff are very friendly, the food portions are ok, I think it can be a bit more.

Be Italian went I go to dinner at Firenze I think i’m home
Great FOODS Good service and great wine list
Sal thanks for the good job

Amazing food. There really is something for everyone on the menu. A real gem!
It’s clear some people have been coming here for years and have gotten to know the staff. Great place to go before catching a movie at the revamped Regal theater next door.

I’ve been to Firenze’s countless times and I’ve NEVER had anything on the menu I didn’t absolutely love. The lamb chops, gorgonzola chicken, and the king salmon have all been favorites of mine. Oh gawd and the Caprese salad has this buffalo mozzarella cheese that you will drool over. The chief is a wizard in the kitchen. He makes all his sauces from scratch — which is why some people have probably complained about the wait times. The wine is directly imported from Italy where the owner has his own vineyard… like how much more authentic can you get?
FYI — When you come here you’re not supposed to sit, scarf down your food, pay, and leave. Do it like the Italians: sit, relax, sip your wine, enjoy the company you’re with, and not look at your watch. It’s like a mini vacation. When I go I’m there for a minimum of 2 hours.
********Also, please for the love of God do not believe Andre (posted a few below this) — if he seriously believes Maggiano’s is better then Firenze he is high off his ass. Maybe the service is better because that restaurant is gigantic but the food definitely is not! **********

Edible but not worth it for the price.
I stopped in for lunch and had the mixed salad and spaghetti bolognese.
First, my server didn’t tell me the specials, which was a shame because I would have liked one – I overheard him tell another table that came in after I ordered.
I had a half size salad which was a reasonable portion, however, the greens for the salad included a significant portion of stems and were not cut so that they were too large to eat easily/​comfortably. Also I found the balsamic dressing too light on vinegar, but that’s personal taste.
The bolognese was especially disappointing: over salted, bland, and with somewhat overcooked spaghetti (not quite mushy but without the texture needed to make it enjoyable). The dish wasn’t inedible but for perspective I think Pallino’s offers a competitive bolognese and they are basically glorified fast food.
In summary, the quality of the offerings here don’t match the prices. Go pretty much anywhere else.

The Gorgonzola penne is absolutely delicious with grilled shrimp! I am beginning my review in this manner because I cannot deny that the Gorgonzola penne was delicious. However, I was disappointed to review the restaurant through the Unilocal app and see that it was recommended as a family-​friendly restaurant only to find that it was not. This is not the best place to bring your children. They literally had one booster seat and I have two toddlers so that was a bit of a struggle. The cups did not have safety tops so my kids accidentally spilled two or three cups of water I believe. I had a bite of their tomato-​based spaghetti and it had a funky taste to it actually. It was not a very good spaghetti. The service was nice I found our server to be very upbeat and helpful. Actually our server had a wonderful attitude. There were other staff members that kind of lurked from corners of the restaurant to make sure that no one was needing something and being ignored which I appreciated. But this is definitely a restaurant for a date night or an adult social group, not for children. The server recommended a red blend wine that was made in the restaurant. The red blend was watered down and lacked character. But again, I will say this was my first visit with my whole family and the Gorgonzola penne was absolutely fantastic. I think if we are ever in the area we would come back on a date night.

Cosi buono!!!
Today saw the end of Spring 2016 Restaurant Week. And I could not have found a better placed to end it!
First, I felt like I was eating with a newly adopted family. Everyone was incredibly nice, diners next to us were friendly and spoke about what they’d had, how good it was, and that they keep coming back because of the food and atmosphere. Service was top notch and with an outdoor seating area, it was a fantastic way to have lunch.
For today’s last RW lunch, I started with the Prosciutto E Formaggio, which was fresh and light. For my main course, I ordered the Gnocchi Al Pesto. I love gnocchi and so few restaurants get it right. Firenze got it oh so right! Amazing! The pesto sauce was fresh and zingy (I don’t like red sauce, so I stick with creamy or pesto) and the gnocchi pasta was fluffy light pillows of flavor!
Dessert didn’t come with the meal, but seeing the cannoli our fellow diners were partaking in, I had to order my own. Now I know I’m the strange one out, but I don’t like chocolate chips in my filling and this cannoli came without them, so I was one very happy camper. Lightly sweet, deliciously creamy, and the flaky shell was divine!
This was a great little find! And the fact that it’s located near a movie theatre, I see more date nights out for a movie and dinner.

I wish there was an option to give negative star to this place. Don’t ever go to this restaurant if you want to have a pleasant dinning experience.
Firstly we waited for over 45 mins for our order to arrive. We ordered for 4 vegetarian risottos and to our shock we were served pork risotto that too after 45 mins of wait.
After complaining about the wrong order the server took our plates and told us he has ordered for another risottos. He only came back 15 mins later to tell us that they had ran out of risottos.
This was our worst dinning experience. Over an hour and no food for 4 out of 6 people.
This was not it when we received the check. We were not only charged for the two correct dishes but also charged for half plate of risotto. Why this is atrocities and not to mention the gratuity.
I’m furious by now and so sure that never ever going back to probably the worst restaurant in the world.
Don’t go if you value your time and money

I have been there twice. The owner is Italian.
The first time I ordered a spaghetti Carbonara. It took 25 minutes. Mediocre. I can do better.
Second time I ordered a spaghetti al pesto. 40 minutes and nada. 40 minutes to prepare a simple dish? Decided to leave the restaurant and eat somewhere else.
I will never step in this «ristorante» ever again.
The restaurant seems to be always full during the weekends but don’t fool yourself. The service and food is terrible.
If you want good food and better service go to Maggiano’s in downtown. It looks expensive but it’s not. You pay for one spaghetti and get another dish for free to takeout!
Amazing deal.

Food was excellent, we all had the spaghetti carbonara and I would recommend it to anyone with a Caesar salad to start but don’t forget to save room for their delicious homemade tiramisu afterwards! Service was excellent even after it started getting busy after we arrived.

I like to go into a place on a night that isn’t supposed to be busy and see how it is… not a weekend… on our visit they were abnormally busy for a Monday night and the wait staff was swamped. They did a really good job. I give them a lot of credit. And, they have a great wine list. I like the environment too… it’s got good style.
The food didn’t light my fire though. I had the bolognese and my wife had the Eggplant Parm. The bolognese was decent… the Eggplant wasn’t what we expected… it wasn’t bad… just different. (Usually you expect some breaded cutlets drowning in sauce and cheesey goodness) This was a little more basic. Not terrible… just not what we expected. I’ll try Firenze out again and if it’s better, I’ll come back and adjust my review. Until then… I might chose to go to Tutta Bella around the cornder instead.

My boyfriend and I visited Firenze Ristorante when I had a massive craving for spaghetti. When we first entered, we were surprised at how fancy the interior was. Located in the Crossroads shopping center, we expected something more casual. Nonetheless, we were excited for a tasty meal.
Bread and olive oil is at the table. When we asked for someone to bring us vinegar, they forgot (even though we were only one of three parties seated in the dining roo), so we ended up asking someone else who brought it promptly. Our water didn’t get refilled, so I just took my boyfriend’s cup – he was drinking the house wine.
We asked to split the Spaghetti Bolognese ($ 16). It’s more expensive than the other Italian restaurants in the area, and it wasn’t awful… it just tasted a bit bland. When we received the bill, I noticed we were charged an additional $ 2.50 to put the spaghetti on two different plates, turning it into an $ 18.50 spaghetti dish. Talk about an overpriced plate of spaghetti!
There was nothing about the service or food that really impressed me, and with the higher prices, we will most likely not return.

Have been here a few times. Very good food and the service was perfect! I even ordered the wrong dish by accident and they took it upon themselves to get me what I really wanted.
We will be back!

This is my second time to come here, and the carbonara pasta didn’t let me down! This environment is relaxing with beautiful music and service is very good! Can’t complain their food coz they are so delicious!

Very nice restaurant in terms of charm and authenticity.
Fetuccini Alfredo was beyond plain. It was basically a bowl of butter. And $ 6.50 to add chicken on? The entire dish was $ 18, but tasted no different than something you would have at the Olive Garden (that’s not a good thing).
I may have just ordered wrong, but the bread was also lackluster.
The service was friendly, but I can’t give many stars for the food

Changed dinner reservation from Seattle as spent the afternoon there and craved Italian. Surprisingly not that many high quality/​high rated Italian restaurants in Bellevue Firenze was one of the best ones.
Well it turned out to be a disaster…
The wine list is extensive and we ordered Brunello di Montalcino– one of our favorites. That is where the good experience ended– as non-​one ever came back to pour another glass of wine, had to keep asking for water, meal took over 2 hours, got the wrong dinner and on the top of that– the restrooms were not working– so had to keep heading across the parking lot to the movies– I mean seriously– you drop $ 300 on dinner, without bathrooms and the owner cannot even comp the food? They had ONE waitress on Saturday night for the entire restaurant– and she said she was fairly new as well– which was very obvious.
Well definitely will not return.

This place totally delivers the true Italian experience! With myself being the carb lover that I am, it is one of my favorite restaurants in the Seattle Metro area.
The location is a bit odd, it’s at the end of a small mall in the overlake Bellevue area, right by a movie theater and sporting store. But the atmosphere when you arrive inside is excellent. A few tables outside for summer. Small homey feel Inside with small bar.
You are greeted right away and sat at your table, sometimes by the owner himself. And if he doesn’t seat you he will always stop by to say hello and make sure you are enjoying the meal.
The food is to die for. I have had about 4 different items on the menu and have never been disappointed. The salads are great too. But make sure it’s either a cheat day or you don’t count your calories because it is definitely authentic and filling if you know what I mean.
Desert is great too with a few choices.
You could definitely drive by and get the wrong impression about the restaurant but make sure you stop in and try it. I would be willing to bet it’s top 4 best Italian meals In WA state.

Unexpectedly ended up here for a double date, on a Sunday night. I had the mixed salad, my husband had the italian soup, and our friends both had the pesto pasta. The salad was great and so was the soup, but definitely pretty small servings.
My friends enjoyed their pasta! Overall the service was good, seemed authentic italian, but not quite a 5 star.
I don’t think I would come here again, but maybe on a date night that I am wiling to drop some dollar bills.

Kind of disappointed at our experience last week due to the poor service and food quality.
I have been this restaurant quite a few times three years ago with good experience. So last week for my wife’s birthday dinner with her family, I recommended this one since it had a good reputation.
Boy that was a mistake.
The service was way below average. The waiter not only forgot to take order from one of the parties, but also not attentive to our requests. After dinner, we waited about 10 mins until he came over for our credit card. Quite some poor service.
The food was quite disappointing too. I understand that their bread was drier than other places because it’s supposed to be. But at our two refill of breads, both are very cold. The carpaccio was way over-​priced ($ 16) for three slice of paper thin raw beef. The Cozze E Vongole Saltate (steamed clams and mussels) was totally powered by the white wine. Seriously, the whole dish smells nothing other than white wine.
The entries was not terrible, too. The greens in salad was dry and not fresh. The red sauce for ravioli and spaghetti was way too sour. The Linguine was way too hard. In fact the red sauce was so terrible, that my 6-​yo kid gave up his pasta and feed on the bread. And he loves spaghetti at home and any other restaurants.
The only highlight of the dinner was Spaghetti Carbonara, with creamy and nicely flavored white sauce.
I don’t understand what had happened to this restaurant. It used to be a excellent choice for authentic Italian food with good reputation. I used to go there with my wife and we both love their food. But after this dinner, I don’t think I will go there again.