Firenze Ristorante

Excellent little italian place which is getting harder and harder to find in Manhattan. The atmosphere is quiet with white tablecloths, candlelight and would make a great place for a date. The wine selection was somewhat extensive, but there were still reasonably priced bottles if you don't want to splurge. The food was excellent, and lies somewhere between american-faux-italian and Tuscan. The staff were also very attentive and had a good handle on their menu. The staff also offered us complementary digestifs after dinner and didn't rush us off the table which made a really nice end to the night.

The place is cozy but small and not a lot of character. Selection is OK: branzini fish dish was terrible and soggy and probably was not even a branzini. Appetizers were better but overall an OK experience; would not go again.

The atmosphere was very romantic, I really liked it. The service was also very good. The food was pretty good, maybe a little overpriced for what you were getting, but everything else made up for it. I used a groupon for this place and we had access to the entire menu, which is always good to have.

I have been to this restaurant twice, both times because of a Groupon for wine tasting. On my first visit about a year ago, there was only one other couple in the restaurant, and we received special attention from the server, which was reflected in his tip. The server explained each wine, gave us the menu, read us the specials, and asked us if we would like to order anything else - we did. One of the specials sounded fantastic, so we ordered it along with an eggplant appetizer and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. After we finished eating, the server suggested the Tiramisu, which we also enjoyed. It was a wonderful experience.
My second visit was a completely different experience. The restaurant was packed, and we had to wait 20 minutes for our table, even with a reservation. The crowd was most likely because everyone wanted to use their Groupons before they expired (in two days). We received our wines, and heard an explanation of each, though there was significantly less wine in each glass than the first time. I understand it's a wine "tasting", but there was barely anything in each glass. We got our cheese, olive and bruschetta spread, but no bread, which each table around us got. We had to ask for bread, menus, and to hear the specials each separately. We also had to get our waiter's attention to tell him we were ready to order, as he passed by us several times.
As for the food, I have absolutely nothing negative to say; it was phenomenal both times. Despite the crummy service during my second visit, I would still recommend this restaurant.

We booked for 9 and when I confirmed they did say that they had over booked. Even though, every effort was made to ensure we were comfortable while we waited for a table. The food was worth the wait. The appetizers were delicious especially the bruschetta. The place was very busy and the waiters were run off their feet. Would definetely return again to try further items on the menu whcih provides for interesting choices.